Law of Code

In this episode, Jonathan Schmalfeld and Jacob Robinson walk through the biggest crypto law and policy developments of the month of November. Jonathan is the Policy Director at The Digital Chamber, where he leads federal and state advocacy on digital asset regulation. Timestamps: ➡️ 1:19 — Senate Agriculture Committee releases market structure draft ➡️ 3:22 — Why DeFi and AML sections remain blank...

Greg Xethalis, General Counsel at Multicoin Capital joins the podcast to discuss the history of ETFs, what we can learn from the first Bitcoin ETF, and the interplay between the CLARITY Act and RFIA. This episode also covers the challenges of disclosure in decentralized systems, and why principles-based regulation is essential for the next phase of crypto innovation. Timestamps ➡️ 1:27 — The origi...

After the GENIUS Act was enacted, the U.S. Treasury issued an Advance Notice of Proposed Rulemaking to gather public and industry input before drafting implementing regulations. Some of the most influential submissions came from major banking and traditional finance associations, outlining how they believe U.S. stablecoin regulation should look. J.W. Verret, Associate Professor of Law at the Anton...

Staking is now officially on the table for U.S. crypto ETFs. In this episode, I’m joined by Jason Schwartz (@CryptoTaxGuyETH), a tax partner at CahillNXT , Cahill’s digital assets and emerging technology practice. Jason specializes in tax issues relating to digital assets, financial products, securitizations, lending, treaties, and fund structures. We break down Treasury and the IRS’s new safe har...

In this episode, Jason Gottlieb, Chair of Morrison Cohen’s Digital Assets Department and White Collar & Regulatory Enforcement Practice Group, breaks down the litigation trends shaping crypto today. Timestamps: ➡️ 0:44 — Why litigation is shifting from regulators to private disputes ➡️ 3:37 — Statute of limitations: the five-year vs. ten-year reality ➡️ 8:14 — Inside the revamped Morrison Cohe...

In this episode, Jacob is joined by DoubleZero’s General Counsel, Mari Tomunen, and Cooley’s Connor Tweardy to unpack the U.S. SEC’s Division of Corporation Finance’s landmark no-action letter to DoubleZero, a decentralized physical infrastructure (DePIN) project that became the first crypto initiative in over five years to secure such relief. Timestamps: ➡️ 01:20 – Why DoubleZero engaged with the...

Joris Delanoue, Co-CEO of Fairmint, joins the podcast to discuss how his SEC-registered transfer agent has already issued and managed over $1B of equity on-chain. We explore the legal distinctions between mirrored tokens and natively on-chain securities and how compliance can be built directly into smart contracts. Timestamps: ➡️ 00:00 — Intro ➡️ 00:46 — Sponsor: Day One Law ➡️ 01:09 — Why bring e...

Stablecoins are no longer a side story — they’re on the path to becoming the backbone of global digital finance. To unpack what the GENIUS Act means for the U.S. dollar, stablecoin issuers, and banking competition, I sat down with Austin Campbell, Founder and Managing Partner of Zero Knowledge Consulting and an Adjunct Professor at Columbia Business School. Austin previously led Stable Value Tradi...

DUNA — the Decentralized Unincorporated Nonprofit Association — is one of the most important new legal structures for crypto governance. To understand its history, tax implications, and jurisdictional trade-offs, I sat down with David Kerr , founder of Cowrie , a crypto-native advisory firm specializing in U.S. tax compliance and entity structuring. David was instrumental in drafting the Wyoming D...

DOJ Criminal Division Chief Matthew Galeotti recently stated: “Merely writing code, without ill intent, is not a crime.” He emphasized that developers of neutral tools should not be held liable for someone else’s misuse. Joining me to unpack what this means for developers is Amanda Tuminelli , Executive Director of the DeFi Education Fund. We discuss the DOJ’s remarks, DEF’s role in shaping the co...

Sponsor: This episode of the Law of Code podcast is brought to you by Day One Law, a boutique corporate law firm for founders and funds in crypto. Learn more at ⁠dayonelaw.com⁠ . The regulatory winds in Washington have shifted dramatically, and Anchorage Digital has been in the middle of it all. Kevin Wysocki, Head of Policy at Anchorage Digital, joins the podcast to discuss: 01:07 – White House c...

This episode is brought to you by Day One Law, a boutique corporate law firm helping crypto startups navigate complex legal challenges. Visit ⁠⁠dayonelaw.xyz⁠⁠ to get in touch, or ⁠⁠subscribe to their free newsletter⁠⁠ for crypto legal updates. Show notes: In early August, the Uniswap Foundation proposed that Uniswap Governance adopt a Wyoming-registered DUNA (Decentralized Unincorporated Nonprofi...

