miles jennings
@milesjennings
Followers
21K
Following
14K
Media
275
Statuses
3K
@a16zcrypto | Prev Partner @Lathamwatkins | Advising crypto founders for 7+ yrs | Write about decentralization, tokens & more - https://t.co/HHs2dV36CB
San Francisco
Joined March 2009
18 pieces of content from my first 18 months at @a16zcrypto. Decentralization, tokens, NFTs, DAOs, stablecoins, securities laws, privacy and more. Here’s hoping they renew my content contract, otherwise I’m all memes from here on out.🤞.
50
89
502
SEC: Come in and register. CB: We’d like to register. SEC: You’re not allowed. CB: Why not?.SEC: The rules are clear. CB: The rules don’t make sense. SEC: The rules are the rules. CB: Can they be adapted?.SEC: Yes, but we don’t like your industry. CB: But you've adapted rules.
318
1K
5K
1/ Over the past 6 months, @David_M_Kerr and I have been researching several legal issues facing many DAOs (liability, taxes, contracting, etc.) that are beginning to emerge and that threaten their viability. Today, we published a potential solution.👇.
73
457
2K
1/ As the web3 space continues to expand, approaches to decentralization need to evolve. Today, I published this piece for web3 builders on the principles and models of web3 decentralization. Here's a quick guide. 🧵.
60
324
1K
In my 20's, I ridiculed friends for liking Atlas Shrugged – any political philosophy can be justified if you use ridiculous characterizations of government actors with absurd approaches to problem solving. In my 40's, I'm going to spend a lot of time apologizing.
BREAKING: California Insurance Commissioner @RicardoLara4CA has issued a mandatory one-year moratorium that will prohibit insurance companies from enacting non-renewals and cancellations of coverage for home owners within the perimeters or adjoining ZIP Codes of the Palisades and.
45
77
1K
1/ Today we’re thrilled to be launching a slate of open sourced “Can’t be Evil” NFT licenses. These licenses are designed specifically for NFTs and were inspired by 20-plus years of work by the Creative Commons.
69
324
1K
1/ The SEC’s action today makes clear what many in the industry have long suspected. Under the direction of Chair Gensler, the SEC’s endgame for crypto/web3 in the United States is about one thing: banning the technology.
31
161
937
Today, @a16zcrypto and @Paradigm teamed up to file an amicus brief in SEC v. @Coinbase. We argue that the SEC’s approach is a significant and problematic expansion of its regulatory authority – even threatening purchases of Taylor Swift concert tickets and Teslas. Why? Well… 🧵
50
196
845
🚨Big News🚨Wyoming just enacted a game-changing law for web3. It creates a new entity for DAOs – the Decentralized Unincorporated Nonprofit Association (DUNA) – that’s been years in the making. @CowrieLLC and I provide everything you need to know below:.
49
260
825
A Bitcoin Strategic Reserve is a transfer of wealth from the U.S. government to holders of BTC. No capital gains taxes on crypto is a transfer of wealth from the U.S. government to holders of crypto. These are the priorities of profiteers, not entrepreneurs.
238
33
804
DAOs are fundamental to the success of web3, yet they're shrouded in legal uncertainty with no consensus about a path to legitimacy. Today, @Dave_M_Kerr and I published Part II of our Legal Framework for DAOs to chart a definitive way forward. #LFDAOs!👇.
44
203
704
How disgraceful. A US Senator essentially bragging about the end result of a bank run that she helped cause.
As the bank of choice for crypto, Silvergate Bank's failure is disappointing, but predictable. I warned of Silvergate's risky, if not illegal, activity—and identified severe due diligence failures. Now, customers must be made whole & regulators should step up against crypto risk.
6
68
543
It’s odd that a legislator would complain about the judicial branch restoring power to the legislative branch. I wonder. 🤔.
Let's call this Supreme Court ruling on Chevron what it is: a power grab by the far-right to benefit the wealthy and well-connected. Corporate interests want extremist judges to write the rules at the expense of consumers, workers, safety, and the environment.
40
60
559
The SEC's proposed approach vs. the UK government's proposed approach:
Big news to share: @a16z is expanding to the UK 🇬🇧. We plan to open our first international office in London later this year, and will host the next Crypto Startup School there in 2024. Why the UK? 👇.
