Long before crypto became a buzzword on the lips of investors, entrepreneurs, and lawyers, Lowenstein Sandler was known as a thought leader in this innovative sector at the intersection of finance and technology. To consolidate the firm’s wealth of knowledge and cross-disciplinary experience in this area and inform clients of the firm’s broad capabilities in this emerging field, Lowenstein has outlined its ongoing practice with a new resource page called Lowenstein Crypto, in addition to launching a new podcast entitled “Crypto Innovators.”
Lowenstein’s crypto practice, chaired by partners Ethan L. Silver and Eric Weiner, brings together numerous attorneys with deep and expansive interdisciplinary backgrounds in securities, derivatives, regulatory compliance, money services, fund formation, tax, capital markets, venture capital and tokenomics, privacy, cybersecurity, intellectual property and commercial contracts, and litigation. Team members possess invaluable hands-on experience as leaders of some of the country’s most influential regulatory agencies and associations, as well as in-house at some of the industry’s leading digital asset platforms, venture capital firms, and financial services companies.
Silver, a member of the firm’s Investment Management Group, also chairs the firm’s FinTech and Broker-Dealer practices, is a recognized leader in the representation of broker-dealers in regulatory, enforcement, and compliance matters related to federal and state securities laws and regulations, and the rules of self-regulatory organizations such as the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA). He represents many regulated financial technology companies, including mobile-first brokerage platforms, robo-advisers, and cryptocurrency focused businesses.
Weiner, also a member of the firm’s Seed Stage Investing & Startups, Venture Capital & Tech M&A, and Tech Group, has advised venture capital funds and startup companies across the startup ecosystem for over 15 years on early stage financings, pre-IPO funding rounds, and mergers and acquisitions. He has developed a strong focus on the crypto market, its founders, and investors, advising on token rights related to these financings, including negotiations of, and guidance related to, token warrants, token rights agreements, and similar instruments.
The group also includes such authorities in crypto as Christopher Gerold, former Chief of the New Jersey Bureau of Securities who led some of the earliest crypto-enforcement actions in the nation; Kathleen A. McGee, former chief of the Bureau of Internet & Technology for the New York State Attorney General’s Office; Matt Savare, Vice Chair of the Crypto group as well as Chair of the Commercial Contracts practice, William Brannan, co- Vice Chair of the Crypto group and former Assistant Vice President at Barclays Investment Bank; and co-Vice Chair Eric Swartz, former in-house counsel and crypto advisor at Susquehanna International Group, LLP, a global quantitative trading firm.
Swartz also hosts the new podcast, which offers deep dives with leading crypto projects’ founders and operators in order to educate listeners and members of this growing community on the technology of tomorrow. Early episodes include interviews with the founder and Chief Met averse Officer of Shadow Factory, a group of companies that specialize in developing interactive media, VR/AR content, Metaverse creations, NFT projects, and block chain solutions. The guests discuss topics such as the Metaverse, the difference between a virtual abundance ecosystem and a virtual scarcity ecosystem, and the fast growing area of GameFi, where play-to-earn blockchain games offer crypto and NFT awards to players who successfully level up by completing in-game tasks.
Lowenstein lawyers been active in the crypto space since its inception. Recent notable deals include representing:
- 6th Man Ventures, a venture capital firm founded by Mike Dudas and Serge Kassardjian, in the formation of a $145 million crypto fund
- Crypto network provider LayerZero Labs in a $135 million Series A funding round
- Figment, one of the world’s largest blockchain infrastructure and services providers, in the execution of a first-of-its-kind staking-yield swap with FalconX, a digital assets and cryptocurrency platform for institutional investors
- Vest, an app-based brokerage in its series seed funding to provide direct access to investments, including passive investing products (robo funds) and crypto, to retail investors in all major economies in Latin America, as well as in the United States.
Lowenstein Crypto counsels its clients on all aspects of cryptocurrency and digital assets including:
- Formation of hedge and private equity funds that invest in cryptocurrency and other cryptocurrency related businesses
- Formation of Web3 and crypto-related businesses and the equity and token-related financings of those businesses
- Securities, commodities, and money transmission regulatory guidance, registration and licensing
- Decentralized Autonomous Organizations (“DAO”) projects
- Non-Fungible Token (“NFT”) offerings
- Web3 blockchain applications, decentralized finance (“DeFi”), staking, peer-to-peer cryptocurrency lending, cryptocurrency yield product offerings, and cryptocurrency advisory platforms
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Subscribe to Lowenstein Sandler’s Tech Group podcast: Crypto Innovators via Amazon Music, Audible, Apple Podcasts/iTunes, Google Podcasts, SoundCloud, Spotify, and YouTube.
About Lowenstein Sandler LLP
Lowenstein Sandler LLP is a national law firm with over 350 lawyers based in New York, Palo Alto, New Jersey, Utah, and Washington, D.C. The firm represents leaders in virtually every sector of the global economy, with particular emphasis on investment funds, life sciences, and technology. Recognized for its entrepreneurial spirit and high standard of client service, the firm is committed to the interests of its clients, colleagues, and communities.
