Blockchain & Digital Assets

Overview

Blockchain technology, cryptocurrency, non-fungible tokens (NFTs), and other digital assets continue to drive significant investment and innovation—and increasingly complex legal disputes. Alston & Bird brings a focused, multidisciplinary team combining a wealth of regulatory knowledge with hands-on litigation experience to help you navigate this rapidly evolving landscape.

Regulatory/Compliance

Cryptocurrency and blockchain technology are being adopted by consumers, retailers, institutional investors, and even sovereign nations. With the advent of altcoins, stablecoins, and smart contracts, blockchain technology is used to create a decentralized system of finance (DeFi) that affects and continues to disrupt traditional and global finance and other related markets. As more cryptocurrencies and digital assets are developed, accepted, and used, Alston & Bird’s team of subject-matter experts are experienced and uniquely qualified to counsel and educate you on the widespread legal, regulatory, and related issues in this space. Our work includes advising investment funds, trading and investment platforms, tokenization, and regulatory licensing.

Litigation

Our team is at the forefront of litigating complex disputes involving digital assets and decentralized technologies. We address issues unique to blockchain-based ecosystems, including disputes involving decentralized autonomous organizations (DAOs), multisignature wallets, smart contracts, token ownership, and on-chain governance. These matters often present novel challenges—such as the absence of formal agreements, unclear governance structures, pseudonymous actors, and cross-border enforcement and discovery—that require the creativity and technically informed legal strategies we bring to you.

We represent cryptocurrency entrepreneurs, investment funds, trading platforms, developers, and other market participants in regulatory matters, internal investigations, and high-stakes litigation. Whatever your needs, and however quickly they grow, Alston & Bird will be there to maximize your opportunities and help you achieve your goals.

Experience

Litigation & Enforcement

• Represented a software engineer and entrepreneur in high-stakes litigation over the disputed ownership of digital assets held in multisignature wallets, involving novel issues of DAO governance, cross-border discovery, and blockchain-based tracing of key asset transfers.
• Represented the founder of a cryptocurrency gaming site in parallel federal and state actions involving a dispute over billions of dollars in corporate assets and bitcoin.
• Defending crypto-asset issuers, trading venues, custodians, and DeFi product developers facing regulatory uncertainty and evolving SEC/CFTC jurisdictional issues.
• Representing a fund administrator for a large crypto investment fund in post-SEC enforcement receivership actions.
• Defended a leading decentralized crypto exchange in an SEC investigation into alleged violations of exchange and broker-dealer registration requirements, securing a declination from the SEC.
• Represented payments and fintech companies against putative class action claims challenging the disclosure and imposition of various fees.

Regulatory/Compliance

• Advising a digital asset marketplace on payments regulatory matters, including application for money-transmission licenses where applicable, and on securing necessary payments and cryptocurrency and exchange licenses in the UK and EU. Also advising on the marketplace’s potential conversion to a national trust bank charter.
• Advising a global blockchain technology company with a managed account product focused on crypto-assets.
• Advising a Europe-and-Asia-based cryptocurrency exchange on the expansion of its operations into the United States. Advising on broker-dealer regulatory issues, state money transmission laws, Bank Secrecy Act compliance, and general corporate governance in the burgeoning crypto-asset exchange industry.
• Advising an Asia-based cryptocurrency exchange on the expansion of its operations into the United States. Advising on broker-dealer regulatory issues, state money transmission laws, Bank Secrecy Act compliance, and general corporate governance in the burgeoning crypto-asset exchange industry.
• Advising a large art dealer offering NFT auctions on compliance with international anti-money laundering laws, know your customer laws, implication of decentralized autonomous organizations participating in the NFT auctions, technical aspects of receiving payments in ether, and transfer of the NFT to the successful bidder’s digital wallet.
• Advising numerous companies from various sectors on unclaimed property issues associated with cryptocurrency and digital assets.
• Advising various platforms on the state-tax issues associated with blockchain-related technologies, including NFTs.
• Advised financial institutions and fiduciary companies on compliance with IRS and FinCEN disclosure requirements for cryptocurrency holdings, NFTs, and other digital assets.
• Represented and advised numerous individual investors in cryptocurrency and digital assets on federal income tax consequences and federal tax disclosure requirements.