How Block.One Got Away With Just a $24 Million Penalty - Ep.93

Heads up, everybody! We are launching a weekly news recap, so stay tuned after the interview to find out about the top stories in crypto this week! (Links below.) Zachary Fallon, principal at Blakemore Fallon and former SEC staffer, explains why the SEC penalty against Block.One, which raised $4 billion in a yearlong ICO, got a penalty of just $24 million and didn't have to register EOS tokens as securities. He also discusses how this differs from the Kik case, what we can learn from another SEC order this week against Nebulous and what other gray areas remain for potential token issuers who may want to sell to U.S. citizens. We also go over the Crypto Rating Council, and what significance those ratings could have on the way they are regulated, if any. Thank you to our sponsors!  eToro: https://www.etoro.com Crypto.com: https://crypto.com CipherTrace: http://ciphertrace.com/unconfirmed Episode links:  SEC press release about the Block.One settlement: https://www.sec.gov/news/press-release/2019-202 SEC Order re. Block.One: https://www.sec.gov/litigation/admin/2019/33-10714.pdf Cooley letter on Block.one: https://www.sec.gov/divisions/corpfin/cf-noaction/2019/block.one-093019-506.pdf Katherine Wu’s annotated settlement: https://static1.squarespace.com/static/5ac136ed12b13f7c187bdf21/t/5d92c33d937a3466c0c723a9/1569899329538/33-10714.pdf SEC action on Nebulous: https://www.sec.gov/enforce/33-10715-s Jake Chervinsky tweet storm on the settlement: https://twitter.com/jchervinsky/status/1179162527541993472?s=20 Marco Santori tweet storm on the settlement: https://twitter.com/msantoriESQ/status/1178811671621591040?s=20 Crypto Rating Council: https://www.wsj.com/articles/cryptocurrency-exchanges-including-coinbase-to-rate-digital-assets-11569835801 CRC ratings thus far: https://twitter.com/lawmaster/status/1178627290676301824?s=20 Articles from this week’s news recap: Paypal to Back Out of Libra Association: https://www.ft.com/content/6af11092-e5fd-11e9-9743-db5a370481bc Visa, Mastercard, Other Libra Association Members Jittery: https://www.wsj.com/articles/visa-mastercard-others-reconsider-involvement-in-facebook-s-libra-network-11569967023 Federal Advisory Doesn’t Like Libra: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2019-09-30/bankers-advising-fed-board-describe-libra-as-a-monetary-threat SEC press release about the order: https://www.sec.gov/news/press-release/2019-202 The order itself: https://www.sec.gov/litigation/admin/2019/33-10714.pdf Larry Cermak of The Block on the order: https://www.theblockcrypto.com/post/41612/dont-ask-for-permission-hire-good-lawyers-and-then-ask-for-forgiveness Letter from House Reps re digital dollar: https://static.coindesk.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/Foster-Hill-US-Crypto.pdf Crypto Rating Council: https://www.wsj.com/articles/cryptocurrency-exchanges-including-coinbase-to-rate-digital-assets-11569835801 Cermak tweet storm: https://twitter.com/lawmaster/status/1178622451451867136?s=20 Blockchain executive departures: http://thein.fo/9a4fd2f9cab44d7d LedgerX-CFTC dispute: https://www.coindesk.com/ledgerx-claims-personal-animus-drove-ex-cftc-chair-to-stall-approvals