Samson Mesele

[Samson Mesele @MeseleSamson]

This week, @USV joined with @a16zcrypto, @multicoin, @paradigm, and @variantfund in filing an amicus brief in Beba's case against the SEC.

Beba is a small apparel company founded by Jonathan and Nathan Hennigh, two brothers who grew up in Kenya. Jonathan and Nathan built relationships with local craftspeople who create beautiful handmade goods now sold through Beba's online store. Beba compensates the craftspeople well and supports their families. The BEBA token can be redeemed for an exclusive product from Beba's online store that will be available only to token holders. Beba initially distributed and plans to continue to distribute the BEBA token through an airdrop.

Beba and @fund_defi are seeking a court order that the SEC unlawfully adopted its “nearly all tokens are securities” policy and that BEBA token free airdrops are not securities transactions. We at USV recognize that the current lack of regulatory clarity and the constant threat of enforcement continue to frustrate the good faith efforts of innovators using blockchain technology; we look forward to achieving regulatory clarity, through sensible legislation as well as through the courts.

It has been a pleasure to work on this brief with my friends @milesjennings, @xethalis, @JStolkin, @_DanLeonardo, Gina Moon, and @jchervinsky. See the brief here: https://t.co/vFbkncauh0

[Samson Mesele @MeseleSamson]

Fun story. I am at a lake house with my girlfriend enjoying the last days of summer.

Yesterday she asked me to pick up some things for dinner, including some lettuce.

At the store, I tracked down what very much appeared to be a head of lettuce and I brought it back with the other things requested.

Back at the house, my girlfriend received what I brought home, expressing gratitude.

Once she saw the lettuce, she smiled widely and laughed. She laughed and laughed. Her laughter delighted me.

She then explained: “This is cabbage!”

I said, “It’s lettuce, right?”

She said, “No, it’s cabbage!”

She continued to shake with laughter.

Here’s the thing: at the store, I saw that what I was purchasing was labeled as “cabbage”… but it looked so much like lettuce that I absentmindedly assumed cabbage was somehow a *type of lettuce.*

Looking back, I realize my conclusion was silly.

Still learning and growing. And becoming a better cook, gradually. 🥬

[Samson Mesele @MeseleSamson]

@JoshStein_ Wow

[Matt Mandel @matthewjmandel]

The ability to easily write and distribute code launched the software revolution

We’re now living through a similar transition in bio: You can just program biology

If you’re building this programmable future, we’d love to meet

[Rebecca Kaden @rebeccakaden]

What are we interested in @usv?

Programmable intelligence (AI/Robotics)
Programmable energy
Programmable molecules (bio & the underlying software)
Programmable money (crypto)

[Nick Grossman @nickgrossman]

I could not be more proud of the work that the worldwide @helium community has done to develop a first-of-its kind wireless network, and to help define the category of what we now know as "DePin".

All of us involved in this project have been here to bring more open, accessible wireless access to the world, while pioneering a new model that rewards contributors for their participation.

This suit brought by the prior SEC has been an epic distraction and an enormous waste of time, money and morale.

I could not be more excited that with milestone behind us, we can return our sole focus to building the world's biggest and most interesting wireless network.

🎈🎈🎈 🚀🚀🚀🦾🦾🦾

[Samson Mesele @MeseleSamson]

@matthewjmandel Awesome

[Samson Mesele @MeseleSamson]

At home base. Full team meetings today. Feeling good.

[USV @usv]

Ok

[Nick Grossman @nickgrossman]

I spoke with @fredwilson and @BradUSV for a special episode of the slow hunch - recorded in my living room over multiple mugs of tea.

In many ways @usv has been their collective slow hunch, and it's been a true privilege for me to be part of that journey with them, witnessing how they think, invest, and build an enduring venture capital firm.

[Amanda Tuminelli @amandatums]

In the Risley case, the 2d Cir court recognized a principle that @fund_defi has been advocating for: a developer of neutral, decentralized software should not be held liable for a third party’s misuse of that software.

Read more 👇

[Grace Carney @gracekcarney]

🚨Open call for demos🚨
Co-hosting a consumer AI demo night w @bobbypinckney1 @michelleyinn @faionur on March 24th @usv. 7 demos showcasing why we believe the next great consumer AI company will be built in NYC. Building consumer AI in 🗽? Dms open for final spot!

