Law of Code #176 - In the weeds on U.S. market structure regulation with Gerald Gallagher
Feb 25, 2026
Gerald Gallagher, General Counsel at Sei Labs and co-host of a crypto policy podcast, breaks down U.S. market-structure drafting fights. He covers the stablecoin yield dispute, banks’ negotiating leverage, ethics provisions slowing talks, network-token frameworks, DeFi intermediary questions, disclosure quality over quantity, and the risk of talent fleeing to clearer foreign regimes.
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Network Token Framework Is Becoming The Default
- Drafts are trending toward a network token and ancillary asset framework that gives SEC a front-door role on managerial-effort tests.
- Gallagher sees this as clearer than past decentralization tests and positive if agencies cooperate.
Treat Smart Contract Runners Differently From Intermediaries
- Distinguish software providers from financial intermediaries to protect DeFi infrastructure.
- Gallagher cites Uniswap and MetaMask work separating running a smart contract from taking and deploying user assets.
Make Disclosure Useful Not Voluminous
- Disclosure regimes must prioritize quality over quantity to reduce asymmetry and real harms like liquidation cascades.
- Gallagher recommends retail-facing governance clarity (who decides/upgrades) instead of bloated legal documents.
