Sarah Chen navigates the high-pressure regulatory and litigious landscape of Crypto and Fintech. Her practice focuses on defending DeFi protocols and digital asset exchanges against federal investigations and class-action securities litigation. She is frequently sought out for her ability to reconcile legacy financial regulations with decentralized technology.

Representative Matters:

• DeFi Protocol Defense: Represented a decentralized exchange (DEX) in a first-of-its-kind SEC investigation regarding whether governance tokens constituted unregistered securities. Successfully negotiated a "no-action" letter by demonstrating the protocol’s sufficient decentralization.

• Smart Contract Liability: Defended a fintech firm in a class action alleging "code-as-law" negligence following a protocol exploit. Sarah argued that the user agreement's arbitration clause and technical risk disclosures precluded the claims, winning a motion to dismiss.

• Stablecoin Regulatory Compliance: Advised a global payments processor on the patenting and regulatory rollout of a cross-border stablecoin, ensuring compliance with both the Bank Secrecy Act and emerging EU crypto-assets regulations (MiCA).