Governance Tokens and Their Regulatory Implications in DeFi

Hester Peirce, AKA “Crypto Mom,” was just confirmed to a second term as SEC Commissioner of the Securities Exchange Commission in August. In this episode, she talks about:

• the reasons for her dissent in the Unikrn Settlement and what she believes would have been a proper penalty
• the current status of her token safe harbor proposal
• her thoughts on fair launch projects as opposed to traditional VC-backed tokens
• her view on how the SEC should view airdrops
• her thoughts on whether existing securities laws could be tweaked as opposed to implementing a safe harbor
• whether she thinks DeFi governance tokens should be considered securities
• her thoughts on DeFi playing its own regulatory role
• her thoughts on the Securities Clarity Act introduced in Congress
• the chances of a Bitcoin ETF being approved by the SEC in the future
• the charges against BitMEX and the effect it may have on the industry in general
• stablecoins, and how they might raise securities issues
• and whether she thinks that all securities could one day be tokenized

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Episode links: 

Hester Peirce: https://twitter.com/HesterPeirce

SEC: https://www.sec.gov

Her dissent on the Unikrn settelement: https://www.sec.gov/news/public-statement/peirce-statement-settlement-charging-token-issuer

Unconfirmed interview on her safe harbor proposal: https://unchainedpodcast.com/sec-commissioner-hester-peirce-on-her-safe-harbor-proposal/

Her token safe harbor proposal: https://www.sec.gov/news/speech/peirce-remarks-blockress-2020-02-06

Unchained interview with Cmr. Peirce: https://unchainedpodcast.com/sec-commissioner-hester-peirce-come-talk-to-the-sec/

Proposal in The Block on ways to amend existing securities law instead of issuing a token safe harbor: https://www.theblockcrypto.com/post/57207/case-for-reg-a-response-commissioner-peirce-sec-token

Is UNI a security: https://www.theblockcrypto.com/post/78231/uniswap-token-security-debate

FCA banning crypto derivatives and ETNs: https://www.coindesk.com/fca-bans-sale-of-cryptoderivatives-to-retail-consumers-in-uk

https://www.theblockcrypto.com/post/79911/uk-regulator-fca-bans-crypto-derivatives-retail-users

Securities Clarity Act: https://www.theblockcrypto.com/post/78231/uniswap-token-security-debate

Statement on ATS’s: https://www.sec.gov/divisions/marketreg/mr-noaction/2020/finra-ats-role-in-settlement-of-digital-asset-security-trades-09252020.pdf

SEC chairman Jay Clayton says all stocks could be tokenized: https://www.theblockcrypto.com/post/79783/all-stocks-tokenized-sec-chairman-clayton

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