Hot Topics: The U.S. Government's $14.2 Billion Bitcoin Forfeiture, Binance Responds and more!

Short Description

In this Hot Topics episode of The Edge of Show, hosts January Jones and Josh Kriger sit down with special guest Josh Lawler of Zuber Lawler to unpack the Future of Money Governance and the Law Summit and its stakes for crypto. Against the backdrop of the recent crypto market crash, a surprise 100% tariff announcement, and Binance’s compensation plan, they explore how the Future of Money Governance and the Law Summit is positioned at the center of U.S. policy, regulation, and digital asset innovation. From shutdown drama in Washington, D.C. to one of the largest Bitcoin seizures in history, the episode shows why the Future of Money Governance and the Law Summit is becoming a must-watch waypoint for Web3 founders, investors, and policymakers who care about the long game for money, governance, and law in the crypto era.

Key Topics Covered

• Crypto market crash & tariff shock: How a surprise 100% tariff on Chinese imports triggered a historic selloff, billions in liquidations, and why the response from Binance matters for traders, exchanges, and the narrative heading into the Future of Money Governance and the Law Summit.
  
  
• Leverage, liquidations & exchange responsibility: Why highly levered positions amplified losses, how Binance’s FDIC-like response changes expectations, and what this means for future market structure discussions that will swirl around the Future of Money Governance and the Law Summit in D.C.
  
  
• Future of Money Governance and the Law Summit format: Why this is not a typical crypto conference—one stage, 9–5 programming, policymakers and builders in the same room, and how the Future of Money Governance and the Law Summit blends government, institutions, and innovators.
  
  
• U.S. crypto legislation during a government shutdown: How Senate Democrats, leading crypto firms, and DeFi debates are shaping market structure bills, and why Lawler is skeptical about fast progress even as the Future of Money Governance and the Law Summit keeps the conversation moving.
  
  
• Massive Bitcoin seizure & victim reparations: The U.S. move to seize $14.2B in Bitcoin from an alleged scam empire, how that boosts America’s strategic Bitcoin stack, and hard questions about whether victims—not just the state—should benefit, a theme tied to governance at the Future of Money Governance and the Law Summit.
  
  
• Global & multi-stakeholder mix in D.C.: How the Future of Money Governance and the Law Summit is bringing together U.S. agencies, global policymakers, NGOs, academics, and Web3 builders into one “high-signal” room to balance innovation, compliance, and real-world adoption.
  
  

Episode Highlights

“We saw a big boom, we saw contraction, concentration, and now evolution… everyone who's focused on just the retracement is missing that we have a ton of growth and a ton of new cycles in front of us.” – Cameron Gates

“You have the non-US cryptocurrency exchange that… has effectively stepped into the role of the FDIC. It’s odd times.” – Josh Lawler

“If you make this too hard in the United States, it’s just going to go overseas. Period, end of story.” – Josh Lawler

“Relative to the past 10 years, the progress this year has been rather extraordinary in terms of carving the path to innovation in the blockchain space in the United States.” – Josh Kriger

“This isn’t your typical crypto conference… at the Future of Money, Governance, and the Law, we’ll have U.S. and international governments, major exchanges, investment firms, and builders all sharing one stage and one conversation.” – January Jones

(Note: Cameron’s quote appears in the combined transcript segment and reflects the broader narrative arc of NFT/crypto market cycles referenced across these Edge of Show episodes.)

People and Resources Mentioned

• Donald Trump – Former U.S. President, connected to the tariff announcement backdrop.
  
  
• Binance – Major global crypto exchange offering compensation after the crash.
  
  
• Bitcoin (BTC) – Flagship cryptocurrency whose price whipsawed during the crash.
  
  
• Ethereum (ETH) – Leading smart-contract network impacted by the drawdown.
  
  
• Coinbase – U.S.-based crypto exchange participating in D.C. legislative conversations.
  
  
• Uniswap – Decentralized exchange protocol referenced among industry leaders.
  
  
• Circle – Issuer of USDC, active in U.S. policy discussions.
  
  
• Galaxy Digital – Digital asset and investment firm joining the policy roundtable.
  
  
• Kraken – Global exchange involved in Senate Democratic crypto discussions.
  
