BRAEDEN ANDERSON
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Hi, I’m Braeden.
I'm a partner at Gesmer Updegrove LLP, where I lead the Securities Regulatory and Enforcement and Digital Assets practice areas. I’ve served as Assistant General Counsel at Robinhood, practiced at Kirkland & Ellis and Sidley Austin, and represented clients in high-stakes matters before the SEC, DOJ, FINRA, and state regulators.
I write and make content for people who don’t have time to guess: founders, lawyers, regulators, and smart operators who know better than to rely on Google or the AI answer without context.
I've been recognized by U.S. Best Lawyers: Ones to Watch® for Financial Services and Securities Regulation, and listed in Marquis Who’s Who in America for contributions to law and public service.
Enjoy the content. I hope you find what you’re looking for. And if you want to talk something through, don’t hesitate to reach out. I’d love to hear from you. It’s really cool when readers become clients.
CFTC Chair Selig Signals New Strength on Prediction Markets After Industry Commentary Calls for Backbone
Backbone confirmed. In a development that underscores the accelerating evolution of financial innovation policy, Commodity Futures Trading Commission Chairman Michael S. Selig has publicly articulated a significant shift in the agency’s posture on prediction markets — just days after my commentary highlighted expectations for decisive leadership.
Tokens, Forwards, and the Illusion of Equity: What Republic's SpaceX Deal Tells Us About Modern Securities Innovation
Matt Levine’s latest Money Stuff column dissects a fascinating and increasingly common financial arrangement that blurs the line between traditional equity, tokenized instruments, and synthetic exposure: Republic’s tokenized forward tied to SpaceX stock.
CFTC Pulls Back on SEF Registration Advisory: A Win for Market Clarity
The Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) just hit the reset button. On March 13, 2025, the Division of Market Oversight (DMO) issued CFTC Letter No. 25-05, officially scrapping the controversial 2021 Advisory on Swap Execution Facility (SEF) Registration (CFTC Letter No. 21-19). Effective immediately, this move restores the pre-2021 regulatory framework, providing much-needed clarity for commodity trading advisors (CTAs), introducing brokers (IBs), and other market players facilitating swap execution.