meta_pixel
Tapesearch Logo
Log in
Unchained

Ex-CFTC Commissioner Berkovitz Says ‘DeFi Should Be Regulated’ – But How? - Ep. 496

Unchained

Laura Shin

Tech News, Business News, News

4.61.3K Ratings

🗓️ 23 May 2023

⏱️ 82 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

In the SEC’s push to rein in the crypto sector, one question looms large: Is ETH a security? Dan Berkovitz, a former CFTC commissioner and SEC general counsel, and Colin Lloyd, a partner at law firm Sullivan & Cromwell, assess the current state of the regulatory turf war in the U.S., shedding light on some of Washington’s unanswered questions.  Listen to the episode on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Overcast, Podcast Addict, Pocket Casts, Stitcher, Castbox, Google Podcasts, TuneIn, Amazon Music, or on your favorite podcast platform. Show highlights: how an asset can be both a commodity and a security what it means that bitcoin and ether were listed as non-security futures whether The Merge may have changed regulators’ views on the classification of ETH who would be responsible for determining that ETH is a security what Colin and Dan say about ETH being a security or not what would happen if any regulator, be it the CFTC or SEC, determined that ETH is a security how and whether DeFi applications should be regulated why it is important to consider the “human initiative” behind DeFi platforms the implications of having a technology that allows for the sale of securities without an intermediary the implications of the SEC’s proposal to change the definition of an exchange how new technologies were integrated with the regulatory system in the past and how that differs from the current approach of the SEC the problems of trying to regulate a technology that’s changing so fast how other jurisdictions have been taking a more proactive approach to regulating digital assets Thank you to our sponsors! Crypto.com Guests: Dan Berkovitz, former General Counsel at the SEC and former Commissioner at the CFTC. Previous appearance on Unchained: Can a DeFi Smart Contract Be Regulated? Two CFTC Commissioners Discuss Colin Lloyd, partner at Sullivan & Cromwell Previous coverage of Unchained on crypto regulation:  ‘Is ETH a Security?’ Why Gary Gensler Couldn’t Give Congress a Straight Answer Coinbase's Legal Action Against the SEC: How It Will Likely Unfold Rep. Emmer on Why He Believes Gary Gensler Is a ‘Bad-Faith Regulator’ Is the Government Trying to Kill Off Crypto in the US? Coinbase’s Top Lawyer Calls SEC Wells Notice a ‘Massive Overreach’ Links CoinDesk:  U.S. SEC Moves Toward DeFi Oversight as It Reopens Proposed Regulations SEC Chair Gensler Declines to Say if Ether Is a Security in Contentious Congressional Hearing Bloomberg: CFTC Chair Rostin Behnam on the Fight to Regulate Crypto Unchained:  SEC Chair Gary Gensler Avoids Question: ‘Is Ethereum a Security?’ SEC Sues Bittrex, Names Dash, Algorand and Other Tokens ‘Crypto Asset Securities’ Coinbase Seeks to Compel SEC Response to Rulemaking Petition SEC Asks Court to Deny Coinbase Demand for Crypto Rules Financial Institutions Hub: SEC Proposal Targets Crypto Exchanges, Trading Platforms, and Brokers Emmer and Soto Introduce Bipartisan Bill to Provide Regulatory Clarity for Digital Assets Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0

Hi, everyone. Welcome to Unchained, your no-hype resource for all things crypto. I'm your

0:07.8

host, Laura Shinn, author of The Cryptopians. I started a Cripto 8 years ago, and as

0:13.0

a senior editor, Forbes was the first mainstream media reporter to cover cryptocurrency full

0:17.0

time. This is the May 23rd, 2023 episode of Unchained.

0:21.5

If you've been enjoying Unchained, please subscribe to our mailing list for more regular updates.

0:25.7

Visit UnchainedCrypto.substac.com to join.

0:29.3

If you've been enjoying Unchained and find the discussions here, fascinating, mind-blowing,

0:33.5

or, as crypto tends to be, downright bonkers, please share this episode with a friend to

0:38.5

keep the conversation going.

0:40.7

Buy, trade, and spend crypto on the Crypto.com app. New users can enjoy zero credit card

0:46.2

fees on crypto purchases in the first seven days. Download the Crypto.com app and get

0:51.5

$25 with the code Laura. Link in the description.

0:56.2

Today's topic is the regulatory uncertainty around crypto. Here to discuss our Dan

1:01.2

Berkowitz, former local council at the SEC and former commissioner at the CFC, and Colin

1:07.0

Lloyd, partner at Sullivan and Cromwell. Welcome, Dan and Colin.

1:10.9

Thank you, Lords. Pleasure to be here again.

1:12.7

I'm very happy to join you today, Laura.

1:15.5

This podcast idea grew out of a discussion that occurred at a satellite event during consensus.

1:22.7

This was at Gritthouse Daily, and Dan and I were on a panel together, and crypto regulation,

1:27.6

obviously, was a big topic then as it is generally in the industry. Dan said something that

1:34.5

I ended up questioning him about. He said that, when CFTC Chair Rosston Benham says that

1:40.7

ETH is a commodity, and SEC Chair Gary Gensler says that it's a security, that those two

...

Please login to see the full transcript.

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from Laura Shin, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

Generated transcripts are the property of Laura Shin and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.

Copyright © Tapesearch 2026.