  
• Zuber Lawler – Law firm specializing in complex tech, blockchain, and AI matters.
  
  
• Government Blockchain Association (GBA) – Co-organizer of the Future of Money Governance and the Law Summit.
  
  
• Future of Money, Governance, and the Law Summit – Washington, D.C., summit at the heart of this episode’s discussion.
  
  
• The Edge of Show – Media ecosystem and host of this Hot Topics episode.
  
  
• Prince Group – A Conglomerate whose chairman is alleged to be linked to the seized Bitcoin case.
  
  

About Our Guest

Josh Lawler – Partner, Zuber Lawler

Josh Lawler is a partner at Zuber Lawler, a global law firm known for working at the intersection of emerging technology, finance, and regulation. A leading voice on blockchain, digital assets, and AI, Lawler advises Web3 companies, funds, and Fortune-level enterprises on securities, tokenization, DeFi structures, and regulatory risk. He frequently collaborates with innovators who are building the future of money, governance, and the law—including initiatives like the Future of Money Governance and the Law Summit—helping them navigate complex U.S. and international frameworks while still shipping products and scaling businesses. With a background that bridges traditional capital markets and frontier tech, Lawler is a go-to resource for teams seeking practical guidance on how to innovate responsibly without losing their edge.

Guest Contacts

Josh Lawler Website Link: https://zuberlawler.global/

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Transcript:
January Jones: Welcome to Hot Topics on the Edge of Show. I'm January Jones here with my co-host, Josh Krieger. Today, we have a special guest, Josh Lawler from Zuber Lawler, as part of our partnership on the upcoming Future of Money, Governance, and the Law Summit on October 29th and 30th in Washington, D.C. Welcome back to the show, Josh.

Josh Lawler: Thank you, January. Always great to be here.

Josh Kriger: Always great to have you, Josh. Coming up, we'll talk about the crypto market crash response, as well as the U.S. crypto legislation status amongst the government shutdown. The U.S. seizes $14.2 billion from a crypto scam in our upcoming D.C. event, which is why I am wearing a sweater. I'm in D.C. and it's gotten a little chillier.

January Jones: This is another production of Edge of Company, a rapidly growing media ecosystem empowering the pioneers of Web3 technology, culture, and innovation. Let's get into it. So we're going to start with the crash. We haven't done a hot topic show since the historic crypto crash on October 10th, when President Trump announced a 100% tariff on Chinese imports, resulting in an immediate market response with over $19 billion in liquidations and huge dips in cryptocurrency values. Bitcoin dropped from around $126K to $105K, Ethereum fell 12%, and many altcoins clenched 40% to 70% within minutes. Because most traders were positioned with high leverage, the sharp decline forced margin calls and forced liquidations. So as a response, one of the world's largest exchanges, Binance, announced a program for compensation for their users. It's about 400 million plus some other token values, and they're offering payouts of up to 6,000 per user and low interest capital for institutional traders who really got wrecked. So Josh and Josh, there's a lot to unpack here with this story. Whoever wants to start, but what are the big takeaways from this crash and the response from Binance, right? Because not every exchange thought they needed to step up, but these forced margin calls were really kind of a surprise for many people.

Josh Kriger: Yeah, there's so much to cover here. First and foremost, as we record this special Hot Topics show, Bitcoin is backed up to $110. Which is not too surprising. We've seen this happen during this bull cycle several times where there's been some shock and odd policy moment that's caused a temporary dip. And this has not been a traditional bull cycle for that reason. Just given the dramatic nature of the of the dips that have occurred. That said, on this particular topic, I think that it was an interesting move from Binance to be proactive. I wonder if they had this sort of in their bag of tricks? Per se or you know a rainy day because it is rather extraordinary when you look at the history of how exchanges respond to market dips it's like buyer beware your trader you know you're you're you're responsible. I think it was a cool move from a loyalty perspective because people, there's been conversation. There's so many different exchange options and maybe Binance isn't the place you want to keep your crypto anymore. So kudos for them for being creative. I think, you know, knowing that you know, such a large player that held such a significant bearing in the industry. I mean, make so much money that off of the industry to sort of share that back. You know, it's I think it's pretty cool. Josh, what's your take on all this?

