.png)
Development in CFTC v. Ooki DAO
On Monday, Judge Orrick issued an Order in the Ooki DAO case, requiring the CFTC to either serve the founders of BZeroX, LLC (who already settled related charges with the Commission) or to show cause why service to them is impossible.
Orrick’s Order explains that the Court was unaware that those individuals were token holders of Ooki DAO prior to the hearing last week, and notes that “[n]either the Motion for Alternative Service nor the CFTC’s Opposition to the motions for reconsideration discusses why the CFTC did not serve Bean or Kistner with this complaint, in their roles as Token Holders of Ooki DAO.”
The Order goes on to state that the Court believes that actual notice has occurred in this case, which will be explained more fully in an upcoming order. According to the Court, it issued this Order “to provide the best practicable notice,” and explained that it would not issue the order resolving the Commission’s motion for alternative service until the Commission has attempted to serve those individuals.
A Note from DEF
2022 has undoubtedly been a challenging year for the DeFi policy space and the entire crypto sector; the events of the last few weeks have only further illustrated that.
From our perspective, in 2022 policymakers and regulators made much progress in distinguishing between CeFi and DeFi, but there is much more work to do. In the wake of Celsius’ collapse, for example, many media outlets and policymakers misunderstood it to be a failure of DeFi, a misunderstanding much less prevalent in the wake of several CeFi failures later this year. We remain encouraged in our mission to educate regulators and policymakers so that they are able to vindicate their policy objectives in ways that are effective and responsive to the functionality of differing models.
It is critical that policymakers around the world recognize the fundamental and structural differences of DeFi protocols compared to CeFi businesses and the risks associated.
None of our work would be possible without the support of the community. If you are interested in supporting our mission, please be sure to visit our site. We will also be launching a public-facing discord in early 2023, so please be on the lookout for that.
Finally, before this newsletter officially “signs-off” until the first week of January (knock on wood), we believe the events of the past year only underscore the importance of our mission. These harmful events further motivate us in pursuit of our mission to help realize a world in which anyone can enjoy the benefits of open access to DeFi protocols and self-custody.
With that being said, enjoy the last few weeks of 2022! Please do not hesitate to reach out if there is anything we can assist you with.
Wishing you all a very happy New Year and we are thankful for all of your support.
Sincerely,
The DeFi Education Fund