Gabriel Shapiro (aka lex_node) is a crypto lawyer and founder of MetaLeX, where he's building onchain legal entities and tokenized securities infrastructure.
We sat down for an interview on unbreachable legal agreements and legal entities onchain but then unexpectedly began to unpack a revelation most people probably don't know: you don't actually own your stock.
Almost all publicly traded securities are owned by an entity called Cede and Co. They're the literal record shareholder of Apple, Tesla, every public company. What you own is a "securities entitlement" that flows down like a waterfall from broker to broker to broker. No real property rights. This came up during the GameStop saga—retail investors discovered they couldn't even prove ownership on the right date because of this incredibly complicated intermediated system.
Why does this broken system exist? Paper stock certificates couldn't trade at scale. People were once running across New York City signing papers, taking weeks to reconcile. The only way to enable electronic trading was to centralize everything on one giant ledger. But with tokens, you can have something exactly like a stock certificate that trades at scale without intermediation. True ownership, unlocked. That's what MetaLeX is building towards, but Gabriel is clear that it starts with maximum decentralization.
In a new Edge Podcast, we dig into Vitalik's recent tweet about refocusing on the L1 scaling and why Ethereum's commitment to decentralization matters. It's the foundation for true ownership at scale. Without it, you just recreate a new Cede & Co onchain.
Gabriel walks through BORGs (cybernetic organizations that merge legal entities with smart contracts), unbreachable legal agreements using private keys as both legal and bearer asset authority, and how Metalex replaces Carta + AngelList + DocuSign onchain. We also explore AI agents spinning up their own companies, the three tokenization philosophies (and why most recreate the broken system), plus what drives Gabriel to reimagine what lawyers can be in a digital future.
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🔗 Guest Links 🔗
► MetaLeX website: metalex.tech
► Gabriel's 2018 post on Tokenizing Corporate Capital Stock
► MetaLeX on X: x.com/MetaLeX_Labs
► Gabriel Shapiro on X: x.com/lex_node
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DISCLAIMER: Nothing written in The Edge Newsletter or said on The Edge Podcast is a recommendation to buy or sell tokens or securities. This content is for educational and entertainment purposes only. Nothing shared here is financial advice. Any views expressed in our content are solely the opinion of that writer, host, or guest. Always do your own research. DeFi Dad, Nomatic, and guests may have positions in the assets or other matters discussed in this content. DeFi Dad, Nomatic, and Gabriel all hold ETH.
