Piano Lessons: Tornado crescendo, Merge chords, and B-sharper on DAO disputes

Host Phil Graham and “crypto wizard” Marc Piano return to discuss the latest endeavours in the world of digital assets. This week, (after musing on Bill Murray’s NFT mishap and the possible emergence of Trump-coin) Phil and Marc discuss a Coinbase-funded lawsuit against OFAC, the long-awaited Ethereum merger, and what happens if/when a DAO gets sued.

Key takeaways:

• A lawsuit has been brought against OFAC alleging they have overstepped their authorities by sanctioning tech. By not taking a tech neutral approach, they have arguably overstepped their authority, as tech such as Tornado Cash has been used for legitimate purposes.
• Ethereum announces moving to proof of stake model from proof of work – from mining to operation of validators by those who stake their tokens. This arguably affects the fundamental economics by changing Ethereum to a deflationary token.
• DAOs don’t exist as a legal entity in its own right. Be sharp about who you want to sue and why if things go wrong, and what your lawyers can and can’t do when setting things up – DAOs are a very niche area.