#183 - A founder's playbook for new SEC crypto guidance
From Law of Code by Jacob Robinson
April 6, 2026 · 40 min · Episode 183
About this episode
The episode discusses the SEC and CFTC's guidance on securities law for crypto founders with insights from Joe Doll.
What should crypto founders know about the SEC and CFTC's joint interpretive guidance on securities law? Joining to discuss is Joe Doll (@Sh0edog), Counsel at Day One Law and previously General Counsel at a crypto startup. Joe wrote a detailed breakdown of the guidance aimed at founders, which we walk through from start to finish. Timestamps: ➡️ 0:00 — Intro ➡️ 0:07 — Why the Howey Test exists ➡️ 3:11 — Why tokens are not necessarily securities ➡️ 7:47 — The five-category token taxonomy explained ➡️ 8:45 — Digital commodities ➡️ 12:13 — The four-factor "statement" test ➡️ 15:57 — Why the guidance might chill disclosure ➡️ 19:32 — Joe's proposal for a minimum attachment period ➡️ 23:30 — Fungibility and the token sales problem ➡️ 28:29 — Decentralization, disclosure obligations, and the CLARITY Act ➡️ 29:41 — Why the attachment theory better serves the policy goals of securities law ➡️ 31:51 — Airdrops ➡️ 37:53 — The CLARITY Act's control framework ➡️ 38:58 — Linux, Red Hat, and the case for immutability ➡️ 43:12 — Equity versus token value ➡️ 43:25 — The story behind the handle @sh0edog ➡️ 45:04 — Decentralized communities Resources: 📓 Joe Doll's article breaking down the SEC…
People in this episode
Host: Jacob Robinson
Guest: Joe Doll
Topics covered
- SEC guidance
- crypto law
- token taxonomy
- decentralization
- disclosure obligations
- crypto assets
Keywords
- crypto
- SEC
- CFTC
- securities law
- token taxonomy
- decentralization
- disclosure
- Howey Test
Mentioned in this episode
Organizations: Day One Law, SEC, CFTC
Books & works: CLARITY Act, Howey Test, Linux, Red Hat
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