21
87
471
Today's NYT article on DAOs misses the big picture. DAOs are a groundbreaking way for people with shared interests to collaborate towards common goals, and can deliver unprecedented societal benefits if we cultivate them well. 🧵
33
77
470
Today, a California judge dealt a huge blow to decentralized governance. Under the ruling, any DAO participation (even posting in a forum) could be sufficient to hold DAO members liable for the actions of other members under general partnership laws. It's time to DUNA.
69
109
485
1/ Why we should regulate web3 apps, not protocols. 👇🧵.
34
123
411
In response to today’s Kraken / SEC settlement - we had a few thoughts 🧵👇.
22
88
436
This list should be:.- LUNA - Not decentralized.- 3AC - Not decentralized.- Celsius/Voyager - Not decentralized.- CFTC v Ooki DAO - Not decentralized. - FTX/FTT - Not decentralized. - LBRY - Not decentralized. - Ripple - Not decentralized. - NFT Scams - Not decentralized. 🤔🤔🤔.
2022 was a bad year for crypto, and it’s not over:. - LUNA (DeFi stablecoin).- 3AC (hedge fund).- Celsius (CeFi lending).- CFTC v Ooki DAO (DAOs).- DCCPA (CeFi, DeFi).- FTX/FTT (CEX).- LBRY (tokens).- NFTs?. This is a bad setup for 2023. But at least we’re closer to the bottom.
181
90
414
Don’t be fooled. We can’t regulate protocols and keep them decentralized and autonomous. But we can regulate businesses using those protocols. The line is crystal clear, and vagueness about “regulating DeFi” is meant to get us to cross it w/o realizing. That would end web3.
16
88
415
Having read through yesterday’s SEC complaint, my biggest takeaway is that it’s remarkable how little new information/guidance can be taken from the allegations. Nevertheless, the allegations are a good reminder of the rules of the road for web3 builders. Here are 5👇.
17
96
377
Today is the five year anniversary of the last time the SEC provided constructive guidance on crypto. Five years. Enough with the politics. Builders should be allowed to build.
42
46
372
Launching a token can be as easy as sending an email. Unlocking their potential as a new digital primitive and bringing them to market is much harder. I’ve worked with dozens of founders tackling this challenge and am now releasing a 3-part playbook written for everyone. 🧵
19
62
370
This week’s events will be used by some to paint web3 as the "wild west." In reality, these events, like prior excessive financial risk-taking collapses, are instances of wrongdoing that were preventable. We have to stop this from happening again.
22
98
347
It has now been FOUR years since the last crypto-related guidance from the SEC, whose Chairman continues to focus on headlines rather than a legitimate effort to protect investors in accordance with the SEC’s core mission.
6
43
354
@TimParsa I have strong reason to believe that Monty Python is the real power player behind the scenes at the SEC.
14
12
339
Drawing from months of research, @david_m_kerr and I created these reference guides for comparing DAO entity features and DAO entity selection. 30+ pages of accompanying analysis for Part II of our Legal Framework for DAOs series will be out soon. #LFDAOs.
31
81
323
This is a brazen example of the SEC’s use of lawfare to chill innovation. Under the guise of investor protection, dubious legal theories are being used to curtail use of NFT platforms and scare artists and creators away from the space. What’s going on here 🧵.
OpenSea has received a Wells notice from the SEC threatening to sue us because they believe NFTs on our platform are securities. We're shocked the SEC would make such a sweeping move against creators and artists. But we're ready to stand up and fight. Cryptocurrencies have long.
18
70
338
These approvals enshrine the SEC’s position in 2018 - ETH is not a security. That means the SEC has formally recognized that decentralization moves tokens outside of the US securities law regime. With that beachhead established, all projects now have a path forward.
BOOM!! APPROVED! There it is. The SEC just approved spot #Ethereum ETFs. What a turn of events. It's really happening. h/t @PhoenixTrades_
14
49
324
It’s time to fight for the right to create. Today, @a16zcrypto, @standwithcrypto, and @opensea are kickstarting the Creator Defense Fund, a legal defense fund for creators using blockchain technology to connect with fans, monetize their work, and bring more creativity to the
43
62
318
If the SEC couldn't even convince the Ripple judge what the rules of the road are, how are entrepreneurs supposed to figure it out?. Enough is enough. Over the weekend, @BrianQuintenz and I published an article calling for an end to the uncertainty.
