Shifting Sands: SEC Leadership and Crypto Regulation

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After some big wins for the crypto industry (and big losses for the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission), Jason Gottlieb, partner at Morrison Cohen, delves into how the upcoming US elections could reshape the SEC’s crypto agenda, the political pressures influencing SEC decisions, and the potential impact that a new SEC chair could have.

Gottlieb provides insights into ongoing court battles involving major crypto firms like Coinbase and explores the broader political implications of the Democrats' recent outreach to the crypto industry.

Show highlights:

• How the sea change in Congress, the White House, and the Biden campaign affects the SEC’s stance on crypto
• Whether the SEC's agenda on crypto has changed, following the sudden reversal on ETH ETFs
• Whether the SEC is being pressured politically about crypto and how that could affect its actions between now and the election
• How the ongoing legal crypto cases are affected by the SEC’s change of tune
• What the implications of a possible new SEC chair would be
• How the SEC’s credibility was damaged by the Debt Box case
• Why Jason thinks Democrats are in an “uncomfortable position” but also believes there’s a lot of common ground with the Republicans with regard to crypto

Visit our website for breaking news, analysis, op-eds, articles to learn about crypto, and much more: unchainedcrypto.com

Thank you to our sponsors!

• iTrustCapital
• Polkadot
• VaultCraft

Guest

• Jason Gottlieb, partner at Morrison Cohen
• Previous appearances on Unchained: 
• The Department of Justice Goes After Its First NFT Insider Trading Case
• ‘Is ETH a Security?’ Why Gary Gensler Couldn’t Give Congress a Straight Answer

Links

• Previous coverage on Unchained of the recent shift in the US political landscape:
• Why Many Democrats, Including the White House, Have Come Around on Crypto
• Senator Cynthia Lummis on Why Crypto Now Has Bipartisan Support in Congress
• Bits + Bips: Is US Politics Driving the ETH ETF Approval?
• Why Spot Ether ETFs Are Now Likely to Be Approved on Thursday

Political turn and ongoing cases:

• The Block: Biden campaign ramps up crypto industry outreach in surprising tone 'shift'
• Unchained: 
• Ethereum ETFs Likely Protect Ether From the SEC. But What About Staked ETH?
• Why the SEC May Not Be Done in Its Legal Battles Over Ethereum 

SAB 121

• Bloomberg: As Bitcoin Rallies, Banks Are Pushing US Regulators to Change Crypto Guidance 

FIT21

• Unchained: FIT21 Bill Heads to The Senate: Should We Really Be Excited?

Spot Ether ETFs

• Unchained: Analysts Up Odds of Spot Ether ETF to 75% as Prometheum Launches Product That Treats ETH as a Security

TIMESTAMPS:

• 00:00 Introduction
• 02:55 The outlook for the SEC’s efforts after the seeming sea change from the Democrats
• 06:09 Whether the SEC's agenda has changed, after the sudden reversal on ETH ETFs
• 09:58 Whether the SEC is being pressured politically and whether that will influence its actions between now and the presidential election
• 15:30 How the ongoing legal crypto cases are affected by the SEC’s change of tune
• 19:51 What the implications of a new SEC chair would be on court cases winding slowly through the courts
• 23:52 How the SEC’s credibility was damaged by the Debt Box case
• 27:59 Why Jason thinks Democrats are in an “uncomfortable position” but also believes there’s a lot of common ground with the Republicans with regard to crypto
• 34:14 Weekly recap

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