Law of Code

Justin Slaughter, a Paradigm senior advisor and former SEC and CFTC policy expert, explores how the 2026 midterms could reshape crypto and AI policy. He discusses whether a tech crackdown is inevitable, why generational turnover matters, how companies can rebuild trust with Democrats, crypto’s need for bipartisan strategy, agency rulemaking, CLARITY’s political pitfalls, and the growing power of state attorneys general.

David Lat, lawyer, legal journalist, and founder of Above the Law, reflects on three decades of change in the legal profession. He explores private equity’s backdoor into law firms, his approach to AI, and whether fears about automation are overblown. He also ranks appellate courts, recalls interviewing with Justice Scalia, examines crypto as a legal puzzle, and champions debate and listening as essential skills.

Rebecca Rettig, Jito Labs’ chief legal officer; Omid Malekan, Columbia Business School professor and money commentator; and Michael Mosier, former FinCEN and OFAC official, explore whether banks can use public blockchains without violating the Bank Secrecy Act. They tackle sanctioned validators, OFAC enforcement, credible neutrality, application-layer compliance, privacy, and a nine-part framework for institutional blockchain adoption.

Elijah Fox, Variant investor focused on AI and crypto, joins attorneys Sabina Beleuz and Daniel Barabander to examine whether AI distillation is illegal. They unpack scraping law through X v. Bright Data, ownership of model outputs, and Anthropic’s fair-use dilemma. The conversation explores tighter contracts, anti-evasion safeguards, service-based AI businesses, antitrust, national security, and law’s struggle to keep pace with exponential technology.

Chris Perkins, Franklin Templeton’s digital-assets leader and Marine veteran, joins Ari Redbord, a former federal prosecutor and TRM Labs policy chief. They explore AI-fueled cybercrime, pig-butchering scams, and the history of letters of marque. The conversation examines a modern cyber-privateer framework, safeguards against piracy, attribution risks, due process, public-private enforcement, and international law.

Linda Jeng, a former regulator at Aave; Adrian Cachinero Vasiljevic, a DeFi risk specialist; Andre Cronje, Yearn’s creator; Lewis Cohen, a digital-asset lawyer; and Tuongvy Le, a technology attorney, explore on-chain vaults. They unpack how vaults work, the rise of strategists and curators, ERC-4626, and the legal tests surrounding receipt tokens. The conversation also examines custody, investment advisers, smart-contract risk, and vaults’ regulatory future.

Hester Peirce, SEC Commissioner and leader of its Crypto Task Force, explores Regulation Crypto and the future of digital-asset oversight. She discusses token disclosures, when promises and managerial efforts matter, secondary-market trading, DePIN projects, and the regulatory complexities of on-chain vaults. The conversation also examines compliance costs, accredited investors, and links between token ownership and company equity.

Preston Byrne, managing partner at Byrne & Storm and a tech policy and free-speech lawyer, walks through the GRANITE Act and its role in stopping foreign governments from silencing Americans online. He explains how foreign regulators send orders into the U.S., the sovereign immunity problems that let them avoid accountability, and how GRANITE’s shield and sword aim to block and challenge those demands.

Sarah Brennan, Delphi Digital GC (token market design); Andrew Hinkes, Winston & Strawn partner (securities and crypto law); Lewis Cohen, Cahill partner (regulatory analysis); Gabe Shapiro, Medalex CEO and crypto lawyer. They unpack Regulation Crypto: why tailored token rules were needed, the five-part structure including startup and fundraising exemptions, disclosure and exit mechanics, and the role of secondary markets and state preemption.

Grant Vingoe, CEO of the Ontario Securities Commission and vice-chair of IOSCO, is a seasoned securities lawyer and regulator shaping Canada’s crypto policy. He discusses Canada’s careful, incremental approach to crypto regulation. Topics include regulated ETFs and custodial safeguards, stablecoin reserves and federal coordination, retail purchase limits, sandboxes like Project Samara, and modernizing public company rules.