Marco Santori: The Godfather of Crypto Law

— Marco Santori recounts the earliest federal regulatory conversations about Bitcoin in 2013, when concerns focused on anti-money laundering and prudential safety rather than securities classifications.

— The SAFT (Simple Agreement for Future Tokens) framework emerged as a self-regulatory response to pre-functional token sales (ICOs), applying securities law to speculative token offerings and later enabling consumer protections once tokens became functional.

— ICOs largely disappeared in the US after the SAFT white paper publication, with the SEC later adopting a nuanced "pre-functional vs. post-functional" distinction alongside other factors (concentration, speculative language) to determine securities status.

— Blockchain (the company) prioritizes self-custody and user control over speculation, intentionally staying non-custodial and serving an international user base where traditional banking infrastructure is weakest.

— Airdrops represent a tool for distributing tokens to drive network effects and decentralization while introducing users to crypto without exchange counterparty risk, though curation prevents spam.

— Asset tokenization and distributed ledgers can solve decades-old settlement inefficiencies in legacy securities markets, removing intermediaries and counterparty risk between issuers and beneficial owners.

— Regulatory clarity comes slowly but the US federal framework remains measured and ahead of most jurisdictions; entrepreneurs should expect an uneven global landscape requiring jurisdiction-specific compliance strategies.

— Airdrops and self-custodial wallets lower friction for first-time crypto users more effectively than exchanges; individuals seeking control should prioritize private-key ownership over convenience-first platforms.

— Tokenized securities and automated machine-to-machine settlement could unlock frictionless global commerce, but adoption depends on harmonizing investor protection rules across jurisdictions—a years-long process still underway.