27
62
308
The SEC disclosures today confirm that the SEC thought decentralization was the key difference in the risk profile of certain digital assets as compared to traditional securities, and that it was therefore the appropriate attribute to asses for purposes of Howey. While this.
38
43
300
With the fight for crypto’s existence subsiding, it’s time to focus on crypto's purpose: decentralization. Decentralization is at the heart of what makes crypto worthwhile. But if we don't properly incentivize and enshrine it in law, we'll lose it. Read my op-ed @coindesk ⬇️
47
69
315
In this @a16z crypto newsletter, I make the case that algorithmic stablecoin policy should be focused more on collateralization, and less on the underlying algorithms. Collateralization is key to risk mitigation and is easier to understand.
28
48
281
We’ve been flooded with crypto founders asking us what the recent election means for their projects. TLDR: We have an incredible opportunity to build on the bipartisan progress from the last Congress and bring the best of crypto to the world. You’ll hear a lot of speculation.
18
54
294
Wonder if Binance knew it could have avoided all the BSA, Money Transmission and KYC headaches by simply using a 3/5 multisig of anons. 🫠.
27
19
284
If you're a founder in web3, you should never agree to fixed token allocations for investors. Market standard is for token allocations to be dilutable, which is critical for maintaining flexibility for future fundraisings. Fixed token allocations are predatory.
11
10
157
1/6 My first conversation with @pmarca after joining @a16zcrypto was about Machiavellian principles and decentralized governance. Today, I’m excited to share two posts on how “Machiavellian DAOs” can foster true decentralization in web3. Here’s a quick rundown 👇
21
42
261
SEC regulates investments where there's *high risk* of Information Asymmetry, like the orange groves in Howey 🍊. CFTC regulates markets where there's *low risk* of Information Asymmetry, like the market for orange juice futures🧃. Decentralization turns Tokens from 🍊 to🧃.
25
41
258
In 10 years time calls to "ban crypto" are going to look as dumb as calls to ban computers or books. The people cannot be trusted with such technology.
20
61
251
Looking to get caught up on the debanking controversy? . We got you covered (link in next tweet):
16
15
271
Crypto lawyers waking up to news of another people tokenization protocol.
18
13
252
(1/11) Today, we published Part 3 of the @a16zcrypto “Regulate Web3 Apps, Not Protocols” series to complete the foundation of our framework and to address a significant loophole: DAOs 🧵.
18
67
251
The SEC's opposition to @coinbase's motion has a lot of holes. Even if the court were to agree with the SEC's main contention (that investment contracts don't require legal contracts), the SEC's case should still fail. As we discussed in our brief in August, the SEC's theory of.
3
38
233
Don’t be surprised if we see new rules adopted and enforcement actions brought against crypto in the coming weeks. Stay resilient!.
19
12
244
Governor @GavinNewsom backed up his executive order with a strong show of support for the web3 industry today by vetoing AB 2269. He’s given us a great opportunity to help CA lead web3. Time to make it happen!.
22
24
228
To date, the SEC has avoided pushing to apply Howey to secondary txs against strong opponents (LBRY/Ripple) bc they know the case law is hard. Instead, they've chosen Wahi and Avi, who have less of a reason to fight. Just read Wahi's MTD filing, and they came out swinging. 🥊🤼
12
33
226
Pretty obvious in retrospect that the push to ban DEXs in the DCCPA was intended to drive user deposits to a certain centralized custodial exchange. .
4
22
222
Today we submitted a comment letter objecting to the SEC’s proposed definition of an exchange as overly broad and likely to inhibit web3 innovation. A full copy of the letter can be found here:
11
39
222
How incredibly deceitful. The administration lied for the last six months about Biden’s capacity, calling his infirmness “fake news”. Those lies deprived Dems of an opportunity to assess and select a candidate. Now that same administration wants to pick the candidate for us?.
My fellow Democrats, I have decided not to accept the nomination and to focus all my energies on my duties as President for the remainder of my term. My very first decision as the party nominee in 2020 was to pick Kamala Harris as my Vice President. And it’s been the best
22
18
228
The SEC capitulated on the question of whether ETH is a security in October when it approved the ETH futures products.
16
22
214
1/ DAOs continue to be threatened by a number of significant legal challenges. They can’t pay taxes, protect their members, comply with regulations or defend themselves in court. This new California DAO bill could change all of that.
