Surprisingly Free

In this episode of Tangents, Peter and Jerry discuss the recent decision in the SEC v. Ripple case. They explain that the decision follows the same interpretation of the securities laws that Coin Center has longe advocated, namely that commodity tokens can be the subject of securities offerings without being securities themselves. Jerry and Peter also address misreadings of the opinion that have led some to conclude that it implies that sophisticated investors will get protection of the securities laws while retail participants will not. Finally, they discuss one issue they have with the judgment.

In this episode of Tangents, Peter and Jerry discuss the Tornado Cash sanctions list designation by the Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control. As they explain in a legal analysis of the case, they believe that OFAC has overstepped its legal authority by adding certain Tornado Cash smart contract addresses to the SDN List, that this action potentially violates constitutional rights to due process and free speech, and that OFAC has not adequately acted to mitigate the foreseeable impact its action would have on innocent Americans.

In this episode of Tangents, Peter and Jerry discuss the SEC's proposed rulemaking on the definition of ‘exchange’ and Alternative Trading Systems. Bottom line: The Commission’s proposed redefinition of “exchange” violates the First Amendment by requiring a license to speak–even of open source developers. It’s unconstitutional and they should change it. We explain why the First Amendment arguments against the proposed rule are strong and why the Supreme Court is poised to rule against the SEC should it finalize this new rule as drafted.

In this episode of Tangents, Peter, Jerry, and Neeraj discuss the narrative and substance how cryptocurrency is implicated in the sanctions on Russia, as well as the Biden executive order on digital assets.

In this episode of Tangents, Peter and Jerry discuss a new backgrounder just published by Coin Center that explains what is "staking" to policymakers who sometimes are confused about how that word is used in different cryptocurrency contexts.

In the second part of their discussion of the crypto tax provisions in the infrastructure bill, Jerry, Peter, and Robin recount what happened after the Senate passed it and bring us up to date on efforts to fix the provisions in the House and elsewhere.

Jerry, Peter, and Robin discuss the crypto tax provisions in the infrastructure bill that passed the Senate and is now stuck in the House. They recount what's in the bill, why it's bad, and the efforts in the Senate to stop it. In the next part they'll discuss what's happening now in the House and what's being done to fight it.

Jerry and Peter discuss the stablecoin regulation and the forthcoming report from the President’s Working Group on Financial Markets on that subject. Are stablecoins securities? Are they systemically risky? Is any of this graven in stone? Find out in this episode.

Jerry and Peter discuss the third comment letter that Coin Center has filed in FinCEN’s ongoing crypto rulemaking. Topics include privacy issues surrounding currency transaction reports and why the current CTR proposal is not tech-neutral and prejudices cryptocurrency technologies.

In the wake of the WSB/GameStop saga, Jerry and Peter discuss the intersection of DeFi and regulation, plus an update on FinCEN’s now unfrozen crypto rule making.

Jerry and Peter discuss FinCEN extending the comment period in its crypto rule making, which is a bit of a victory, though we’re not out of the woods yet. We also discuss crypto in the NDAA and Gary Gensler appointed to chair the SEC.

Jerry and Peter discuss FinCEN's proposed new crypto midnight regulation, as well as the President's Working Group on Financial Markets statement on stablecoins, and FinCEN's announcement that it will develop rules applying FBAR requirements to cryptocurrency accounts.

Robin Weisman interviews Michael Casey about how he originally came to write about cryptocurrency, the path to becoming CoinDesk’s Chief Content Officer, and the future of media.

Jerry Brito talks to Daniel Rothschild about the role of think tanks in the modern policy making environment.

Peter Van Valkenburgh talks to Abe Sutherland about how we should (and shouldn’t) be taxing cryptocurrency block rewards.