Piano Lessons

In this episode of Piano Lessons, Phil and Marc discuss Marc’s transition into his new role as a director and consultant at Horizons Global, one of H3’s verified service providers.

• Transitioning from being a funds and crypto lawyer to launching a very unique business capitalising on a small window of opportunity.
• What Englebert is – FCA authorised to approve crypto asset promotions in the UK.
• What crypto asset promotions are and how Englebert goes about authorising promotions.
• Experience with the FCA’s approach to crypto asset promotions.
• Why Englebert sought FCA authorisation, reflections after the first few months and future trends.
• Why Englebert is “building in the open” and open sourcing a lot of resources.

Phil Graham and Marc Piano are joined by Daniel de Paiva Gomes of VDV Advogados in Brazil, offering insights on:

• Why going deep down the rabbit hole of all things related to blockchain and crypto is essential as a lawyer and beneficial for clients
• Why Brazil is a market leader in embracing crypto
• How Brazil’s central bank payment system was received and helped drive adoption of crypto
• How Brazilian regulators and tax authorities are approaching crypto
• Why crypto lawyers need to be skilled across many areas of law to properly advise clients
• Crypto trends in Brazil

In this episode, Phil Graham and Marc Piano chat with Zach Rosenberg, general counsel of Ethena and also principal of Rosehill Legal.

• Why managing up to 18 jurisdictions in cross-border M&A deals puts Zach in a strong position to advise on complex multi-jurisdictional crypto projects
• How being a degen can make for a good crypto lawyer who understands the space and client requirements
• Why crypto structures need to be separate and self-sustaining businesses and what that means for founders
• The landscape ahead in the US and globally for this space
• The risk of projects focusing too much on regulatory compliance and not enough on tax

Piano Lessons is back! As the series returns amidst a busy and exciting market, we shine a spotlight on the founding members of the H3 service provider network.

Gidon Ross, Partner at Harris & Trotter, joins us to discuss:

• How Harris & Trotter, an accounting firm with 80+ years of pedigree, has emerged as a leading digital assets service provider for transactional advisory, tax structuring, accounting and bookkeeping.

• Market trends and demands for sophisticated service providers and how Harris & Trotter has risen to the challenge.

• What to look for when recruiting passionate, enthusiastic and capable people.

• How to position for longevity and sustainability in 2024.

Learn more about H3, our new user-friendly platform that allows you to browse and connect with service providers here: https://h3web3.xyz/

This episode was recorded during CoinAlts on 3 November 2022 and was edited as the FTX insolvency unfolded. Our sympathies to all those affected by this event and we are working with our clients to protect them against the fallout where we can.

In this episode, Phil and Marc keep up with the Kardashians, discuss the development of Bitcoin, wander the vast - and the empty - metaverse, and speculate as to when we might see the end of the third crypto winter.

Is Disney animating a path into the metaverse? In this episode of Piano Lessons, Phil and Marc discuss Disney’s potential foray into digital assets, the role of crypto if national currencies collapse, and why “decentralised” projects still need lawyers.

Key Takeaways:

• Disney is seeking legal counsel to navigate NFTs, DeFi, and web3 – with a huge IP stable this could be an exciting development.
• If national currencies collapse, could crypto take their place?
• Smart contracts and decentralisation aren’t making lawyers redundant – in a fast-moving regulatory environment they’re more important than ever (but we would say that).