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Further Comments to the Securities Exchange Commission on Amendments Regarding the Definition of ‘Exchange’ and Alternative Trading Systems

A direct download of this comment is available here. To whom it may concern: Coin Center is an independent nonprofit research and advocacy center focused on the public policy issues...

How Congress should (and should not) approach DeFi

Prior restraint on merely publishing code is never the answer

Given that Congress is now considering cryptocurrency market structure legislation, we felt it was important to reiterate the distinction between activities by market actors that may be appropriately regulated, and...

Treasury’s new DeFi risk assessment relies on ill-fitting frameworks and makes potentially unconstitutional recommendations

The report misunderstands self custody, smart contracts, and other key elements relevant to AML policy

Yesterday the Treasury Department released a “DeFi Illicit Finance Risk Assessment.” While the report does not announce any new or changed policy, and correctly acknowledges the much larger illicit finance...

The RESTRICT Act creates blanket authority, with few checks, to ban just about anything linked to a ‘foreign adversary’

An overbroad attempt to ban crypto using these new powers would be open to a court challenge, but the law has worryingly narrow avenues for review

The RESTRICT Act, introduced by Senators Warner and Thune, aims to block or disrupt transactions and financial holdings involving foreign adversaries that pose risks to national security. Although the primary...

A Snapshot of the Current Questions and Unsettled Policy Related to Cryptocurrency Taxation

Tax issues range from general questions about how digital assets should be taxed to technical issues dealing with accounting practices and reporting obligations. Novel technological aspects of digital assets that...

The Digital Asset Anti-Money Laundering Act is an opportunistic, unconstitutional assault on cryptocurrency self custody, developers, and node operators

Nothing about the bill would prevent the next FTX. In fact, it puts users at more risk.

The bipartisan Digital Asset Anti-Money Laundering Act, introduced today by Sens. Warren and Marshall, is the most direct attack on the personal freedom and privacy of cryptocurrency users and developers...

Tornado Cash is no “golem.” It’s a tool for privacy and free speech.

A rebuttal of a recent article in Lawfare by Henry Farrell and Bruce Schneier

In a recent article in Lawfare, Henry Farrell and Bruce Schneier defend sanctions imposed on Tornado Cash, a privacy tool on the Ethereum network. They argue that these sanctions are...

Coin Center amicus brief in Grayscale v SEC

Coin Center filed this amicus curiae brief regarding the SEC's inconsistent standard for cryptocurrency related products

A direct download of this brief is available here. 

Coin Center is suing OFAC over its Tornado Cash sanction

OFAC does not have the authority to sanction a smart contract and Americans have a right to use privacy tools

Privacy is not the default on Ethereum. If you do your job on Ethereum, your co-workers can see your salary. If you donate to a political cause on Ethereum, the...

U.C. Berkeley’s Decentralized Finance MOOC

Peter Van Valkenburgh gave a lecture on privacy and surveillance law for U.C. Berkeley’s Decentralized Finance MOOC with a focus on the constitutionality of 6050I reporting and the OFAC sanctions against Tornado...