Lawyer, but not yours. Chief Policy Officer @blockchainassn. Board @fund_defi. Advisor @variantfund. Tweets are not legal or financial advice.
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Sep 26, 2018 • 16 tweets • 4 min read
0/ A quick summary of today's ruling in the My Big Coin case.
In short, a federal court says *all* digital currencies are commodities & the CFTC has jurisdiction to prosecute fraud & manipulation in crypto. In my view, the ruling is deeply flawed.
According to the CFTC, the defendants sold a crypto called "My Big Coin" by falsely claiming it was backed by gold (it wasn't).
They also pretended it was actively traded on exchanges (nope) & made up arbitrary prices to raise $6 million from defrauded investors.
Sep 20, 2018 • 30 tweets • 8 min read
0.0/ ETF FAQ.
My answers to some common questions about the SEC & the approval process for #bitcoin & #crypto ETFs. If you have a question I didn't address, feel free to ask here & I'll add on.
Thread.
1.0/ Q: "Who decides whether to approve or deny an ETF?"
The initial decision is made by SEC staff in the Division of Trading & Markets. If the staff denies an ETF proposal, the ETF sponsor can file an appeal, which will be decided by all of the SEC Commissioners.
Sep 11, 2018 • 22 tweets • 6 min read
0.0/ A lot of #crypto news today from the securities enforcement world:
- DOJ goes to trial on ICO-related securities fraud charges
- SEC charges broker-dealer & hedge fund with securities violations
- FINRA charges broker with fraud & dealing unregistered securities
Thread.
1.0/ Let's start with DOJ. Today's news relates to a federal criminal case in the Eastern District of New York: United States v. Maksim Zaslavskiy.
Zaslavskiy was charged in November 2017 on three counts of securities fraud in connection with two ICOs: "REcoin" and "DRC."
Sep 5, 2018 • 18 tweets • 5 min read
0/ A few thoughts on @ShapeShift_io's decision to start collecting users' personal information through a mandatory membership program.
In short, this is how regulators silently invade crypto.
1/ Historically, ShapeShift has enabled users to convert between a variety of digital assets with total anonymity.
The service reflected the principles of its CEO, @ErikVoorhees, a true bitcoiner who speaks passionately about financial privacy & separating money from state.
Aug 23, 2018 • 11 tweets • 3 min read
0/ The SEC killed *all* of the pending derivative-backed #bitcoin ETFs today. Why did they do it, and what does it mean?
0/ The SEC's final deadline to approve or deny the two ProShares Bitcoin ETFs is next Thursday, August 23 (sec.gov/rules/sro/nyse…). My thoughts on two questions:
- How will the SEC make its decision?
- Would these ETFs even be good for bitcoin?
Thread.
1/ In December 2017, the NYSE Arca exchange filed a proposal with the SEC to list and trade two ETFs issued by ProShares:
- ProShares Bitcoin ETF
- ProShares Bitcoin Short ETF
Both would use derivatives (futures, options, and swaps) to track bitcoin's daily price movements.
Aug 14, 2018 • 19 tweets • 5 min read
0/ Let's talk about @Ripple litigation & the slow journey toward answering the question: "is #XRP a security?"
Before you ask, I don't plan to discuss my own opinion on this issue. I'd rather leave that to the courts, as I'll explain here.
Thread.
1/ Ripple is currently defending four cases in California courts:
- Two state cases in San Mateo County, brought by plaintiffs Zakinov & Oconer
- Two federal cases in the Northern District of California, brought by Coffey & Greenwald
All four cases are securities class actions.
Aug 2, 2018 • 20 tweets • 6 min read
0/ Ross Ulbricht shouldn't spend the rest of his life in prison.
If you're wondering why his name keeps coming up on #cryptotwitter, please read this. It's long but important.
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1/ In 2011, Ross created Silk Road, a global marketplace to buy & sell goods, whether legal or not.
Silk Road was perhaps the first use case for #bitcoin: censorship-resistant internet money for an online market that governments badly wanted to censor.
Jul 24, 2018 • 13 tweets • 4 min read
0/ It kills me to tweet about SEC rulemaking procedures, but given the confusion on #crypto twitter today, it feels necessary.
TL;DR -- the SEC can, and probably will, delay its decision on the VanEck/SolidX commodity-backed #bitcoin ETF until ~February 21, 2019.
Thread.
1/ Some background. Unlike other types of funds (like mutual funds, closed-end funds, etc.), the federal securities laws did not originally provide for ETFs.
As a result, ETFs have to obtain an individualized exemptive order from the SEC before going to market.
Jun 15, 2018 • 17 tweets • 7 min read
0/ #Cryptotwitter sharpening its knives for @Ripple today. Plenty of good takes already on whether $XRP is a security, so let me tackle a different question: what happens next?
Spoiler: if you're wondering "when @bgarlinghouse perp walk," prepare to be disappointed.
Thread.
1/ First, keep in mind that the SEC's guidance yesterday is *not* the law. It's only the SEC's current (and non-binding) interpretation of the law -- an explainer for how the SEC will make charging decisions in the #crypto space.
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