Consensys Sues SEC, Crypto's Legal Battles, and More!
This Week on Unchained: Don't miss the interviews with Jake Chervinsky, chief legal officer of Variant, and Laura Brookover, head of litigation and investigations at Consensys.
On Thursday, Consensys sued the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) in a Texas federal court, seeking to prevent an impending SEC action against its MetaMask wallet and to clarify that ether is not a security.
The complaint calls out the agency for what Consensys describes as “regulatory overreach,” challenges its notion that ether is a security, and says the SEC has violated the Constitutional requirement of fair notice under the due process clause. It notes that for years, the SEC and its sister agency, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, took the position that ether is not a security.
The lawsuit also challenges the SEC’s recent focus on Ethereum’s switch to proof of stake in 2022 as a basis for increased scrutiny, a stance Consensys CEO Joseph Lubin deemed “preposterous.”
Laura Brookover, senior counsel and head of litigation and investigations at Consensys, joined Unchained to unpack the lawsuit and what it means for the future of Ethereum and overall crypto in the US.
Listen to the episode on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Pods, Fountain, Overcast, Podcast Addict, Pocket Casts, Castbox, Google Podcasts, Amazon Music, or on your favorite podcast platform. Or watch it on YouTube.
Jake Chervinsky, chief legal officer of Variant, discusses the current state of crypto regulation, touching on several ongoing legal and regulatory issues in the crypto space, including Uniswap’s Wells notice, the Coinbase case, the Tornado Cash case, the Ethereum Foundation investigation and more. Chervinsky argues that the government’s approach to these cases is often misguided, particularly in instances where they hold software developers liable for how third parties use their software. He also discusses the potential implications of the government’s case against Tornado Cash, suggesting that it could have far-reaching consequences for all open-source software developers.
Chervinsky also delves into the SEC’s ongoing investigations into the Ethereum Foundation, as well as the recent IRS draft form that lists unhosted wallets as a type of broker. He expressed concern about the potential impact of these investigations on the crypto industry, but remained optimistic about the future of DeFi in the US.
Listen to the episode on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Pods, Fountain, Overcast, Podcast Addict, Pocket Casts, Castbox, Google Podcasts, Amazon Music, or on your favorite podcast platform. Or watch it on YouTube.
In this episode, we delve into the SEC’s recent scrutiny of Uniswap, exploring the potential legal and regulatory impacts on the DeFi landscape. We also discuss the unprecedented flooding in Dubai and its effects on the recent crypto conference, highlighting the resilience of the crypto community in the face of natural disasters. Shifting our focus to Bitcoin, we analyze the implications of the latest halving event and what it means for Bitcoin’s inflation rate and market dynamics.
Listen to the episode on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Pods, Fountain, Overcast, Podcast Addict, Pocket Casts, Castbox, Google Podcasts, Amazon Music, or on your favorite podcast platform. Or watch it on YouTube.
In Case You Missed It 👀
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Around-the-Clock NYSE Trading Could ‘Boost Everything’ — Including Crypto
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Blockchain Association Sues SEC Over Dealer Rule
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