The Roman Storm trial ended with one guilty verdict, raising big questions about what comes next for developers and open-source protocols. To unpack the implications, I’m joined by Peter Van Valkenburgh, Executive Director of Coin Center. Coin Center is hosting their annual dinner on Thursday, September 25, 2025 at the Plaza Hotel in New York City. Timestamps: ➡️ 00:00 – Introduction ➡️ 01:00 – Ex...

Crypto tax expert Jason Schwartz joins the podcast to break down what founders get wrong about taxes — and what’s changing in 2025. Jason is a partner at Cahill NXT, where he specializes in the tax treatment of digital assets, financial products, and decentralized protocols. In this episode, he shares insights on how projects are approaching structuring, the rise of 501(c)(4) entities, common tax...

SEC Commissioner Hester Peirce and Crypto Task Force Chief Counsel Mike Selig return to the podcast to share updates from the SEC’s Crypto Task Force — plus their thoughts on tokenized securities, market structure legislation, exemptive relief, and the role of decentralization in regulatory design. Timestamps: ➡️ 00:00 — Intro ➡️ 00:46 — Sponsor: Day One Law ➡️ 01:09 — Tokenizing securities: what...

Derivatives expert Katherine Kirkpatrick Bos, General Counsel of StarkWare, joins the podcast to discuss the first-ever CFTC-regulated "perpetual-style" futures contracts to occur onshore — a move that may pull trading volume back from offshore exchanges and reshape global market dynamics. Prior to joining StarkWare, Katherine was Chief Legal Officer of Cboe Digital, a U.S. regulated exc...

Stablecoins have grown from a total value of ~$2 billion in 2019 to over $230 billion by early 2025, enabling $33 trillion in transactions across 236 million wallets. But beneath this growth lies a deep — and fragile — dependence on the U.S. Treasury market. Professor Yesha Yadav of Vanderbilt Law School and Brendan Malone, formerly of Paradigm, the Federal Reserve Board, and MIT, discuss their pa...

Jessi Brooks is the General Counsel & Chief Compliance Officer at Ribbit Capital. Prior to Ribbit, Jessi was an attorney at the U.S. Department of Justice, where she worked on high-profile crypto and national security cases. Jessi explains the blockchain tools used in the Bitfinex hack, why crypto > cash, how the DOJ works with stablecoin issuers, and much more. The conversation also covers...

What steps should founders and their counsel take when launching a token or product in web3? In this episode, Jacob Robinson is joined by Nima Maleki (@Nimathefish), Counsel at Day One Law. Nima designs legal roadmaps for clients, including product counseling, token launches, and fundraising structures. Nima shares what’s market for launching blockchain products — ranging from regulatory and decen...

In this episode, Jacob Robinson is joined by Justin Wales (@bitcoin_wales), Head of Legal (Americas) at Crypto.com and author of The Crypto Legal Handbook. Sponsor : This episode is brought to you by Day One Law — a boutique law firm helping crypto startups navigate complex legal challenges. Visit https://www.dayonelaw.xyz/ to get in touch. With the release of the book’s second edition, Justin sha...

If the law were truly “technology-neutral,” what would that look like in practice for a P2P securities transaction via smart contracts? In this episode, Jacob Robinson is joined by Tuongvy Le (@TuongvyLe12), who has served as General Counsel of Anchorage Digital, Partner and Head of Regulatory and Policy at Bain Capital Crypto, and Deputy GC and Compliance Officer at Worldcoin. She also spent almo...

In this episode, Jacob Robinson is joined by Dr. Chris Brummer (@ChrisBrummerDr), Professor of Financial Technology at Georgetown Law and Founder & CEO of Bluprynt, an AI and blockchain-powered platform for automating regulatory disclosures. Together, they unpack the SEC’s recent statement: Offerings and Registrations of Securities in the Crypto Asset Markets — a document that some say could m...

In this conversation, Jacob Robinson and Amanda Tuminelli, Executive Director of the DeFi Education Fund, delve into the criminal code provision punishing unlicensed money transmitting businesses, why this is relevant for developers of non-custodial crypto projects, and how a recent memo from the Department of Justice on ending “the regulatory weaponization against digital assets" might not have g...

Jacob Robinson and Larry Florio delve into the SEC's recent statement on stablecoins and how SEC staff applied the Reves and Howey tests to determine whether stablecoins are considered securities. Show highlights: [2:00] What this statement means for lawyers [3:30] When stablecoins aren't securities [7:00] The platonic ideal of a stablecoin [11:00] Applying the Reves test to Covered Stable...

Josh Lawler is a partner at Zuber Lawler, where he leads the firm’s Emerging Technologies Group with a particular emphasis on blockchain technology. Josh previously practiced as a corporate securities and M&A attorney at Skadden, Arps. Jener Sakiri is an associate at Zuber Lawler and focuses on transactional and regulatory matters. He often works with clients involved in blockchain technology....