Registration, breakfast and coffee.
Matthew Diller, Dean and Paul Fuller Professor of Law, Fordham University School of Law Donna Redel, Joyce Lai and Greg Xethalis
The digital asset regulatory landscape has evolved slowly and many players are still awaiting regulatory certainty. This session will focus on the key issues facing the industry and if we are moving in the right direction. The panel will highlight issues that will be addressed throughout the day.
Graham Steele, Assistant Secretary for Financial Institutions, U.S. Department of the Treasury.
Moderated by Donna Redel, Adjunct Professor, Blockchain-Digital Assets, Fordham University School of Law
In August, OFAC placed a smart contract mixer on the SDN list and in September Ethereum moved to proof of stake. These events have made Q3 one of the most impactful in focusing attention on how blocks are ordered and consensus formed. This panel will look at the role of "Base Layer Participants" and some of the important issues that arise in the regulatory treatment of block and consensus formation.
The industry is crying foul because it views recent agency activity as regulation by enforcement. This panel will look at what is the proper way to define rules and legislation in a democratic society? How have industry and regulators addressed the question of notice, feedback, and the importance of having a system that has both rules and the opportunity for innovation?
Lunch
What types of exchanges and platforms exist in the current landscape? What does web3 platform look like? In this panel, we will discuss topics including omnibus accounts, bankruptcy, custody, insurance, lending and AML. We will also examine how institutions (TradeFi and Web3) participate in CeFi and DeFi ecosystems.
International AML, securities and derivatives law have dominated crypto law; however, Bankruptcy law has always been in the background, and the introduction of ULC UCC update should be top of mind for all legal practitioners. In addition, consumer protections are likely to play a role where securities and commodities laws are unclear.
The discussion of crypto regulation and policy efforts is dominated by a focus on the US government, particularly when convening US attorneys. But as with data privacy, EU members and the United Kingdom have been working diligently to develop their own approach to crypto regulation. This lightning talk will provide some information on the key efforts and discuss the pros and cons of the approaches taken.
This panel seeks to provide a behind the scenes look at how regulatory agencies are striving for harmonization. Present and past regulators and policy makers will examine how agencies work together, with a moderators view of representing the industry before federal and state actors.
At the crux of blockchain technology is the promise for the removal of trusted third parties and centralized administrators for Layer 1 protocols and the applications facilitated by them. While this can be manifested in code, the code of law is slower to adapt. This panel will look at DAOs as a potential new organizational, capital raising, governance and corporate form. It will also consider the importance of decentralization to regulatory assessment, and the difficulty in ascertaining what sufficient decentralization looks like.
NFTs aren't just 8-bit JPEGs. They are a medium that can be deployed in a variety of ways and for many different commercial and contractual reasons. This panel will examine the emergent topics in developing web3 licenses, applying NFT tech to music and other rights, and the potential regulatory implications.
Networking Reception