Unchained · Laura Shin

DEX in the City: How Regulators Are Preparing for a World Without the Clarity Act

March 12, 2026·53 min·4 clips

The SEC secretly sent a token taxonomy to the White House, signaling how they'll regulate crypto if Congress fails.

The panel opens like a legal roundtable with a few jokes at the edges. KK introduces Jesse and V, spells out the lawyerly limits, and keeps the advice line clear. Then the conversation lands on Roman Storm. A guest explains that the summer trial ended with one conviction: conspiracy to operate an unlicensed money transmitting business. Two other counts were left hanging. That split is the thing. Registration failures may be civil outside the United States, but the guest says this money-transmitter violation is criminal and can mean jail exposure. The jury did not clear him on that count. On money laundering and sanctions, the jury deadlocked because federal court needs a unanimous verdict. So DOJ's retry decision starts to look less like paperwork and more like a read on the case. The guest says prosecutors can retry unresolved counts, though many deadlocks never get another trial, depending on the offense and circumstances. That is where the segment gets sharper. The panel treats DOJ's move as strategic, with the guest saying prosecutors usually do not bring cases they think they will lose. The assumption is pretty plain. If DOJ wants another run at Storm, it may think the first jury was close, or that something has changed. The show stays procedural, which is the right mode here. Crypto may be interested, disappointed, or surprised, but the useful part is how retrials work and why unresolved counts can keep moving. The Visible copy is wireless marketing; the episode itself is disclaimers, roles, and courtroom stakes. The close shifts tone for International Women's Day, with the panel pushing back on crypto's narrow stereotype and arguing that different backgrounds make the ecosystem better.

As heard by us

A focused legal-crypto discussion that treats enforcement as strategy, not theater.

The conversation frames crypto regulation as a practical legal fight, centered on jury dynamics, DOJ strategy, criminal versus civil registration violations, and how a case can still be retried after a deadlock.

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Why you'd press play

Want the legal chessboard behind crypto enforcement, not just the headline?

Read the full recommendation in PlayNext →

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