Prometheum and Paradigm in Debate: Can the Status Quo Work for Crypto?

Aaron Kaplan, co-CEO of Prometheum, the trading platform that recently acquired a special-purpose broker dealer license for digital asset securities, has become a major lightning rod in the crypto community. Does the firm represent, as Kaplan has argued, a compliant path forward for crypto in the United States? Or, as Paradigm Special Counsel Rodrigo Seira maintains, does it only demonstrate that the SEC’s crypto regime is simply unworkable? The two join the show to debate the specifics – and it certainly gets heated.

Listen to the episode on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Overcast, Podcast Addict, Pocket Casts, Stitcher, Castbox, Google Podcasts, TuneIn, Amazon Music, or on your favorite podcast platform.

Show highlights:

• whether it is even possible to compliantly register a crypto exchange in the U.S. following SEC Chair Gary Gensler’s recent public statements
• which tokens Prometheum can list, if any
• why Rodrigo and Aaron disagree over what constitutes a security
• whether the Howey Test applies in secondary market transactions for tokens sold pursuant to a SAFT
• why Aaron says that Paradigm should reassess its entire thesis and that the status quo benefits venture capital firms like Paradigm
• why Rodrigo says Prometheum has a license, but not a business
• who would be responsible for providing required disclosures for a decentralized network like Ethereum
• how many tokens Aaron expects to list on the Prometheum platform
• whether Aaron and Prometheum had specific discussions with the SEC about what tokens are securities
• Aaron’s response to allegations that the Chinese Communist Party is infiltrating the U.S. financial system through Prometheum
• whether Aaron had previewed the questions he was asked by representatives in his Congressional hearing
• what they believe should be included in disclosures about tokens if federal securities laws didn’t exist and guidelines for disclosures were written from scratch
• what Aaron has to say about the Blockchain Association’s recent FOIA request
• whether Prometheum is open to being acquired by other entity

Thank you to our sponsors!

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Guest:

• Aaron Kaplan, co-CEO and co-founder of Prometheum.
  • Previous appearance on Unchained:
    • These 2 Crypto Trading Platforms Agree With SEC Chair Gary Gensler
  • Aaron’s written testimony
• Rodrigo Seira, special counsel at Paradigm.
  • Rodrigo’s thread on Prometheum

Links

• Unchained:
  • Crypto Community Unearths Questionable History of SEC-Aligned Prometheum
  • Former SEC Cyber Chief Calls the Agency’s Way of Labeling Tokens Securities ‘Not Fair’
• Investopedia: Schwab and Fidelity-Backed Crypto Exchange EDX Goes Live, Adds More Backers
• CoinDesk:
  • Gary Gensler’s Catch-22 Vision of ‘Regulated’ Crypto Brokers
  • Key Takeaways From House Hearing on Future of Digital Assets
• The Crypto Basic: Prometheum Founder Says SEC Will Win Ripple Lawsuit, XRP Community Reacts
• Digital Asset Investor’s video on SEC setting up a Chinese back door into crypto
• Thread from Blockchain Association’s Marisa Coppel
• Adam Cochran points out a slew of details that call Prometheum into question.
• Matt Walsh questions how Kaplan can be called a securities expert since the law school he earned his degree from is now unaccredited by the American Bar Association.
• A clip from Aaron’s exchange with U.S. Rep Mike Flood