If the SEC Sues OpenSea, Here's Why the NFT Platform Could Win Easily - Ep. 696

Unchained

Laura Shin

News, Tech News, Business News

4.5 • 1.3K Ratings

🗓️ 30 August 2024

⏱️ 36 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

The SEC’s latest enforcement action is targeting NFTs, and OpenSea is in the crosshairs. In this episode, crypto lawyer Preston Byrne joins to unpack the implications of the SEC's Wells Notice to OpenSea and what it might mean for the platform and the broader NFT market. Could Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act provide a unique defense for OpenSea? Preston also dives into other recent SEC moves, including cases against Stoner Cats, Impact Theory, and more. Lastly, with the 2024 elections looming and political divides sharpening, is the SEC overreaching in its approach to crypto? Show highlights: Why Preston believes that the SEC will go after OpenSea for being an unregistered securities exchange What the Stoner Cats case was about and why it was not a strong enforcement action, according to Preston Why OpenSea's defense against the SEC may hinge on Section 230 protections for user-generated content, setting it apart from traditional exchanges like Coinbase or Binance How the clear-cut promises made by Impact Theory about potential returns made their NFTs resemble securities, unlike the typical art-focused NFTs on OpenSea Why Nate Chastain’s NFT insider trading case is unlikely to impact the SEC’s potential lawsuit against OpenSea Whether the $4 million settlement by Dapper Labs over NBA Top Shot NFTs likely represents little relevance to OpenSea's SEC issues What a Wells notice signals about the SEC's likelihood of suing OpenSea and why they might feel confident about winning this case How Jonathan Mann and Brian Frye's lawsuit for clarity on NFTs as securities highlights the SEC's potentially overreaching stance in its possible case against OpenSea How Trump's careful language around his NFT collection likely minimizes SEC risk by avoiding investment promises and focusing on their use as digital collectibles Whether the SEC's actions could reinforce the divide among crypto voters, with Trump promising a crypto-friendly stance and Harris likely continuing a more adversarial approach Visit our website for breaking news, analysis, op-eds, articles to learn about crypto, and much more: unchainedcrypto.com Thank you to our sponsors! iTrustCapital Polkadot Token 2049 Mantle’s FBTC Gemini Guest Preston Byrne, Managing Partner at Byrne & Storm Links Wells notice Original announcement by X by OpenSea’s CEO Devin Finzer Unchained: OpenSea's Wells Notice From the SEC Could Prove ‘Disastrous’ Recent cases Unchained: Are NFTs Securities Offerings? Two Artists Sue the SEC to Find Out The Defiant: NFTs Are Securities? All Eyes Turn to Top Shot Case Reuters: US regulator fines Stoner Cats creator for offering NFTs Ex-OpenSea manager sentenced to 3 months in prison for NFT insider trading Hester Peirce’s dissent on the Stoner Cats case Others Paper: The Economic Reality of NFT Securities. Mondaq: Defining NFTs: Property, Securities, Or Commodities? National Post: Trump’s newest NFTs show him as superhero, boxer and motorcyclist Timestamps: 00:00 - Introduction 02:11 - SEC targets OpenSea: Unregistered exchange? 03:58 - Stoner Cats case: Weak for SEC? 07:42 - OpenSea's defense: Section 230 protections 13:15 - Impact Theory's promises vs. OpenSea's NFTs 15:34 - Nate Chastain's case 17:15 - Dapper Labs settlement: Relevance to OpenSea 18:56 - Wells notice: SEC's confidence to sue 19:48 - Mann & Frye's lawsuit: SEC overreach? 22:39 - Trump’s NFT strategy: Minimizing SEC risk 24:53 - What this Wells notice says about the presidential election 58:25 - News Recap Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:15.8	The fact that the SEC is suing OpenC at the same time that you have pretty smart people also asking the SEC for a declaratory judgment, which gives them with clarity and clearance to engage in bona fide artistic activity suggests that the current regulatory approach being adopted by the agency is maybe less than appropriate for the space and that
0:21.8	maybe they're overreaching in the open C case. changed, you're a no-hay food source for all things crypto. I'm your host, Laura Shin, author of The
0:34.7	Cryptopians. I started covering crypto nine years ago and as a senior editor of Forbes was the first
0:39.8	matrimaturmate reporter to a cryptocurrency full-time.
0:42.8	This is the August 30th 2024 episode of Unchained.
0:46.6	Today's episode is brought to you by Gemini, a U.S.-based crypto exchange built for new and advanced
0:51.5	traders. Gemini is offering new customers $15 in BTC when they trade.
0:56.0	Sign up today to earn your Bitcoin.
0:58.0	FBTC is the fastest growing Omni Chain BTC asset this summer.
1:02.0	Join FBTC asset this summer.
1:02.6	Join FBTC points inspired campaign
1:05.0	where you can hold FBTC to earn sparks,
1:07.6	lucrative yields, and token drops,
1:09.7	all on your Bitcoin.
1:11.5	With I trust capital, you can buy and sell crypto in a tax advantage. on your
1:14.2	Bitcoin. With I trust capital you can buy and sell crypto in a tax advantage retirement
1:15.4	account. Enjoy significant tax advantages, 24-7 access,
1:19.3	and the industry's lowest fees.
1:22.0	Pocadot is the original and leading Layer Zero blockchain
1:25.0	with over 2,000 plus developers,
1:27.0	and the Pocodot 2.0 upgrade will be a massive accelerator
1:30.0	for the ecosystem.
	...

Please login to see the full transcript.

Previous episode | Next episode

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.