Jul 12, 2023 - 55min
EPISODE 36
TRM Talks: Toward a Tokenized Economy - An In-Person Conversation
With J. Christopher Giancarlo, and Dan Burstein, and Purvi Maniar and
Today 114 countries across the globe – 95% of the world’s GDP – are working on a central bank digital currency including the United States which continues to study the efficacy and design of a digital dollar. At the same time, we are seeing the growth of decentralized finance, the proliferation of U.S. dollar backed stablecoins, and continued adoption of cryptocurrencies globally despite the “crypto winter.” We are also seeing regulators across the globe – from Dubai to Hong Kong, Europe to Singapore, the UK, Australia, Japan, Brazil and beyond – create legal frameworks for digital assets. Even in the U.S., where the environment has been characterized by enforcement activity, every branch of the U.S. government is now engaged in the discussion of how to regulate the digital assets space. But, what will the digital assets ecosystem look like as it grows and matures? How do we navigate complex questions of security and privacy? Can CBDCs and cryptocurrencies co-exist?
TRM Labs’ Ari Redbord is joined by former Chairman of the CFTC and Digital Dollar Board Chair J. Christopher Giancarlo, Paxos General Counsel Dan Burstein and FalconX Deputy GC Purvi Maniar to discuss the future of finance for our first in-person TRM Talks in collaboration with the Digital Dollar Project.
About the guests
J. Christopher “Chris” Giancarlo was unanimously confirmed to serve as Chairman of the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission by the U.S. Senate on August 3, 2017. Prior to becoming Chairman, Mr. Giancarlo was designated Acting Chairman on January 20, 2017 and was nominated by President Trump to serve as the Chairman on March 14, 2017 to a term that expires in April 2019. Mr. Giancarlo had served as a CFTC Commissioner since his swearing in on June 16, 2014, after a unanimous consent by the U.S. Senate on June 3, 2014. He was nominated by President Obama on August 1, 2013.
Before entering public service, Mr. Giancarlo served as the Executive Vice President of GFI Group Inc., a financial services firm. Prior to joining GFI, Mr. Giancarlo was Executive Vice President and U.S. Legal Counsel of Fenics Software and was a corporate partner in the New York law firm of Brown Raysman Millstein Felder & Steiner. Mr. Giancarlo joined Brown Raysman from Giancarlo & Gleiberman, a law practice founded by Mr. Giancarlo in 1992 following his return from several years in London with the international law firm of Curtis, Mallet-Prevost, Colt & Mosle.
Mr. Giancarlo was also a founding Co-Editor-in-Chief of eSecurities, Trading and Regulation on the Internet (Leader Publications). In addition, Mr. Giancarlo has testified three times before Congress regarding the implementation of the Dodd-Frank Act, and has written and spoken extensively on public policy, legal and other matters involving technology and the financial markets.
Mr. Giancarlo was born in Jersey City, New Jersey. He attended Skidmore College in Saratoga Springs, New York where he graduated Phi Beta Kappa with Government Department Honors. Mr. Giancarlo received his law degree from the Vanderbilt University School of Law where he was an associate research editor at the Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law and President of the Law School’s International Law Society. Mr. Giancarlo has been a member of the Bar of the State of New York since 1985.
Dan Burstein is the General Counsel and Chief Compliance Officer of Paxos, a regulated financial institution that digitizes and mobilizes assets. In this role, Dan manages the company’s legal obligations, regulatory requirements, and compliance procedures across Paxos’ product suite. He is a seasoned executive with more than 17 years of experience in regulatory investigations and enforcement, regulatory compliance, and internal investigations.
Before joining Paxos, Dan served as a Senior Managing Director at Guidepost Solutions, a specialized consultancy focused on global investigations, compliance, monitoring and security. Between 2012 and 2016, Dan served in roles of escalating responsibility at the New York State Department of Financial Services, the biggest and most recognized state regulator across the financial services industry. Prior to NYDFS, Dan was an attorney at Willkie Farr & Gallagher LLP, a preeminent corporate law firm based in New York.
Dan holds a BA from Columbia University and a JD from the Georgetown University Law Center.
Purvi Maniar is the former General Counsel at FalconX, a cryptocurrency and digital assets trading platform. With over 10 years of experience in financial services, Purvi’s expertise is in OTC derivatives sales and trading, financial technology, and partnerships. Prior to joining FalconX, Purvi was Senior Legal Counsel at HSBC, and has also previously worked at Morgan Stanley, Goldman Sachs, and UBS.
Purvi Maniar attended The Johns Hopkins University (BA, 2006) and Brooklyn Law School (JD, 2009). She is admitted to practice in New York.
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