[Albert Wenger 🌎🔥⌛ @albertwenger]

The @viamrobotics platform connects AI seamlessly to large fleets of sensors and actuators

[USV @usv]

This week's OH @ USV covers quantum computing, global shipping, AI powered drug discovery, and ChatGPT saving our friends' life. You can read more about what we've been discussing below.

[Samson Mesele @MeseleSamson]

This clear guidance from the SEC, even if not transformational, is very helpful. It addresses transactions in meme coins by carefully applying the Howey test. We welcome more guidance from the SEC along these lines, including on the treatment of NFTs.

As I read the commentary here on X and in other places, I am concerned that some very smart people believe that we are entering a period of “anything goes” in the crypto industry—while the SEC is now adopting a more constructive approach on crypto matters, it seems to me that projects launching tokens should be as careful as they have ever been when it comes to token design and communications. The SEC will continue to consider the economic realities of token transactions, and plaintiffs’ law firms will continue to be opportunistic.

[Samson Mesele @MeseleSamson]

@aweissman Classic intro

[Samson Mesele @MeseleSamson]

This may put us out of business, but we had a lot of fun along the way!

[Aaron Wright @awrigh01]

In a matter of months or years, AI agents will be some of the best (if not *the* best) venture investors in the world. That's why we're excited to give a sneak peak of @ADINonline -- AI-powered venture capital.

ADIN is a network of AI agents that are able to:

* evaluate deals, performing superhuman diligence in a matter of minutes
* predict the value of a company (with reasonably accuracy, without knowing the value beforehand)
* democratically vote on whether to invest in a project
* recommend an investment amount based on the DAO/fund's thesis, deployment schedule, size, stage focus, and risk appetite

With ADIN, we’re aiming to push both DAOs and venture into an agentic future.

[Samson Mesele @MeseleSamson]

We are thrilled to see another great win for our friends at Uniswap Labs. In this case, we at USV were named as a defendant as well, and from the beginning, we were confident that the claims here were weak. It is encouraging that the District Court and the Second Circuit have provided important clarity. We support Uniswap Labs and other good faith actors in the DeFi ecosystem.

[Hayden Adams 🦄 @haydenzadams]

🦄 Another huge win - @Uniswap Labs just won the Second Circuit appeal for our class action

"we agree... that it 'defies logic' that a drafter of a smart contract, a computer code, could be held liable under the Exchange Act for a third-party user's misuse of the platform"

[Samson Mesele @MeseleSamson]

I am so happy for our friends at Uniswap Labs. This is the right result.

[Hayden Adams 🦄 @haydenzadams]

The SEC (under the previous admin) tried to claim that Uniswap Labs operated an unregistered broker, exchange, and clearing agency, and issued an unregistered security. Those claims have now been dropped.

@Uniswap Labs is not a broker. The Uniswap Protocol is not an unregistered exchange or clearing agency or operated by Labs. UNI is not a security.

They went after us despite having no clear legal basis, as part of a strategy of arbitrary enforcement to try to force DeFi into a regulatory framework that doesn’t fit—all while refusing to provide clear rules or a path to compliance.

This investigation took over 3 years, forcing us to waste incredible amounts of time and millions of dollars. It also had a personal impact — federal investigations are violating and stressful to the point where there is a saying among lawyers that “the investigation IS the punishment.” That shouldn’t be the price of innovation in the US.

This is a huge win, not just for Uniswap Labs but for DeFi as a whole. It reaffirms what we’ve said all along: that decentralized technology and self-custody are inherently different from the centralized, intermediated systems they aim to replace.

Self-custodied funds, with self-executing code run on public blockchains, are a huge step forward in transparency for financial markets. Slapping regulations aimed at centralized, opaque TradFi markets on top of DeFi simply does not work.

I’m grateful that the new SEC leadership is taking a more constructive approach, and I look forward to working with Congress and regulators to help create rules that actually make sense for DeFi – encouraging innovation, improving transparency and access to financial markets, and ensuring that this technology can thrive in the US, instead of being pushed offshore.

The best days for DeFi are ahead

🦄

[Samson Mesele @MeseleSamson]

This outstanding result in Coinbase’s case against the SEC shows that crypto companies and projects can effectively resist unauthorized regulatory efforts to control new technologies. Enforcement actions that lack a grounding in precedent or other relevant law can and should be contested by good faith market actors.