In this recorded Token Launching 101 session, Ashbury Legal founding partner Ryan David Williams and partner Chris Novak join Liquifi’s Daniel DeSalle for a conversation centered on the structural considerations that frequently arise before a token launch begins.
The discussion provides a broad overview of how token design decisions intersect with fundraising strategy, securities analysis, tax planning, governance structuring, and compensation architecture. Rather than offering a technical legal treatise, the session highlights the practical issues founders and operators often encounter in the early stages of building and capitalizing a crypto project.
The panel examines several common fundraising approaches, including traditional equity financing, direct token sale models, and hybrid SAFE plus token side letter structures. The speakers discuss how early token pricing decisions may affect downstream flexibility, including implications for team grants, investor alignment, and future distribution planning.
Entity structuring is also addressed, including offshore foundations and scenarios in which U.S. regulatory considerations may remain relevant based on the location of founders, development teams, contributors, or token holders.
The conversation frames these questions in the context of how projects are organized and how governance and economic rights are intended to function over time.
In addition, the session outlines how securities law analysis may apply across multiple token distribution events, including private placements, public launches, ecosystem grants, airdrops, and team allocations. The speakers emphasize that different distribution mechanisms are evaluated independently based on their specific structure and surrounding facts.
The distinction between vesting and lockups in token-based compensation arrangements is also discussed, along with operational considerations surrounding token payroll, withholding obligations, valuation timing, and coordination across multi-jurisdictional teams. These topics are presented as part of the broader structural planning process that often precedes public launch milestones.
Designed for founders, executive teams, investors, and advisors, this recorded session offers a structured overview of the legal, regulatory, and operational questions that frequently accompany token-based projects. It provides context for how structural decisions made early in a project’s lifecycle may influence execution, flexibility, and long-term scalability.
The full Token Launching 101 session explores the complete discussion and provides the full insights shared by the panel.
