Preston J. Byrne

Preston Byrne, a CoinDesk columnist, is a partner of Brown Rudnick’s Digital Commerce Group. He advises software, internet and fintech companies. His biweekly column, “Not Legal Advice,” is a roundup of pertinent legal topics in the crypto space. It is most definitely not legal advice.


Preston Byrne, a CoinDesk columnist,

Preston J. Byrne

Latest from Preston J. Byrne


Policy

5 Legal Considerations When Dealing in NFTs

Just because securities laws might not apply doesn’t mean other laws won’t, says our columnist.

A still from the Nyan Cat video, a version of which recently became an NFT.

Policy

'The Squeezening': How the GameStop Backlash Will Curtail Freedom

GameStop's "squeezening" is likely to increase calls for curbs on "memetic disturbances." That could be dangerous for free speech.

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Policy

Would the STABLE Act Make Running an Ethereum Node Illegal?

The STABLE Act regulating the burgeoning stablecoin industry is misplaced and overly broad, says our columnist.

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Policy

Stop F**king Around With Public Token Airdrops in the United States

The SEC’s slowness in ruling on DeFI's legality "is not a waiver of its enforcement power," says our columnist.

SEC

Tech

Twitter Doesn't Need Web 3.0 to Solve Its Identity Problem

The great Twitter hack does not herald the end of the centralized web. But we need stronger cryptography for social media.

(Mathilde Decourcelle/Unsplash)

Markets

Bitcoin Doesn’t Take Sides: Why Apolitical Solutions Are the Internet's Future

Companies that take political stances are in a never-ending war with public opinion. Bitcoin doesn’t take sides and that's why it wins, says our columnist.

The Porteous Mob by James Drummond (Credit: Scottish National Gallery/Wikimedia)

Policy

Telegram's TON Was Built on Sand. Its Failure Isn't All Bad For Crypto

Telegram's Pavel Durov rails against the SEC's "ossification." But his TON project was always on shaky ground legally-speaking, says Preston Byrne.

Telegram CEO Pavel Durov

Markets

With Kik and Telegram Cases, the SEC Tries to Kill the SAFT

Invented by white shoe New York City law firms, the two-step Simple Agreement for Future Tokens (SAFT) was supposed to keep crypto companies out of trouble. Now, the SEC is coming full bore for startups like Kik and Telegram.

SEC logo

Finance

Post COVID-19, Companies Must Be Resilient, Not Just Efficient

Companies need better emergency planning. They can't always rely on government in a crisis, says our columnist.

(Credit: Shutterstock)

Finance

How to Escape Contracts That Are Killing Your Company During Coronavirus

Our “Not Legal Advice” columnist reviews options for changing or terminating business contracts during this crisis.

Medical data company OneMedNet late last month purchased $1.8 million of bitcoin (Fusion Medical Animatin/Unsplash

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