Blockchain and Digital Assets Practice 2023 Year in Review

A message from Steve McNew, the Global Lead of the Blockchain and Digital Assets Practice

In 2023, digital assets and blockchain technology continued to be adopted at a rapid pace despite the changes in the crypto ecosystem in 2022. Our global expansion and continued investment in this space has given us unique insight into how this technology has disrupted industries, necessitated new regulations, generated fresh revenue streams, and fostered community through innovation.

We look forward to sharing our growth, partnering with our clients on industry-specific thought leadership, and developing new solutions to support this rapidly developing industry.

Here’s to 2024,
Steve McNew

2023 By the Numbers

Enhanced Service Offerings

Team Hires

New Matters

Enhancing Our Services

Regulatory & Compliance Services – Digital Asset companies and enterprises working with decentralized technology have specific and nuanced requirements for safety and soundness that are above and beyond traditional fiat reporting requirements. Our industry experts have the definitive expertise to help guide, shape and create programmatic compliance workflows to adhere to regulatory standards. Read more about our services »
Web3 Advisory – Tokenized assets drive new revenue streams, create innovative use cases for consumer-facing industries, and revolutionize how we interact with real-world assets. If done correctly, understanding how and when an enterprise adopts this technology can bring large-scale benefits. Our experts are futurists, Web3 enthusiasts, blockchain developers, new venture and early-stage business-building innovators and NFT experts working with enterprises to help at all stages of Web3 innovation.
Digital Assets Expert Services & Investigations - Our Blockchain and Digital Assets practice has been engaged in most of the crypto, NFT, and digital assets matters in the headlines over the past several years, including those you’ve read about in the news. Through a multi-disciplinary team of professionals, we have won engagements as testifying experts, investigations providers, financial and economic advisors, restructuring experts, e-discovery providers, strategic crisis communications advisors, policy advisors and blockchain and digital assets leaders. Because of this demand for our experts, we doubled headcount on our team and expanded internationally to meet our clients’ needs. Learn more about our Investigations & Expert Services »

Global Expert Growth

We added pioneering industry experts to our roster of Blockchain and Digital Assets practitioners, expanded globally in our expert services team and continued investing in our Web3 Advisory work. Below are recent additions to our team:

Mike Carter, Senior Managing Director brings his expertise in digital assets, regulatory compliance, and financial crime investigations. He previously served as Chief Compliance Officer for Bittrex, demonstrating his ability to navigate inherited complex legal and financial landscapes.
David Brill, Managing Director is a legal pioneer in the digital asset space, having assumed pivotal roles as a senior lawyer and General Counsel for two major cryptocurrency exchanges. He is regarded as a trusted advisor and specializing in navigating high-stakes legal conflicts.
Steven Fisher, Managing Director is a world-renowned futurist and innovation leader and an expert in blockchain, crypto assets, decentralized finance (“DeFi”), non-fungible tokens (“NFTs”), Web3 and the metaverse. Throughout his career, Mr. Fisher has provided advice in the aerospace, healthcare finance, retail, supply chain, healthcare, insurance and real estate sectors, amongst others. Steve is a former entrepreneur and McKinsey Web3 leader and is the bestselling author of The Startup Equation.
Scott Pounder, Managing Director is an expert in financial crime investigations and intricate fraud cases and has provided expert testimony dozens of times. Before joining FTI Consulting, Mr. Pounder served as head of investigations for Crystal Blockchain Analytics, where he designed the company’s Crypto Research and Investigation Specialist course after dedicating 15 years of his career to tackling fraud and serious crimes with the Metropolitan Police in London and serving within the Economic Crime Directorate with the City of London Police, specializing in asset recovery, and combatting fraud.
Jeremy Sheridan, Managing Director is an expert in digital currencies, financial crime investigations, blockchain and smart contracts. As an agent with the Secret Service, he conducted more than 60 federal and state financial and cybercrime investigations, resulting in 37 arrests and a 100% conviction rate. He has testified in federal and state court on multiple occasions and served as an expert witness on cryptocurrency matters in front of the U.S. House of Representatives and the U.S. Senate. As Assistant Director at the Secret Service for the Office of Investigations, Jeremy established the agency’s first dedicated illicit finance and digital asset investigative team and directed the agency’s global investigative mission of 3,000 personnel and 162 offices.
Bobby Lowe, Senior Director is a financial crime compliance professional in the digital asset space. He is the former head of compliance governance for a prominent digital asset exchange, leading the firm through regulatory examinations and managing compliance policies and procedures.
Jason Trager, Senior Director is an experienced litigator and investigator with subject matter expertise in digital assets and cryptocurrency, including BSA/AML compliance. Jason brings more than ten years of experience overseeing the investigation of illicit activities related to cryptocurrencies and digital assets, including money laundering, ransomware, sanctions evasion, NFT theft, and darknet trafficking.

Recent Thought Leadership

The SEC approval of the Bitcoin ETF is a landmark moment for the digital assets ecosystem. Read our thoughts in our latest blog post: Bitcoin ETF Approval Stokes Reinvigorated Institutional Excitement for Cryptocurrency
Our annual overview of 2024 predictions from our multi-disciplinary team of professionals is live! Read more about our BDA predictions »
Our whitepaper Trends in Regulation of Digital Assets examines the worldwide regulatory frameworks governing digital assets and cryptocurrencies offering a snapshot of the current regulatory guidance in key regions: the United States, the United Kingdom, the European Union, Singapore, Hong Kong, the United Arab Emirates, and Latin America.
After a recent webcast with Alessa, Mike Carter was referenced in a FinTech Global article “What are the best practices for crypto asset regulation compliance?”
Future-Proofing White-Collar Crime Defenses, by Steven S. McNew Senior Managing Director, Global Leader of Blockchain and Digital Assets, Mike Driscoll, Senior Managing Director, Jaco Sadie, Senior Managing Director, Bryce Snape, Managing Director
In a recent podcast, David Brill joined others from the WSBA to discuss the forthcoming decision related to the Bitcoin ETF.