Josh Lawler: Oh, interesting times. And knowing that this is media and that we are being recorded, I need to make sure that I don't say anything that's going to get me trouble later, for sure.

January Jones: This is not financial or legal advice.

Josh Lawler: No, no, it's definitely not financial or legal advice, nor am I making any comments on a political party or individual or pattern or anything else kleptocracy. But we're in a world where you've got volatility that really is in part caused by the nature of the way certain people have announced things. And obviously there's some timing issues on a certain large short play that was made ahead of this. And then you have the non-US cryptocurrency exchange that had the CEO who spent time in jail for violating US law that has effectively stepped into the role of the FDIC. It's odd times. There's a piece of me That also wonders, you know, the beneficiary of a lot of those levered contracts being liquidated may have been the Binance Exchange. So, yes, they're returning funds and they're voluntarily doing it. Part of that may be, you know, some or all of a windfall they otherwise might have seen because, you know, they're the house on this. So I don't I don't know exactly what to make of that, other than to say that, you know, it's one more data point that goes into kind of every legislator's kind of thinking in terms of how one regulates these markets. And of course, the other piece of it is, let's not forget the Binance Exchange, at least legally speaking, is not supposed to have U.S. persons on it. So, you know, here we are not participating in that on top of it, whether that is actually the case or not, as we all know. So it's it's a. You know, it's not going to be the last time. And it's also, it's not just the crypto market either. I mean, you know, we saw stock market volatility as well, and that, that kind of continues. So.

January Jones: Yeah, but I think it did show that, you know, this, what we thought was a decoupling of the crypto market, you know, from, from other financial forces. It's not, you know, I mean, that impact was within hours and minutes. I mean, that, that is crazy.

Josh Lawler: Well, I mean, I think there were some players making some very large bets. And, you know, I certainly have no evidence or proof of anybody having any kind of inside information of a, you know, political or I should say a financial announcement that was going to be made. But it sure as heck looks like somebody knew. Yeah.

January Jones: So it was strategic, too. I mean, the announcement was at four fifty. PM on Friday afternoon, right? I mean, that's kind of a bad time. Can't really do much in traditional markets at the end of the day, Friday. So we'll see. I mean, do you think that people have lost faith? Because a lot of the people that were leveraged, you know, 10 times leverage, right? You were taking on an immense risk.

Josh Lawler: Yeah, yeah. I don't think that that's actually an issue. I think, you know, the people who were caught in that are very well aware of what world they're playing in. This was not, you know, the main street America piece of it with, you know, the highly levered that, you know, very different from ICO mania. Everybody kind of knows at this point. You're playing a particular game, and that's the way that it is. So from that perspective, I don't think it's going to be as damaging. I think it's a data point for regulation of markets, but I don't think it's a black mark on the technology, for instance.

Josh Kriger: I agree. What's next January?

January Jones: Well, we're going to talk about crypto leaders are coming to Washington this week to talk to Democrats. So as of this recording on October 20th, the federal government is still officially shut down. The Senate is expected to hold a vote today that could end the standoff. The overall sentiment seems like that's not going to happen. But crypto policy is moving forward, and there's a high-level roundtable announced this week for Senate Democrats to talk with crypto industry leaders like Coinbase, Uniswap, Circle, Galaxy Digital, and Kraken, amongst other players. So this is a hope to try to keep pushing the crypto market structure legislation forward. So let's start with you, Josh Schaller. What do you think are the most critical aspects of this bill that really do need to move forward, especially in light of the recent crash?

Josh Lawler: I think the release the Democrats kind of had, which they've now significantly backpedaled on, and they caused a little bit of a stir and kind of went, oh. But it actually illustrates really, I think, the main point that everybody has to get through their heads. If you make this too hard in the United States, it's just going to go overseas. Period, end of story. They came out with a release that said, hey, regulation of DeFi, effectively, we want everything to look like securities law. We want the front ends to be regulated. And unless you have extreme circumstances of decentralization and non-monetization in the nature of which no one would ever put these platforms in place if they had to get that far into it, we're going to regulate you like a broker dealer. And the obvious result is like, OK, well, that stuff's going to all move offshore. And you just can't do it that way. Personally, I don't have a lot of hope for a near-term market structure bill being passed into law. It's a really super complicated topic. It doesn't surprise me that we're having trouble with it. I've listened to the legislators talk about it, and even the ones that are educated recognize that. We're not going to get something perfect. It's crawl before you can walk, all that type of stuff. So especially with the shutdown, I don't see it happening before the end of the year for sure. And meanwhile, I'm glad to see that the Senate Democrats had a chance to put something forward and get it smacked back very quickly because that would just have been the path to disaster.

