The Chopping Block: Paul Grewal on Regulation, Tokenization, and Crypto’s Next Legal Frontier – Ep 867

Unchained

Laura Shin

News, Tech News, Business News

4.5 • 1.3K Ratings

🗓️ 11 July 2025

⏱️ 42 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Welcome to The Chopping Block – where crypto insiders Haseeb Qureshi, Tom Schmidt, Tarun Chitra, and Robert Leshner chop it up about the latest in crypto. In this episode, the gang is joined by Paul Grewal, Chief Legal Officer at Coinbase, for a wide-ranging conversation on crypto’s next big frontier: tokenized stocks. From Robinhood’s controversial attempt to tokenize SpaceX and OpenAI shares to the legal and structural hurdles around pre-IPO derivatives, the crew dives deep into what it really takes to bring Wall Street on-chain. They also unpack the regulatory momentum behind the Genius and Clarity Acts, the return of ICO mania with Pump.fun’s $1B token raise, and the absurdly viral drama of Suitgate on Polymarket. Is this a new era of regulated innovation—or are we just recreating old problems on new rails? Tune in for sharp takes, legal insight, and a few laughs along the way. Show highlights 🔹 Tokenized Stocks Take Center Stage – Robinhood, SoFi, and Republic dive into pre-IPO trading; is this a financial revolution or regulatory chaos? 🔹 Coinbase’s Legal Strategy – Paul Grewal reflects on Coinbase’s battles with the SEC and what it took to survive crypto’s darkest legal hour 🔹 Pre-IPO Derivatives vs. Real Ownership – The crew debates whether retail is getting access or getting played 🔹 Robinhood vs. OpenAI – The tokenized equity stunt that triggered a corporate backlash and raised eyebrows across the industry 🔹 24/7 Markets, Finally? – Why crypto-native trading hours could break traditional finance 🔹 Pump.fun’s $1B ICO – The return of ICO mania? The team dissects crypto’s most profitable meme machine 🔹 Are Tokenized Stocks Useful Yet? – Tarun challenges the hype: where’s the real utility? 🔹 The Clarity & Genius Acts – Crypto legislation heats up in Washington—can the industry lock in meaningful reform? 🔹 Suitgate Explained – Zelensky’s outfit spawns a scandal on Polymarket: was it a suit or not? 🔹 Market Manipulation, Oracles & Meme Justice – Prediction markets meet internet chaos in the wildest crypto dispute of the week ⭐️Haseeb Qureshi, Managing Partner at Dragonfly ⭐️Robert Leshner, CEO & Co-founder of Superstate⭐️Tarun Chitra, Managing Partner at Robot Ventures⭐️Tom Schmidt, General Partner at Dragonfly Special Guest ⭐️Paul Grewal, Chief Legal Officer at Coinbase Timestamps 00:00 Intro feat. Paul Grewal 01:23 How Coinbase Beat the SEC 04:49 Robinhood, OpenAI & the Pre-IPO Stock Craze 19:38 Crypto Regulation in 2025: Clarity & Genius Act 24:39 Why the Clarity Act Could Define Crypto’s Next Decade 27:10 Pump.fun’s ICO: Memecoin Mania or Market Maturity? 32:25 Suitgate on Polymarket: A Wild Crypto Scandal 39:19 The Future of Prediction Markets Disclosures Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	You know, retail can come in and buy this, like, garbage, marked up, you know, private stock slop on, you know, their brokerage.
0:06.8	But, like, oh, you can't actually buy this, like, SpaceX derivative.
0:10.0	I just feel like it's very, like, you know, paternalistic.
0:11.9	Not a dividend.
0:12.9	It's a tale of two quond.
0:14.0	Now, your losses are on someone else's balance.
0:16.8	Generally speaking, air drops are kind of pointless anyways. Unnamed trading firms who are very involved.
0:22.4	D5.8 is the ultimate problem.
0:24.5	DFI protocols are the antidote to this problem.
0:27.9	Hello, everyone.
0:28.5	Welcome to the chopping block.
0:29.4	Every couple of weeks, the four of us get together
0:30.7	and give the industry insider perspective
0:32.2	on the crypto topics of the day.
0:34.3	So quick intro is first you got Tom,
0:35.6	the Defy Maven and Master of Memes.
0:37.1	Hello, everyone. Thanks, we got Robert, the Cryptoconuconessur, and Tsar of Super State. Good morning.
0:41.7	And you've got Tarun, the Gigabrain, and Grand Puba at Gauntlet. And joining us once again,
0:46.2	we have Paul Growall, Chief Legalese Officer at Coinbase. Hello. And I'm a Steve the head hype man at Dragonfly. We're early-stage investors in crypto.
0:57.9	But I want to caveat that nothing we say here is investment advice, legal advice, or even life advice.
1:00.4	Please see chopping blocks at XYZ for more disclosures.
1:04.2	So we are here at the Coinbase Institutional Summit.
	...

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