Law of Code

Michael Frisch is a partner at Croke Fairchild Morgan & Beres where he leads the firm’s Government Litigation and Investigations Practice. Mike previously worked at the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), where he brought one of the CFTC’s first enforcement actions involving cryptocurrency — CFTC v. Bitfinex — and was part of the team responsible for the CFTC’s action against Tether in 2021. Show highlights: [1:30] Mike's introduction to crypto [3:00] The history of the CFTC's rules around crypto [6:00] Masterclass on the CFTC [13:00] Working on CFTC v. Bitfinex [20:00] Coinbase's FCM registration [24:00] FTX and the CFTC & much more. Disclaimer: Jacob Robinson and his guests are not your lawyer. Nothing herein or mentioned on the Law of Code podcast should be construed as legal advice. The material published is intended for informational, educational, and entertainment purposes only. Please seek the advice of counsel, and do not apply any of the generalized material to your individual facts or circumstances without speaking to an attorney.

Mark Cianci is Counsel at Ropes & Gray, where he represents hedge funds, private equity firms and their portfolio companies, and clients in other industries in complex commercial litigation, cryptocurrency litigation, qui tam actions, bankruptcy litigation, and government investigation and enforcement matters. Mark also counsels clients in the blockchain and cryptocurrency space on a variety of regulatory considerations, including compliance with securities laws. Show highlights: [1:30] Mark's introduction to crypto [3:00] How dispute resolution has evolved [9:00] The future of decentralized justice [18:00] Benefits of blockchains for decentralized dispute resolution [31:00] Commercial ADR [36:00] Interesting crypto projects & much more. Disclaimer: Jacob Robinson and his guests are not your lawyer. Nothing herein or mentioned on the Law of Code podcast should be construed as legal advice. The material published is intended for informational, educational, and entertainment purposes only. Please seek the advice of counsel, and do not apply any of the generalized material to your individual facts or circumstances without speaking to an attorney.

Ashish Chandra is the General Counsel of CoinSwitch, India's largest crypto platform pivoting into a multi-asset wealth-tech superapp. With over 22 years of experience in the tech industry, Ashish also led the legal and regulatory affairs of WhatsApp for India. He helped build the e-commerce and fintech/payments business of Facebook, Instagram & WhatsApp in India. Show highlights: [1:30] How crypto regulation has evolved in India [8:00] India's landmark Supreme Court decision [13:00] Tax on crypto in India [17:00] Lobbying efforts in India [24:00] Most active crypto regulators in India [27:30] His role as GC of CoinSwitch & much more. Disclaimer: Jacob Robinson and his guests are not your lawyer. Nothing herein or mentioned on the Law of Code podcast should be construed as legal advice. The material published is intended for informational, educational, and entertainment purposes only. Please seek the advice of counsel, and do not apply any of the generalized material to your individual facts or circumstances without speaking to an attorney.

Ross Campbell (@z0r0zzz) is a legal engineer and co-founder of KaliDAO, in addition to being a corporate attorney. Ross is also working on NANI, a protocol mixing AI and crypto and is a founder of LexDAO. Previous episodes with Ross: 1. #5 - Ross Campbell: Legal engineering, Bar Association DAOs, use cases for oracles, and much, much more 2. #30 - Ross Campbell: Legal Engineering and Kali DAO Disclaimer: Jacob Robinson and his guests are not your lawyer. Nothing herein or mentioned on the Law of Code podcast should be construed as legal advice. The material published is intended for informational, educational, and entertainment purposes only. Please seek the advice of counsel, and do not apply any of the generalized material to your individual facts or circumstances without speaking to an attorney.

Stephen Palley (@stephendpalley) is a litigation partner and co-chair of Brown Rudnick’s Digital Commerce group. Stephen is a seasoned litigator with over 20 years of extensive courtroom experience litigating and trying complex commercial matters. Stephen has written extensively and been quoted widely on legal issues arising from the use of Blockchain technology, with appearances in both print and television media. For more on Stephen's background, listen to episode 28 of Law of Code: #28 - Stephen Palley: Crypto regulation, building a team, and defining decentralization. Show highlights: [2:30] Analogies in crypto: Smart contracts and dumpsters. [14:00] Intangible scarcity: Why blockchain's enable scarce, intangible assets. [18:30] Licensing regimes: Future of front-ends and developers. [26:30] Evolution of crypto law: Has it aligned with Palley's expectations? [31:45] Insurance and digital assets: Parametric insurance, oracles and blockchain technology. & much more. Disclaimer: Jacob Robinson and his guests are not your lawyer. Nothing herein or mentioned on the Law of Code podcast should be construed as legal advice. The material published is intended for informational, educational, and entertainment purposes only. Please seek the advice of counsel, and do not apply any of the generalized material to your individual facts or circumstances without speaking to an attorney.

