Law of Code

Tom Lombardi (@tomlombardi) is an adjunct professor of finance at Pepperdine University, California, teaching Decentralized Finance in the Business School. He was formerly a Managing Director at 3iQ (worked on the first regulated crypto fund), Director at Wave Financial (one of the first crypto RIAs), and Head of Growth for the Enterprise Ethereum Alliance. Show highlights: [8:00] Importance of institutional investments in digital assets [16:00] Bitcoin and institutional investors [24:00] Bitcoin Spot ETF [39:00] SEC proposed custody rule [42:00] SEC actions pre-Coinbase and Binance charges [59:00] Bitcoin is Venice? [68:00] Regulation and 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.

Nicky Gomez (@XRegNicky) is the Senior Partner at XReg Consulting. A former regulator with 15+ years of experience in the crypto and financial services industries, Nicky provides strategic regulatory advice and has successfully secured licenses and authorizations for clients in Europe, Gibraltar, the Caribbean and Asia. As the co-chair of the Global Digital Finance AML working group, he helps shape global cryptoasset regulatory standards that mitigate risk and encourage innovation. Aaron Unterman is the managing director of XReg Consulting (Cayman) SEZC. Aaron previously worked in the derivatives branch of Canada’s largest market regulator, the Ontario Securities Commission, and recently led the development of CIMA’s regulatory framework for virtual asset service providers, including developing rules and guidance for custodians, trading platforms, issuances and the sandbox regime. Show highlights: [3:00] Introduction to crypto while working as regulators [12:00] XReg's international approach to consulting [15:00] Classifying regulatory approaches to crypto in different jurisdictions [21:00] Jurisdictions introducing comprehensive crypto rules [29:00] Jurisdictions where crypto assets are illegal [34:00] Global regulatory harmonization (IOSCO) [47:00] DeFi regulation & 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.

The goal of this podcast is to help DAOs and their members understand the potential legal wrappers which arise from bespoke legislation. This is the second episode of the DAO Research Monthly series, created by Jacob Robinson, Kyle Smith and Kyler Wandler. This episode reviews the legal wrappers created for DAOs. What do we mean when we say legal wrapper? What benefits do they offer DAOs and their members? What are the risks? We answer these questions and much more. [4:30] Evolution of the modern company [8:15] How DAOs build on the company [12:00] Legal wrappers as a bridge [20:00] Wyoming DAO law [25:00] UNA [29:00] Tennessee DAO law [31:00] DAOs in Texas [33:40] DAOs in Utah [43:00] Vermont blockchain-based LLC [53:16] Catawba Economic Zone [54:00] DAOs outside the US & much more. Thank you to our sponsors, the DAO Research Collective, Lobby 3 and Tally DAO, for supporting this educational initiative - and thank you to Kyler Wandler for his incredible research. 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.

This podcast answers the "why" behind the blockchain space. It is a compilation of answers given from previous guests of Law of Code who explain why they believe in this technology, why they work in this space and what gets them excited about the future. This podcast was largely inspired by Polygon's Value Prop, a crowd-sourced and entirely open database, created to showcase the diverse and unique use cases for blockchain technology – across all networks – which are making an impact throughout the world. The Value Prop highlights 39 separate use cases for blockchain technology, with a total of 304 applications. 100 episodes, thank you.

In this episode of Law of Code, partners at McCarthy Tetrault's Fintech practice Ana Badour and Lori Stein, along with DLx Law's Lewis Cohen, Angela Angelovska-Wilson and Greg Strong discuss the differences in crypto regulation between Canada and the US, from securities rules to banking and AML policies. Show highlights: [3:00] Binance and Coinbase SEC charges [11:00] Digital assets and investment contracts [21:00] Differences in the Canadian approach to secondary sales [32:00] Banking and AML history, rules and outlook [48:00] Access to banking in US and Canada [50:00] Q&A & 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.

Collins Belton (@collins_belton) is the founder and Managing Partner of Brookwood P.C., a boutique transactional practice focused on serving founders, startups and emerging technology companies working on frontier technology, particularly in the digital asset space. Collins was previously Counsel at Atrium and an Associate at Wilson Sonsini. Show highlights: [1:40] Binance charges from SEC [10:45] Is BUSD a security? [23:00] Binance complaint alleging tokens are securities [30:00] Binance asset freeze [36:45] Coinbase charges from SEC [44:00] Coinbase's S1 registration & staking [48:40] Agency overreach [56:00] Show cause orders in multiple states [60:00] What the future holds 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.

Craig Salm (@CraigSalm) is the Chief Legal Officer at Grayscale Investments, the world's largest digital currency asset manager, where he oversees the daily legal and regulatory operations of the business and its products. Prior to joining Grayscale, Craig was a corporate associate at Paul Weiss.  This episode builds on a previous episode covering everything you need to know about the Grayscale lawsuit against the SEC. Show highlights: [2:00] Genesis block [13:00] Learnings from Paul Weiss [17:00] Grayscale ETF Case [24:00] What if Grayscale wins? [33:00] Fraud and surveillance ETF mechanisms & 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.

Freeman Lewin (@Freeman_Lewin) is an Attorney at DLx Law, where he advises clients in all matters related to blockchain, smart contracts, and tokenization. In late 2022, the DLx Law team published a comprehensive analysis of every "investment contract" decision by U.S. appellate courts since 1946: The Ineluctable Modality of Securities Law: Why Fungible Crypto Assets are Not Securities. Their publication has since been cited in Coinbase's response to the an SEC Wells Notice, the Dissent of Commissioner Hester M. Peirce and other important matters. This conversation offers a masterclass on investment contracts - what they are, why they matter and how they relate to digital assets. Show highlights: [2:08] Consequences of being deemed an investment contract [8:49] The investment contract vs the object of the investment [16:02] The Howey case [21:59] Core traits of an investment contract [24:46] Changes to the Howey test since 1946 [31:20] Biggest myths and misunderstandings surrounding investment contracts [34:10] Future of crypto & investment contracts & 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.

Caitlin Long (@CaitlinLong_) is a 22-year Wall Street veteran active in bitcoin since 2012, and whose passion is a fair and stable financial system. She is also the founder and CEO of Custodia Bank, a chartered US bank specializing in digital assets. Show highlights: [1:40] Operation Chokepoint 2.0? [4:40] Importance of Access to the Federal Reserve System [9:25] Origins of Operation Chokepoint [17:20] Custodia Bank [24:00] Checks & Balances [29:23] What's Next for Custodia Bank [31:00] Habits & Advice & 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.

This conversation with two prominent members of the Blockchain Association covers de-banking in crypto, hostility from regulators and the state of crypto in America. Jake Chervinsky (@jchervinsky) is the Chief Policy Officer at Blockchain Association, the largest advocacy group for the crypto industry in Washington DC. Jake is also one of Variant Fund’s strategic advisors and a board member at the DeFi Education Fund. Marisa Tashman Coppel (@mtcoppel) is Policy Counsel at the Blockchain Association where she helps develop and advocate for policy positions on behalf of the crypto industry as well as manages long-term legal projects and strategic litigation. Show highlights: [2:00] De-banking and Freedom of Information Act request [8:20] Operation Chokepoint 1.0 [13:50] Banking crypto [21:00] What's next for the Blockchain Association [29:00] Hostility from regulators & 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.