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UNCHAINED: The SEC Thinks Crypto Airdrops Are Securities. Here's Why This Lawyer Thinks It's Wrong

CoinDesk Podcast Network

CoinDesk

News, Tech News, Daily News, Business News

4.7 • 698 Ratings

🗓️ 20 September 2024

⏱️ 35 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Congressmen Tom Emmer and Patrick McHenry sent the SEC a letter demanding clarification on how crypto airdrops are securities offerings. Amanda Tuminelli of the DeFi Education Fund breaks down why she thinks the SEC is wrong on its interpretation. This week, Republican Representatives Tom Emmer and Patrick McHenry sent a letter pressing SEC Chair Gary Gensler for clarity on how securities laws apply to airdrops. With billions of dollars worth of tokens airdropped this year alone, projects need clarity more than ever.  In this episode, Amanda Tuminelli, Chief Legal Officer of the DeFi Education Fund, dissects the SEC’s stance on airdrops, why her organization believes the SEC has stretched the legal definition of “compensation” too far, and what Congress might ask Gensler in his upcoming hearing. Plus, she talks about how the SEC “regrets” any confusion it caused for using the term “crypto assets securities,” since the agency now admits that tokens themselves are not securities.   Show highlights: Why Amanda believes the SEC’s position on airdrops doesn’t make sense Why the DeFi Education Fund sued the SEC over the BEBA airdrop  How the SEC’s position on airdrops has been clear for a while, but is “wrong” according to Amanda Her take on users bypassing the geographic restrictions to claim airdrops in the U.S. How and why the SEC has changed its language around “crypto assets securities” How the SEC’s new position on crypto assets implicating securities laws seems to rest on the “embodiment” theory Why Amanda believes the Supreme Court or Congress may be needed to step in What Amanda expects Congress to question Gary Gensler about in the hearing next week Amanda’s takeaways from the first Congressional DeFi hearing last week How she expects the presidential election will impact the regulatory landscape in the U.S. Visit our website for breaking news, analysis, op-eds, articles to learn about crypto, and much more: unchainedcrypto.com Thank you to our sponsors! Coinbase iTrustCapital Polkadot Mantle’s FBTC Stellar Guest Amanda Tuminelli, Chief legal officer of the DeFi Education Fund Previous appearances on Unchained:  Gary Gensler’s Case Against Uniswap: Does the SEC Even Stand a Chance? Is This the End of DeFi? Why the US Government Is Going After Tornado Cash Unchained Podcast is Produced by Laura Shin Media, LLC. Distributed by CoinDesk. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Transcript

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0:00.0

Thanks for listening to Unchained, your no-hype resource for all things crypto, on the Coin Desk

0:05.2

Podcast Network. You can also listen to the episodes on the Unchained feed earlier if you subscribe

0:10.8

there. Plus, check out all our content on our website, Unchained Crypto.com.

0:16.4

I just think that they're wrong on the law, and I think that the investment of money prong means money, investment of actual money.

0:27.2

Hi, everyone. Welcome to Unchained. You're a no-high resource for all things crypto. I'm your host, Laura Shin, author of The Cryptopians.

0:34.1

I started covering crypto nine years ago and as a senior editor, Forbes, was the first

0:37.9

nature reader-porter ticket for cryptocurrency full-time.

0:40.9

This is the September 20th, 2024 episode of Unchained.

0:45.3

Looking to elevate your crypto trading, get zero trading fees, boosted rewards, and priority

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