#201 - The CLARITY Act

What is the CLARITY Act? Maybe the most important piece of financial legislation in a generation. This podcast explains the history of U.S. digital asset regulation, why regulation-by-enforcement failed and what the CLARITY Act addresses, plus remaining steps for this to become law.Guests:Lewis Cohen, Partner & Co-Chair of CahillNXT's Digital Assets & Emerging Technology practiceMiles Jennings, Head of Policy & General Counsel for a16z cryptoSarah Brennan, general counsel at Delphi VenturesKyle Bligen, Head of Policy and Public Affairs at the Decentralization Research CenterMiller Whitehouse-Levine, CEO at Solana Policy InstituteDugan Bliss, Head of Litigation at BinanceBy the end of this episode, I promise you'll be in the 99th percentile for understanding CLARITY, regardless of whether you're a lawyer, builder or operator. Timestamps:0:00 Intro4:46 Explaining market structure6:05 Regulatory distortion10:43 Predecessor bills13:35 Senate Banking markup takeaways 15:46 SEC & CFTC20:37 The Securities Act of 193323:07 The Howey Test25:26 The Ineluctable Modality of Securities Law 28:51 SEC enforcement32:32 Why SEC rulemaking isn't enough37:36 Titles of CLARITY40:00 Digital commodities47:29 Investment contract principles 54:10 Promoters: originators58:18 Promoters: related persons 1:04:13 Token taxonomy 1:11:02 Ancillary asset requirements1:19:34 The certification process 1:28:32 Remaining hurdles for CLARITY1:34:50 Stablecoin yield1:38:45 Ethics 1:45:50 Tax consequences 1:48:54 Thanking people working on the bill, such as @SenLummis, @gillibrandny, @SenatorTimScott, @SenatorHagerty, @SenThomTillis, @MarkWarner, @SenRubenGallego, @Sen_Alsobrooks, their staffs & many, many others.Newsletter: I'm re-launching the Law of Code newsletter soon: you can ⁠⁠⁠stay updated on emerging tech law for free here⁠⁠⁠. https://www.lawofcode.fm/Any feedback on this episode? Or how to improve the podcast? ⁠⁠Click here⁠⁠. https://forms.gle/W4d2a5aHuLJjuNdn7Disclaimer: This podcast is for informational and educational purposes only and does not constitute legal or investment advice. Views expressed by guests are their own and do not necessarily reflect those of their employers. Listening to this podcast does not create an attorney-client relationship.