Thomas Linder is a Crypto Tax Lawyer from Zurich Switzerland.

He is a Partner at MME Legal. MME is not just any law firm, it is the law firm behind the historic Ethereum token sale of 2014.

Thomas was a Director at KPMG Switzerland, and is a Certified Tax Expert who graduated from the Swiss Tax Academy.

In this episode, we discuss:

– How Thomas’s law firm, MME, was the legal advisor behind the iconic Ethereum token sale over 3 years ago, as well as other projects they’ve worked on like SingularDTV – A blockchain entertainment studio

– We go over ICOs, IPOs, and crowdfunding, pointing out the critical differences between each term

– We also break down the landmark SEC Investigative Report on DAO tokens or “D-A-O” Tokens, which came out on July 25th

SHOW NOTES

[00:53] – Who is Thomas Linder and who is MME Legal? Introduction and overview

[02:53] – How Thomas and MME stumbled across Ethereum and Blockchain

[08:16] – Xapo’s legal challenges in Switzerland

[09:00] – SingularDTV’s legal structure

[11:00] – The DAO team contacts MME (and MME dodges a bullet)

[12:23] – Reviewing the SEC’s Investigative Report on The DAO Tokens, and a discussion on ICOs, IPOs, and crowdfunding

[20:20] – What’s a Token Generating Event (TGE)?

[21:17] – Thomas gives his thoughts on the classification of different types of tokens

[29:00] – Why The DAO tokens would be considered securities

[31:12] – A second look at the SEC’s Investigative Report on The DAO Tokens and the Howey Test

[39:52] – Thomas Linder’s thoughts on how rampant speculation in the ICO market will impact the space

[42:34] – The dangers of having too much money for a project

[44:32] – The main challenges Blockchain startups face

[50:13] – Thomas’s take on the Blockchain’s “killer app”

[55:41] – Are we in an ICO bubble?

[57:27] – Thomas’s 10-year prediction for Bitcoin and Ethereum

[59:18] – Thomas Linder’s parting words of wisdom to startups looking to hold ICOs

[1:02:14] – How to get in touch with Thomas and MME

[1:03:09] – Conclusion

 

RESOURCES DISCUSSED

– Consensys

– Xapo

– SingularDTV

– SEC Report (PDF link)

– Golem

– Tezos

– Lisk

– Dfinity

 

CONTACT INFORMATION

– MME Legal website

– Email: Thomas.Linder [at] mme.ch