By Chris Lehane Securities and Exchange Commission Chair Gary Gensler recently asserted that when it comes to digital assets, the federal government can rely on rules that have applied to the financial markets since the 1930s. No need for new ones. Gensler pointed to the Motor Vehicle Safety Act, signed into law by President Lyndon B. Johnson in 1966, to make the case that laws passed to protect consumers decades ago can keep protecting them even as “new technologies come along.” Chairperson ...

By Chris Lehane Securities and Exchange Commission Chair Gary Gensler recently asserted that when it comes to digital assets, the federal government can rely on rules that have applied to the financial markets since the 1930s. No need for new ones. Gensler pointed to the Motor Vehicle Safety Act, signed into law by President Lyndon B. Johnson in 1966, to make the case that laws passed to protect consumers decades ago can keep protecting them even as “new technologies come along.” Chairperson ...

By Chris Ahn and Breck Stodghill Developer interest in web3 has grown massively over the last few years. Web3 monthly active developers are at an all time high with more joining in 2021 than any year prior. This level of developer interest has grown through multiple cycles, bringing with it innovation across numerous ecosystems and use cases. New blockchains like Polygon, Solana, NEAR, and Aptos have emerged alongside new use cases like DeFi, NFTs, and gaming. New networks and use cases injec...

By Chris Ahn and Breck Stodghill Developer interest in web3 has grown massively over the last few years. Web3 monthly active developers are at an all time high with more joining in 2021 than any year prior. This level of developer interest has grown through multiple cycles, bringing with it innovation across numerous ecosystems and use cases. New blockchains like Polygon, Solana, NEAR, and Aptos have emerged alongside new use cases like DeFi, NFTs, and gaming. New networks and use cases injec...

When to Choose Decentralized Governance By Chris Ahn Startups obsess over how to achieve product-market fit and business model fit, but they rarely discuss business-governance fit. Web3 has brought renewed attention to this formerly overlooked concept that certain governance models are better suited for specific projects. Choosing the right governance model is relatively straightforward for non-crypto-native projects because the tradeoffs are well known. Even a non expert can answer whether a...

When to Choose Decentralized Governance By Chris Ahn Startups obsess over how to achieve product-market fit and business model fit, but they rarely discuss business-governance fit. Web3 has brought renewed attention to this formerly overlooked concept that certain governance models are better suited for specific projects. Choosing the right governance model is relatively straightforward for non-crypto-native projects because the tradeoffs are well known. Even a non expert can answer whether a...

By Katie Haun Several weeks ago, the Treasury Department sanctioned the Tornado Cash application. We don’t profess to know all the facts of what Tornado Cash as a particular application did or didn’t do and assume it may take some time for those facts to come to light. We’re assuming, for the purposes of this post, that OFAC sanctioned no more than a piece of code based on the information publicly available to us now. I have had many conversations about this with crypto founders who are conce...

By Katie Haun Several weeks ago, the Treasury Department sanctioned the Tornado Cash application. We don’t profess to know all the facts of what Tornado Cash as a particular application did or didn’t do and assume it may take some time for those facts to come to light. We’re assuming, for the purposes of this post, that OFAC sanctioned no more than a piece of code based on the information publicly available to us now. I have had many conversations about this with crypto founders who are conce...

By Tomicah Tillemann, JP Schnapper-Casteras, and James Rathmell This season, the Supreme Court is producing a plethora of headlines and national controversy. Amid the firestorm and fallout, it would be easy for technologists to overlook a recent decision concerning the authority of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to regulate carbon emissions. That would be a mistake. At first glance, West Virginia v. EPA seems to be about nothing more than a set of effectively obsolete emissions-red...

By Tomicah Tillemann, JP Schnapper-Casteras, and James Rathmell This season, the Supreme Court is producing a plethora of headlines and national controversy. Amid the firestorm and fallout, it would be easy for technologists to overlook a recent decision concerning the authority of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to regulate carbon emissions. That would be a mistake. At first glance, West Virginia v. EPA seems to be about nothing more than a set of effectively obsolete emissions-red...

By Katie Haun Today, we’re introducing Haun Ventures, a firm designed from the ground up to help founders build the next generation of the internet. We’ve raised $1.5 billion in capital to support the growth of web3. We’ll invest through two platforms: a $500 million early stage fund and a $1 billion acceleration fund. My path to web3 My road to crypto and then to venture was unconventional. I spent over a decade at the U.S. Department of Justice prosecuting organized crime, murders, public c...

By Katie Haun Today, we’re introducing Haun Ventures, a firm designed from the ground up to help founders build the next generation of the internet. We’ve raised $1.5 billion in capital to support the growth of web3. We’ll invest through two platforms: a $500 million early stage fund and a $1 billion acceleration fund. My path to web3 My road to crypto and then to venture was unconventional. I spent over a decade at the U.S. Department of Justice prosecuting organized crime, murders, public c...

By Sam Rosenblum Crypto technologies are driving a transformation of the global financial system that has only just begun. DeFi Summer was less than two years ago. Since then, a flurry of builders and participants from around the world have entered the space to innovate with the goal of building a peer-to-peer financial system that is characterized by more inclusivity and transparency. DeFi (decentralized finance) has the potential to remove key structural obstacles to building wealth that ha...

By Sam Rosenblum Crypto technologies are driving a transformation of the global financial system that has only just begun. DeFi Summer was less than two years ago. Since then, a flurry of builders and participants from around the world have entered the space to innovate with the goal of building a peer-to-peer financial system that is characterized by more inclusivity and transparency. DeFi (decentralized finance) has the potential to remove key structural obstacles to building wealth that ha...

By Sam Rosenblum Haun Ventures is leading Zora’s latest fundraise to accelerate the growth of one of web3’s most important protocols. The future of the internet needs Zora—a hyperstructure that can “run for free and forever, without maintenance, interruption, or intermediaries.” *** Haun Ventures is dedicated to backing teams building a better internet. That means a web defined by more opportunity, creativity, security, and accountability than the version of the web that came before. Non-fung...

By Sam Rosenblum Haun Ventures is leading Zora’s latest fundraise to accelerate the growth of one of web3’s most important protocols. The future of the internet needs Zora—a hyperstructure that can “run for free and forever, without maintenance, interruption, or intermediaries.” *** Haun Ventures is dedicated to backing teams building a better internet. That means a web defined by more opportunity, creativity, security, and accountability than the version of the web that came before. Non-fung...