General Counsel
Lead all legal and regulatory strategy for a blockchain infrastructure startup, serving as sole counsel on CFTC/SEC compliance, commercial deals, IP, and governance.
About the job
Responsibilities
- