Brian Tubergen

Haseeb ＞|＜ asks: Why is the crypto industry returning to token sales when it previously abandoned them? I co-founded CoinList. Here's my insider's perspective: Lawyers killed token sales. Specifically, lawyers told projects that airdrops were a safer and better alternative to token sales. This was arguably never true, and nowadays it's less true than ever. For context: CoinList ran token sales in full compliance with securities laws. But lawyers told projects: Even if your token sale is compliant, the sale will increase scrutiny on your project and increase the likelihood that you'll be investigated. Airdrops are a better alternative. Three things have changed: 1. Gary Gensler's SEC sued tons of projects that never ran token sales. Thus it no longer seems like a token sale meaningfully changes a project's risk profile. 2. Trump was elected. The US regulatory landscape is changing and projects expect the US government to be less hostile going forward. 3. Airdrops increasingly suck due to massive amounts of farming. Projects and users are unhappy with airdrops and looking for alternatives. The point is - the move away from token sales had little to do with the merits of token sales. It was a decision made by lawyers.