It’s a familiar startup story: a founder promises a new hire stock or options – maybe in an offer letter or over coffee – but the formal grant never materializes. I’ve seen this scenario many times, and the reasons vary: Informal Operations: Early-stage startups operate informally, allowing equity promises to…
Jon Van Loo draws on his experience advising crypto projects on a wide array of compensation questions in an article he published in Tax Notes. In this piece, among other topics, he tackles one of the thorniest issues startup crypto projects face: the tax treatment of contracts for future tokens…
Crypto Tax 101: Clean Up Advising crypto projects on tax issues can sometimes feel like being back in law school, wrestling with your professor’s brainteasers—but with much higher stakes. For instance, when a DAO that may or may not have any contractual relationship with an entity generates income, whose income…
The incoming Trump administration has been sending strong signals of reversing course on cryptocurrency and embracing the nascent industry. Not only is Trump selecting Paul Atkins to replace Gary Gensler as SEC Chair, he is forming a presidential crypto advisory council. Replacing Gensler with a pro-crypto SEC Chair could signal…
While sailing on the Chesapeake Bay this past Labor Day weekend, my mind started to drift (as it often does while sailing) to patent-law-related issues, and at some point the following question popped into my head: who actually invented Labor Day? But the Bay was crowded, and visions of Title…
