Law of Code

Latest Episodes:

#121 - MEV and OFAC Risk for Infrastructure Providers Nov 13, 2023

Show notes

Evan Zinaman (@zin_esq) is the Founder & Principal at Trailbreak, a boutique transactional firm providing tech-fluent corporate, regulatory, product and IP counsel and strategic advice to startups, builders and investors throughout the crypto space. Evan also serves as special crypto counsel to clients of Reed Smith, advising as part of an industry-spanning, global blockchain group that he helped found.

In this episode, we discuss Evan’s paper, “Where the Rubber Meets the Road: A MEV-Aware, Functionalist Review of OFAC Risk ‘on the Base Layer’”.

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.

#120 - Paradigm's Policy Lab with Rodrigo Seira and Brandon Malone Nov 06, 2023

Show notes

Rodrigo Seira (@RSSH273) is Special Counsel at Paradigm. Prior to joining Paradigm, he was outside counsel to crypto investors and entrepreneurs at Cooley LLP.

Brendan Malone (@brendanpmalone) is a Policy Manager at Paradigm. Prior to joining Paradigm, Brendan worked at the Federal Reserve where he focused on policy issues for financial market infrastructures.

Rodrigo and Brendan launched the Paradigm Policy Lab. The goal of the Lab is to be a gathering place for academics, policy experts, lawyers, and technologists to study how to address the biggest policy challenges in crypto. In this conversation, they share the origin story, goals and projects underway at the Lab.

Rodrigo mentions this book: Technological Revolutions and Financial Capital: The Dynamics of Bubbles and Golden Ages is an academic book by Carlota Perez.

#119 - Reviewing the EU's MiCA with William O’Rorke Oct 30, 2023

Show notes

William O’Rorke (@williamororke) is the Founding Partner of ORWL, a leading law firm assisting clients with businesses in the crypto space, VASPs and general Web3 services. He leads the regulatory practice at ORWL and is the head of the legal committee at ADAN, a French crypto association.

In this conversation, we discuss the most significant impacts MiCA will have on projects in the crypto space, the information White Papers must include under MiCA, what is not covered by the EU's landmark regulation and much more.

#118 - Crypto Taxes, NFT Settlements and Decentralization with Zach Rosenberg Oct 10, 2023

Show notes

Zach Rosenberg (@MeatEsq) is an attorney and principal at Rosehill Legal, a boutique transactional firm assisting early-stage founders, largely in the crypto space, with structuring, funding, building, and deploying products and networks.

He previously worked as an M&A Tax Director at PWC where he spent eight years advising large private equity firms and public company clients on large acquisitions, divestitures, and restructuring transactions.

You can connect with Zach via email at zach@rosehill.legal.

#117 - Ryne Miller on the CFTC's DeFi Settlements and the history of Gary Gensler Oct 02, 2023

Show notes

Ryne Miller is the founder and managing partner of Miller Strategic Partners LLP, a law firm specializing in:

1. Regulatory advice and investigations counsel for the traditional trading and markets industry;

2. Regulatory and strategic advice for digital asset and blockchain companies; and

3. Crisis and incident response management.

Ryne was previously General Counsel at FTX US, a Partner at Sullivan & Cromwell and Legal Counsel to Chairman Gary Gensler while at the CFTC, during the CFTC’s Dodd Frank rule-writing program.

#116 - Discussing Coinbase's L2 (Base) and FriendTech with Jolie Yang Sep 29, 2023

Show notes

Jolie Yang (@JolieYang) is a former legal partner to Coinbase's product, engineering, and design teams on its Web3 initiatives, such as self-custodial wallet, decentralized identity, digital assets, as product counsel. While at Coinbase, Jolie was part of the team that launched Base. Prior to Coinbase, Jolie was an attorney at Davis Polk and Skadden, Arps.

Show highlights:

[4:00] Working on Coinbase's IPO

[7:00] Building Base

[11:30] Potential Token for Base?

[16:00] How Base works

[23:00] Decentralization for a project incubated by a centralized institution

& much more.

#115 - Challenging Patents Impacting DeFi with Amanda Tuminelli of the DeFi Education Fund Sep 11, 2023

Show notes

Amanda Tuminelli (@amandatums) is chief legal officer for the Defi Education Fund, where she leads the organization’s impact litigation and policy efforts. She was previously an attorney at Kobre & Kim and Dechert LLP, and served as a Judicial Law Clerk for the Eastern District of New York.

Show highlights:

[1:00] DeFi Education Fund's petition to challenge a patent impacting DeFi

[12:00] Amanda's introduction to crypto

[21:00] Her role as Chief Legal Officer of the DeFi Education Fund

[25:00] SEC’s proposed rulemaking to amend existing rules regarding Alternative Trading Systems

[32:00] Kirschner v. JP Morgan Chase Bank, N.A

[39:00] Thoughts on the Financial Innovation and Technology for the 21st Century Act & the Blockchain Regulatory Certainty Act

[47:00] Ripple Decision

& much more.

#114 - CFTC Regulation of Crypto with Michael Frisch Sep 07, 2023

Show notes

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.

#113 - Decentralized Dispute Resolution with Mark Cianci of Ropes & Gray Sep 04, 2023

Show notes

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.

#112 - India's Crypto Law Regime with Ashish Chandra of CoinSwitch Aug 28, 2023

Show notes

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.