Amira Valliani (@amiravalliani) is Policy Lead at the Solana Foundation. She previously built and sold a creator economy company and served as an advisor at the White House and State Department. Note that this episode was recorded prior to the Ripple Labs decision. Show highlights: [3:00] Policy work at Solana Foundation [7:00] Change in policy [10:30] Challenges and stories of building in Web3 [24:00] Amira's role at the White House [29:00] Building Glow & more. Disclaimer: Jacob Robinson and his guests are not your lawyer. Nothing herein or mentioned on the Law of Code podcast should be construed as legal advice. The material published is intended for informational, educational, and entertainment purposes only. Please seek the advice of counsel, and do not apply any of the generalized material to your individual facts or circumstances without speaking to an attorney.

Offering a masterclass on the Accredited Investor rules, this episode distills months of historic research and detailed reviews of the securities laws, as well as a 3+ hour conversation I had with Larry Florio (@larryflorio), into an evergreen episode providing everything one should know regarding the accredited investor standards in the U.S. and across the globe. Disclaimer: Jacob Robinson and his guests are not your lawyer. Nothing herein or mentioned on the Law of Code podcast should be construed as legal advice. The material published is intended for informational, educational, and entertainment purposes only. Please seek the advice of counsel, and do not apply any of the generalized material to your individual facts or circumstances without speaking to an attorney.

Cameron B. Pick is a partner at Marshall Gerstein & Borun LLP who advises clients in the blockchain and metaverse space on intellectual property issues. In this episode, Cameron explains Bitcoin Ordinals, the difference between Ordinals and Ethereum NFTs, and the interplay between IP law and web3. Disclaimer: Jacob Robinson and his guests are not your lawyer. Nothing herein or mentioned on the Law of Code podcast should be construed as legal advice. The material published is intended for informational, educational, and entertainment purposes only. Please seek the advice of counsel, and do not apply any of the generalized material to your individual facts or circumstances without speaking to an attorney.

Samir Patel (@SamirPatelLaw) is an innovation and technology attorney in Holland & Knight's Miami office and head of the firm's Document Automation Program. Samir represents startups and emerging growth companies navigating legal and regulatory issues. Samir also works with artists, art galleries and athletes looking to enhance their products and brands through the creation of NFTs, and advises on their market entrance strategy into the metaverse. In 2021, Samir was appointed to the first-ever Miami-Dade County Cryptocurrency Task Force. Disclaimer: Jacob Robinson and his guests are not your lawyer. Nothing herein or mentioned on the Law of Code podcast should be construed as legal advice. The material published is intended for informational, educational, and entertainment purposes only. Please seek the advice of counsel, and do not apply any of the generalized material to your individual facts or circumstances without speaking to an attorney.

David M. Adlerstein is counsel in the Corporate Department at Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz. His practice focuses on mergers and acquisitions, capital-raising transactions, corporate governance, and other corporate and securities law matters, with a focus on financial institutions and technology transactions. He is a member of the Firm’s Crypto Team and frequently writes and speaks about blockchain technology, cryptocurrencies and smart contracts. Kevin Schwartz is a partner in the Litigation Department of Wachtell Lipton and serves on the Executive Committee of the New York City Bar Association, where he was previously Chair of the Judiciary Committee, and is also a Visiting Lecturer in Law at Yale Law School. Mr. Schwartz’s practice includes corporate, commercial, and securities litigation at both the trial and appellate levels, as well as a variety of regulatory and corporate governance matters that include leading the firm’s specialized Crypto Team to address rapidly changing issues generated by the crypto asset industry.  Show highlights: [3:00] David and Kevin's introduction to crypto [14:00] Evolution of the legal side of digital assets [24:30] The merits of decentralization [33:00] Tornado Cash [41:00] Smart contracts [47:00] NFTs & much more. Disclaimer: Jacob Robinson and his guests are not your lawyer. Nothing herein or mentioned on the Law of Code podcast should be construed as legal advice. The material published is intended for informational, educational, and entertainment purposes only. Please seek the advice of counsel, and do not apply any of the generalized material to your individual facts or circumstances without speaking to an attorney.