Selva Ozelli - Sustainably Investing in Digital Assets Globally

Selva Ozelli

Copyright 2023 by Selva Ozelli. All rights reserved.

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Published simultaneously in Canada.

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Library of Congress CataloginginPublication Data is Available:

ISBN 9781119885627 (Hardback)

ISBN 9781119885641 (ePDF)

ISBN 9781119885634 (ePub)

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I recall very clearly the first time I met Selva Ozelli. It was 2017, in New York at an American Bar Association event focused on legal developments in blockchain. At the time, I was a Department of Justice attorney working on illicit finance involving cryptocurrency and I spoke on a panel covering recent US government enforcement actions. Selva asked me a probing question about the department's position on something, and my broad and vetted answer to her in a room full of private practice and defense lawyers taking notes ended up spilling over into a more direct and granular oneonone conversation after the panel finished. It was the beginning of a lovely friendship.

I was very fortunate that in 2018, Selva wrote an article in the online news publication Cointelegraph about my early career prosecuting cryptocurrencyrelated criminal activity and called me DOJ's Crypto Czar. Although the role was certainly accurately described, such a title did not technically exist within the federal government. It did, however, quickly attach to me and spread like wildfire, with friends and colleagues using the title to tease me relentlessly. But my experience with Selva in navigating that piece and the countless articles she wrote on cryptocurrency and blockchain topics revealed that she is an author to be trusted, writing with precision, purpose, and always with the goal of educating and truth seeking.

One of the most interesting things about Selva is her unique mix of talents. Although introduced to me initially as a writer, she is trained as an accountant and international tax lawyer and has worked for many years in the corporate world as a tax expert. During the pandemic, I discovered her love and aptitude for art and the environment through her series of paintings entitled Art in the Time of CoronaRecovery Roses. I found the paintings she created and exhibited virtually to be emotionally inspired and expressive representations of pandemic pain and optimism that explored whether climate change caused by carbon emissions might be one reason for such a terrible global COVID19 pandemic scenario. This creative side of Selva peppers everything that she does, and in my opinion, makes her accomplished at breathing life into any topic she writes about. In addition, the tax attorney side of her means that you also get a datadriven and carefully researched truth when she speaks and writes.

This is why in writing Sustainably Investing in Digital Assets Globally, Selva Ozelli is wellsuited to explain in an understandable way how blockchain activity has evolved and where it is going and to lay out the risks of digital assets such as cryptocurrencies. There's much hype in the blockchain space, both on the detractor and supporter sides, and many simply choose to ignore this groundbreaking innovative technology because it may seem highly technical and difficult to comprehend or not a market reality which will persist. This would be a mistake, however, because the next iteration of the internet, often referred to as web3, is being built on, with, and around blockchain technologyand its effects will soon permeate everything in our daily lives. Understanding the path of this technology, from its early notorious appearances in illicit finance to its promise in digital ownership and identity, supply chain efficiency and speed, privacy, financial inclusion, building community interactions and decisionmaking, and solving problems like compliance and capital formation in finance is really important. It is this potential of the technology, coupled with the advantageous mechanics of how blockchains and their attendant codes and infrastructures work, that make digital assets such an exciting asset class. As with any new financial product, understanding the risks and rewards is key. Selva's tax and finance experience and mature perspective on crypto make this book a solid choice for anyone seeking to learn about the technology in order to make wellinformed decisions; her coverage of its history, the rapidly developing regulatory landscape, and environmental sustainability issues also make it a fascinating read.

Michele R. Korver
Head of Regulatory, a16z crypto

In 2017, the year Bitcoin's price surged from $1,000 to $20,000 in a single year, increasing 20fold, I received an invitation to make a presentation concerning FCPA compliance by a technology company based in IrelandMy Compliance Office. who prosecuted crypto money laundering and cybercrime cases, and who were instrumental in shaping the cryptocurrency seizure and forfeiture policy and legislation and now work in the industry, focusing on keeping emerging blockchain technologies safe from illicit use.