Blockchain Technologies

This durable, robust, and transparent technology (most well-known for enabling stablecoins, Bitcoin, Ethereum and other virtual currency and digital asset transactions) has begun to transform and disrupt entire industries from accounting, investment management, banking, and finance, to insurance, derivatives, real estate, cybersecurity, benefits law and health care—to name only a few.  Its impact is being felt through the tokenization of real-world assets and the rise of decentralized finance protocols challenging traditional banking. 

Technological changes are taking place in an era in which lawmakers and regulators are engaged today in the development of new legal requirements for market participants using new financial technology.

We at Seyfarth assist clients by educating them on technology and the law, by helping  establish a new digital identity in the 21^st Century marketplace and by helping to bring about compliance with evolving law.  Blockchain presents challenges for many companies, while offering significant opportunities to innovate new service lines and business models, while also raising a multitude of regulatory challenges across jurisdictions.

Seyfarth’s Blockchain Technologies team includes attorneys and thought leaders who apply their deep knowledge and domain expertise to provide our clients with practical, real-world solutions that can be implemented across multiple regulatory systems and scaled in a wide array of industries and business confronting a highly volatile technology and legal environment.

How We Help

The interdisciplinary Blockchain Technologies team at Seyfarth counsels clients and interfaces with regulators to address legal issues raised by emerging technology that promises to change the way we pay for goods and services, execute investments, custody assets, and generally conduct business.

Our Blockchain Technologies team comprises attorneys with a variety of legal practices—including Corporate, Securities, Labor & Employment, Litigation, Derivatives, Investment Management, Real Estate, Banking, International, Tax, and Immigration compliance—dedicated to helping clients navigate the uncharted and still largely unregulated waters of this rapidly evolving technology.

Our representative work includes:

• Working with clients and service providers operating along the life cycle of the digital marketplace, from developing business plans to minting tokens to choosing token marketplaces, to the use of cold and hot wallets and custody of digital assets, to putting in place anti-money laundering measures and polices and procedures to bring about compliance with regulatory requirements;
• Introducing clients to:
  • Leading digital banks and other leaders in financial technology to convert fiat currency and other traditional assets to digital assets; and
  • Leading compliance and anti-money laundering investigators who are well-equipped to identify bad actors and to assist with preventative measures and compliance.

Our Services

Our team provides cross-functional and cross-border legal and practical solutions for global companies to build or adopt effective and scalable technologies; mitigate legal risk and grow revenue using blockchain technologies.

Drawing on our extensive history and experience in information governance, cybersecurity, privacy, commercial transactions, and government regulation and compliance, our team focuses on:

• Stablecoin issuance
• Trust modeling
• Regulatory Compliance services
• Technology transactions
• Data monetization
• Fund formation for cryptocurrency trading and token development
• Fund Compliance
• Securities Regulation
• Token Offerings
• Due Diligence and Investment Management
• Hedging virtual currencies and risks related to these currencies
• Arbitrage opportunities involving virtual currency
• Distributed application implementation
• Tax compliance
• Joint Ventures with public companies in connection with blockchain smart contracts and token development in financial services and real estate

The Seyfarth Experience

Our attorneys have substantial experience representing entities using blockchain, have authored publications in the trade press, and have advised clients on an extensive range of legal operational aspects, including cybersecurity, data storage and transfer, software licensing and distribution, stored value transfer, initial coin offerings (ICOs), AML compliance and encryption. Members of Seyfarth’s team are thought leaders in trust modeling, capital formation, and cryptocurrency markets and the regulatory approaches currently being taken. They have helped early adopters of blockchain technology work within regulatory frameworks and manage risks. Our clients include many data-driven businesses, such as health care and benefits providers, financial institutions, virtual asset focused investment funds and family offices, insurance markets, clearing houses, and technology companies.