17
59
216
The end of the crypto offshoring era is upon us.
My message to every business in the world is very simple. Come make your product in America, and we will give you among the lowest taxes of any nation on earth. But if you don't make your product in America, you will have to pay a tariff.
11
23
225
Those that truly believe in decentralization should be lobbying to protect decentralization at all costs, not lobbying to give the government the power to end decentralization while throwing up their hands and saying "come what may". .
1) My *final* thoughts/post on this:.
14
25
217
1/7 We're seeing more and more crypto startups stuck with predatory terms from early-stage deals. Don't let early-stage investors set you up for long-term failure and jeopardize future fundraising rounds. Here's what you should look out for:
11
34
219
1/ This year comes with a renewed sense of urgency regarding web3 regulation. So, today @BrianQuintenz and I published Part 2 of the @a16zcrypto “Regulate Web3 Apps, Not Protocols” framework. Here’s a quick guide. 🧵👇.
11
56
203
1/10 Great piece here by legal titan Eugene Volokh (@VolokhC) on 4th amendment concerns in web3 - namely, why attempts to add intermediaries to the disintermediated world of DeFi may be unconstitutional. Summary 🧵👇.
8
79
207
A few months ago, I laid out how I thought the SEC was going to go after DEXs next and why DEXs would ultimately win. 👇.
9
33
207
If a VC pushes to shorten your token lockup, including "to boost your recruiting", what they're really telling you is "we intend to dump our bags as soon as you'll let us". 4 year/1 year cliff token lockups should be standard.
17
28
178
"Being able to do a software update and have several million cars suddenly go from manual driving to autonomous driving, I think, will be the single biggest asset value increase in history.". Under the SEC's theory of the Howey Test, Elon just turned every Tesla into a security.
15
23
205
Remember, Biden's executive order in 2022 was also aimed at encouraging innovation of blockchain technology.
17
25
210
Wyoming’s DUNA legal structure for DAOs goes live on July 1, 2024. Companies that (1) have a U.S. nexus and (2) are using tokens to decentralize the governance of an asset (a treasury, autonomous software, etc) should consider it. Here are 10 benefits of the DUNA👇.
10
35
194
1/ We filed an amicus brief in the CFTC v. Ooki DAO case. We’re a little late here, but we finally found the one critical thing we were looking for, and we think it'll make a big difference.
13
43
156
In speaking with a lot of frustrated web3 founders about the past couple weeks, my advice has been simple: Stay The Course. Those who build and seek to comply in good faith will ultimately triumph over regulators who have deliberately fostered uncertainty.
12
35
177
Whatever happens this week, I hope Americans emerge from this period much more skeptical of government and media. The unprecedented and shameless deployment of the weapons of the state (lawfare, disinformation, censorship, undermining elections, etc.) has forever changed me.
13
19
190
7/ Thankfully, America was designed to prevent regulators from operating absent checks and balances. And so, our best defense can and will come from Congress and the Courts. For all those building web3 in good faith, that means one thing: Stay The Course.
4
9
178
Championing crypto casino culture as an expression of individual freedom isn't a principled view when held by people that are simultaneously positioning themselves to profit from the activity.
16
28
174
As policymakers worldwide explore crypto legislation, they must consider that bad collateral is the root cause of recent collapses like Terra, not “algorithmic stablecoins.” My op-ed in @ft:.
22
53
168
The SEC's victory over Terraform Labs today shouldn't surprise anyone. Applying the Howey test to public sales of tokens is straightforward. This is a good reminder of well established and critical rules of the road for token launches:. (1) Don't sell tokens to U.S. persons for.
8
29
163
Most debankings of @a16zcrypto portcos happened to pre-revenue and pre-token companies. Their accounts received VC funds and spent them on employee salaries and ordinary business expenses, just like ordinary tech startups. No additional risks. No illegality. No justification.
A good amount of the 'I was debanked because of the state' stories are along the lines of 'I said something controversial on Twitter and Citi closed my bank account' while not mentioning the meth business they were running on the side.
8
21
177
It's very concerning to see how openly the SEC is in its attempts to obfuscate their intentions regarding the regulation of crypto. If they intend for a rule to apply to a trillion dollar industry, why wouldn't they simply say that? . Democracy dies in the dark. .
