DeFi
9 articles
Smart Contract Legal Enforceability: When Code Isn't Law
The 'code is law' ethos collapsed with The DAO hack. Smart contracts face contract formation requirements, oracle problems, and dispute resolution challenges—but hybrid approaches like Ricardian contracts bridge law and technology.
Your Protocol Just Got Hacked: The First 72 Hours—A Legal Playbook for Crypto Incident Response
In the first 72 hours after a crypto hack, the legal decisions—the bounty tweet, the freeze request, the forensics engagement, the public statement—determine whether the protocol ends the incident as a victim with live recovery options or as an OFAC violator and civil defendant. A playbook for founders and GCs.
Who Is Liable When an AI Agent Loses Your Money?
AI agents now trade, pay, and move money on their own, and some of them have already lost it. No AI-liability statute governs the loss. Existing law does, and it keeps asking one question the industry cannot dodge: who controlled the agent?
DeFi Protocol Legal Structure: LLC, Foundation, or Unincorporated DAO?
Choosing the right legal structure for your DeFi protocol determines liability exposure, tax treatment, and regulatory risk. Compare LLC, foundation, and DAO options with real examples (Uniswap, Compound, Lido) and practitioner cost estimates ($5K-$150K+).
DeFi Broker Tax Rules: Form 1099-DA Reporting in 2026
Custodial crypto brokers are now reporting digital asset sales on Form 1099-DA, the DeFi front-end rule has been repealed, and 2026 is the first basis-reporting year. Here is who must comply, what to report, and how to avoid penalties.
The CLARITY Act (H.R. 3633) Explained: How It Would Split SEC and CFTC Jurisdiction
The CLARITY Act—H.R. 3633, the Digital Asset Market Clarity Act of 2025—passed the House and is now before the Senate. It would give the CFTC authority over digital commodities, including spot markets, and turn on a "mature blockchain" test rather than a named Bitcoin/Ether carve-out. Here is what the actual bill says, and what it does not.
DAO Liability After Lido: What the Court Actually Held and Why You Need a Legal Wrapper
In Samuels v. Lido DAO, a federal court let a general-partnership theory survive a motion to dismiss—holding only that the plaintiff plausibly alleged that active DAO participants could be partners, not that every token holder is automatically liable. Here is what the ruling actually held, who is exposed, and which legal wrappers protect personal assets.
The DeFi Decentralization Test Under CLARITY: A Mechanics Guide to Section 309's Control-Surface Analysis
Section 309 protects specified DeFi activities—but the exemption is activity-based, not token-based, and protocols claiming it must survive a seven-control-surface verification their counsel are mostly not building.
AI Agent Liability in DeFi: Who's Responsible When the Bot Trades?
AI agents are executing autonomous financial transactions in DeFi right now. A former SEC Honors Program intern analyzes the products liability, securities, commodities, and AML exposure deployers face—with case law, enforcement precedents, and a compliance roadmap.
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