Josh Kriger: Yeah, I'll just say that I was so optimistic we would leave this year full throttle when it comes to US regulation for this industry. At the same time, I appreciate the strides we have made. And I do think that there's a real interesting potential for innovation in the U.S. over the next two to four years based on the foundations been laid. You know, I try to remember Rome wasn't built in a day. And we've, you know, relative to the past 10 years, the progress this year has been rather extraordinary in terms of carving the path to innovation, the blockchain space in the United States. So that's my perspective. Jeremy, what else what else do we have going on?

January Jones: Well, we're moving on to one of the biggest seizures of Bitcoin in history so far. And it reads a bit like a crypto crime field and it reads a bit like a crypto crime thriller, except it's very real. So the U.S. Department of Justice has filed a civil forfeiture complaint to seize $14.2 billion in Bitcoin. tied to Chanzee, a Cambodian businessman and chairman of Prince Group, who allegedly is at the center of a vast network of human trafficking and crypto scams across Asia. So the assets now are reportedly under U.S. custody and the U.S. wants to keep it. If they do, this would increase the U.S. strategic Bitcoin reserve by 64 percent. So this is a huge move by the U.S. and really showing how they're locking down crime across the world, right, and seizing these assets. So, you know, it's not the same as Silk Road. That seems like a drop in the bucket these days. Josh Lawler, what are your thoughts on this?

Josh Lawler: Well, you know, it's interesting to see that the crypto reserve is going up. But my big question is victim reparations. You know, with all the pig butchering there, there is, you know, forgive me, the sea of pigs, we won't go with Bay of pigs, which are victims, of course, of all these scams. And, you know, I like to see the crime being locked down. A lot of my clients are targets to some degree, I'm a target. And I mean, it's like, silly, I'm not going to get snagged in that. But I like that there's now at least policing of it, but at the same time, why exactly is this going to the U.S. coffer?

January Jones: Yeah, that's a really legitimate question because we were just talking about Binance trying to give back to people, right? And so, Josh, Lala, you made a comment like they're, you know, doing the role of the FIDC, right? And so, where is that going back to the victims? It's a really good point.

Josh Kriger: Yeah, I sort of echo Josh's question there, and I think this remains an open question for something like this, where so many individuals were impacted on so many levels. I do hope that that question gets explored further in the future. Yeah, it's cool to think about what the implications are of a bigger treasury, but my heart goes out to all the people that were impacted by this scam over a significant amount of time. And I'm grateful that we have figured out how to sort of tackle the traceability of of digital assets in times of duress like this. So yeah, it's an interesting time you live in.

January Jones: And it's a big motivator for the US government to seek out crypto scams, right? Because they get to keep the money. That's pretty good payoff.

Josh Lawler: Yes, it's a new version of tax, more taxation.

January Jones: Well, Josh Lala, you're here with us because you are a sponsor of our upcoming summit in DC. And so we've had to make a couple of pivots because of the government shutdown. Josh Krieger, do you want to tell us where we are with the upcoming summit and what people can expect?

