Cryptocurrency & Blockchain

Our vast experience defending public companies, audit firms, financial institutions, senior executives, officers and directors, and lawyers in investigations and trials offers our clients solutions to tackle novel legal and regulatory issues for companies operating in the blockchain ecosystem.  Our clients have included fintech firms, cryptocurrency and digital asset platforms, cryptocurrency miners and traders, and eCommerce payment platforms.

Williams & Connolly attorneys handle representations involving a wide variety of disputes including patent licensing and navigating regulatory challenges.  Firm attorneys have extensive experience representing clients in connection with supervisory examinations, civil and criminal investigations, enforcement actions, and lawsuits brought by federal and state regulators.  We have deep experience responding to issues raised during supervisory examinations and internal investigations, as well as enforcement investigations and administrative proceedings initiated by the Department of Justice (“DOJ”), Federal Trade Commission (“FTC”), Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”), Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (“CFPB”), federal banking regulators such as the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (“FDIC”), and the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (“OCC”).

Representative Experience

  • Representation of a digital asset bank as lead counsel in an action filed in federal court against the Federal Reserve Board of Governors and the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City. 
  • Representation of a major fintech and cryptocurrency platform in an appeal from a win in a state court where it succeeded in enjoining a state regulation imposing fiduciary duties on broker-dealers in recommending securities to customers. 
  • Representation of a cryptocurrency trader against money laundering charges based on a crypto mixing service. 
  • Representation of a cryptocurrency miner in connection with a congressional investigation.
  • Representation of an eCommerce and digital asset payment platform company that was acquired by a large multinational bank in a dispute in state court related to certain pay-out provisions in the Asset Purchase Agreement.  The case involves allegations of fraud and violations of various representations and warranties. 
  • Representation of a major non-U.S. based eCommerce and digital asset payment platform in a patent licensing dispute with a multinational technology company.
  • Representation of a prominent cryptocurrency investor in a fraudulent transfer claim against an individual receiving cryptocurrency from now-bankrupt cryptocurrency trading platform company.
  • Representation of a U.S. based eCommerce payment platform in a commercial dispute.

John McNichols Authors: “What Should You Do When You’re Hit by a Cyberattack?”

John McNichols Authors: “What Should You Do When You’re Hit by a Cyberattack?”
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