Commissioner @HesterPeirce is asking the hard questions in the SEC Open Meeting about the "exchange" redefinition. She is simply reading comment letters from the last comment period and asking if any given factual hypotheticals fit the "communications protocol" definition. 1/3.
7
29
158
It’s great to see Congress working hard to provide web3 builders with regulatory clarity. The SEC should see this moment as an opportunity to adopt a more constructive approach to regulating web3. If it does, here are 3 suggestions for where it could start.🧵.
9
38
159
The fact that we let companies own critical payments and internet networks is going to look really dumb to future generations.
10
18
164
20/20 @David_M_Kerr and I expect to expand on several aspects of UNAs in the near term, including pairing them with foundations and other structures. In the meantime, we hope our article encourages greater discussion about this potential pathway and we welcome feedback.
25
1
162
When you challenge government abuses of power, the response is even more transparent and desperate abuses. The broker reporting rule is an obvious example — A fantastical expansion of the words “effectuate transactions” to enable the IRS to ban DeFi. This despite courts.
8
34
164
The magnitude of intellectual dishonesty is fascinating. It's like he and his supporters are completely unaware that their transparent attempts to grasp power are only accelerating mistrust of the very institutions they purportedly represent.
Does crypto suffer from lack of clarity or compliance??. Decide for yourself 🎬
7
29
155
It’s time for him to prioritize rules and guidance that would give markets clarity and proactively protect the public.
7
5
162
11/ A potential solution: As discussed in our article, state statutes and existing case law suggest that DAOs may be capable of registering as Unincorporated Nonprofit Associations (“UNA”) in states that recognize such entity form.
6
14
156
Applying OFAC sanctions to protocols is both impractical and unnecessary. If the U.S. demands a right to censor users of web3, other countries will do the same. So, instead of an open and free internet, we'll end up with one encumbered by geopolitics.
5
34
144
It's laughably clear. Regulation-by-enforcement was never supposed to work. Gensler doesn't want to prevent regulatory arbitrage, he wants to cause it. He doesn't want decentralization to be earnest, he wants it to be fake. Perverse incentives are a simple and devastating trap.
11
29
152
But, as significant investors in web3 and the enterprises that are building the next generation of the internet, we are disappointed that Chairman Gensler has continued to demonstrate that he only knows how to regulate through sporadic enforcement cases.
4
9
155
Good things happen when you stand up to bullies.
JUST IN: 🇺🇸 US Energy Department to cancel its mandatory survey of #Bitcoin miner energy use following a lawsuit 👀.
7
18
143
2/ In pursuit of this goal, the SEC has fostered uncertainty by refusing to engage the industry proactively, even though this approach has led to significant investor harm, roiled markets, and hindered capital formation in contravention of the SEC’s three-part mission.
2
8
147
On Friday, we filed a comment letter to the SEC's safeguarding custody rule. We did not mince words. The proposal is another misguided and transparent attempt to wage war on crypto, and if passed it will result in investor harm, market inefficiencies and poor capital formation.
13
23
148
Unsolicited advice for young web3 lawyers navigating the turmoil. Do two things:. 1) Work hard - There's no better tool than experience. 2) Prioritize intellectual honesty - You can be wrong, you can lose, you can fail. But, if you're intellectually dishonest, you're irrelevant.
5
14
145
@antoniogm Imagine the conundrum you would create if you were able to convince a few people to tape the posters to their tents….
5
2
144
The SEC's approach to crypto is lawfare. The Fed's approach to crypto is illegal.
0/ Today, we are forced to return to an incredibly unfortunate subject: Operation Chokepoint 2.0. I will include the press release from the Federal reserve at the end of this thread, along with @nic__carter's original article on OCP 2.0.
7
28
143
1/4 Today, @BrianQuintenz and I published Part 4 of the @a16zcrypto “Regulate Web3 Apps, Not Protocols” series, in which we walk through the practical application of our framework for regulating web3 businesses (not software). 🧵👇
9
56
129
The country that properly incentivizes decentralization is going to win web3 and reap the benefits. Recognizing this, many in Congress want to foster decentralization. The SEC’s only plan is to attack it.
11
31
132
3/ Crucially, this uncertainty gives the SEC leverage. If nobody knows the rules, the SEC gets to make them up as it goes. Neither good actors nor bad actors can defend themselves against such an approach. "Show me the man, and I'll show you the crime".
1
8
142