Cryptocurrency & Digital Assets

The rise of digital assets is a creative and disruptive force in today’s financial playing field, increasing both risks and opportunities and the need for stakeholders involved in cryptocurrency and digital asset activities to rely on Arnold & Porter. We have been on the leading edge of advancing the financial frontier for years, earning a well-deserved reputation for regulatory, litigation, and transactional know-how that helps clients minimize risk and maximize reward as they bring to market innovative products, services, and facilitation mechanisms across the blockchain worlds of cryptocurrency, NFT, DAO, web3, and the metaverse. Today, we deploy that fully integrated approach — deep experience with government agencies, legislative policy, creative affirmative and defensive litigation strategies, and practical “what’s market” dealmaking savvy — to help established and emerging companies maintain and enhance their ability to succeed at the globally competitive intersection of financing and technology.

Renowned Regulatory Expertise: Designing frameworks for products, business structures, and transactions consistent with regulatory requirements, and implementing transactions and commercial arrangements involving blockchain and digital assets (including cryptocurrencies, initial coin offerings, nonfungible tokens, and stablecoins).

Comprehensive Compliance Coverage: Federal and state financial products and services, securities, consumer protection, data privacy, BSA/AML, and all other regulatory laws related to licensing and permissibility of activities, investments, and services involving digital assets.

Broad client base of established and emerging companies across key sectors: Banks, savings associations, credit unions, and other traditional financial institutions; nonbanks; brokers and exchanges; crypto developers; Fintechs; investment/asset managers; money transmitters; and other technology companies.

Robust Enforcement/Litigation Experience: Conducting internal investigations, responding to government investigations, defensive litigation against state and federal enforcement actions, and affirmative litigation against government agencies.

Leaders in Legislative Policy: Respected relationships with lawmakers on both sides of the aisle and the six congressional committees (and the many agencies they oversee) that have a direct jurisdictional interest over digital asset issues; enhanced education, and public policy formation conducive to the development of digital assets and related technology.

Trusted Transactional Advice: M&A, JV, licensing, and strategic relationships with blockchain companies; clearing/settling on alternative investment systems; ownership and transfer of physical assets using blockchain; data protection and privacy (including master agreements and ransomware), and lending against digital currencies (custody and collateral issues).

Our integrated approach gives clients a competitive edge in today’s increasingly crypto-fueled finance world by helping to keep them on top of rapidly evolving legal and regulatory environments.

Experience Highlights

Issuer of stablecoins with respect to BSA/AML and sanctions compliance matters.
Investment firms and banks in their investment activity in crypto-focused investment managers, custodians, brokers and crypto developers, and online brokerage firms.
Cryptocurrency exchange in bank regulatory advice.
A leading state-chartered bank on a range of digital currency matters, including lending against digital currencies as collateral and potential custody of its digital currency investments.
Clearing and settlement platform on blockchain-based private securities platform and related regulatory matters, as well as partnering and licensing arrangements with DLT platform provider.
Various financial institutions and payment processors on prime brokerage and licensing arrangements with cryptocurrency exchanges and custodial arrangements for digital assets.
Large bank with national operations in its strategic relationship with Figure Technologies and as a founding member of the USDF consortium and launch of USDF Stablecoin.
Industry association, as legislative counsel, in information-reporting provisions affecting digital assets in the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act.
Digital asset financial services provider in developing a congressional engagement campaign on digital asset regulation.
Venture capital firm with respect to equity investment into digital currency exchange.