Josh Kriger: Yeah, we've had to be nimble, which is the nature of our industry, right? So as of Thursday, I believe, we announced that we'll be doing the event at the Washington Plaza Hotel, which is just adjacent to the White House and Thomas Circle. It's a beautiful part of DC. And the venue is really quite Ideal for what we wanted to accomplish. We'll be able to have some additional hospitality and types of tickets, more of a VIP experience. In addition to having an expo hall now where some of our sponsors can share the booths that were originally just going to be in the gala. So what do you do in a case of a shutdown like this? You try to sort of make lemonade out of lemons. But in all regards, this is a positive, enhanced experience for our attendees. And I think the timing of the shutdown doesn't dissipate the importance of the conversations we're having. I think it's more important now than ever to have innovators come together and figure out how to move this industry forward. You know, where there's inertia in terms of the budget for the government doesn't mean there has to be inertia when it comes to the agenda of our industry to sort of educate lawmakers, policymakers on how we can progress the industry in a way that balances compliance risk, with sort of optimizing innovation. And we'll be talking about all sorts of critical topics, such as decentralized finance, the future of fintech payment solutions, and of course, AI, which has been such a hot button issue this cycle. So it'll be great to have Josh Lawler on a panel with some real special people, such as Sandy Carter as well, everyone sharing their insights on this intersection of blockchain and AI and where it's going next. So, Josh, thanks for joining us and really excited to hear what you're going to say in a little over a week.

Josh Lawler: I'm excited to be there. It'll be a lot of fun. Very informative, I'm sure.

January Jones: Yeah, and I think people who see our show, they've been to, you know, if they're in the industry, they've been to a lot of different conferences, right? And the scale and the conversations, you know, tend to, you know, have a range. What I think is really interesting about this is who we're bringing together. This isn't your typical crypto conference. I feel like this is really an intersection of policymakers, government employees, which is, we know, so important to educate them with these crypto bills going through. And people don't really have a lot of a clue to it. And so we have representatives from US government, international governments, as well as the big players in the room for investment firms, major exchanges, and crypto companies. And so I think it's worth mentioning that it's going to be different mix of people. And it's also I like the format, you know, it's a nine to five. And it's one stage, right. And it's like high, high impact panels moving through the day. So it gives everyone somewhere to have a conversation together, whereas you go to a lot of these other conferences and everybody is split, you know, running their own kind of interests and pursuing what they're wanting to talk about. But at this place, we're going to all be together. And who knows what kind of conversations are going to come up in that mix.

Josh Kriger: Yeah and thanks for pointing that out January and I think we'll share with the listeners a link to a blog that we posted with the GBA about some of the attendees but we have folks from Brazil and Chile and Costa Rica and El Salvador and India and Israel and Sweden and Ukraine coming We have representatives of the U.S. Air Force and Department of Defense and U.S. Army, U.S. Treasury, Social Security coming. We have Maryland and Baltimore and Utah and Virginia coming. We have academics coming from University of Maryland and John Hopkins University. We have NGOs coming like the Foucault Coin Foundation and the National Taxpayer Union Foundation. We have private sector leaders coming like Amazon Web Services. You know, so many interesting folks in the room together. Who knows what's going to happen? And you can get your ticket by going to GBA Global dot org. and clicking on conference or events there's a daytime ticket option there's a gala ticket option which is a fun roaring 20 style event we're having with the annual achievement awards the night before or we can now do a bundle of both plus in addition there's a VIP experience for people that want to sort of be in the in the direct networking room with speakers and have some extra access and preferred seating and a little bit of extra hospitality. So really excited about how this is all come together and encourage everyone to come to Washington, D.C. for a couple of days before Halloween and get to know probably one of the most unique rooms in our space.

January Jones: I agree. And our partners at the Government Blockchain Association, mixed with Edge's crypto immersion in the industry, has created this very cool mix.

Josh Kriger: And you'll be doing some broadcasting as well, some podcasting. Well, I'm putting out fires. You're going to have all the fun having interesting conversations with folks.

January Jones: That's right, we'll be talking to people, participants, speakers, and sponsors throughout the day. So that'll be more good content so we can share with our listeners really what happened.

Josh Kriger: Well, thanks for participating this year, Josh. And January, I'll see you next week. So that wraps up this episode of Hot Topics. We covered the crypto market crash response, the U.S. crypto legislation status among the government shutdown, the U.S. seizure of $14.2 billion from a big crypto scam, and our upcoming D.C. summit, The Future of Money, Governance, and the Law, on October 29th and 30th.

January Jones: I'm January here with my cohost, Josh Krieger, and our special guest, Josh Lawler from Zuber Lawler. Stay curious, keep pushing boundaries, and don't forget to subscribe to us on your platform of choice and follow us on social so you never miss what's next on the Edge of Show.
 

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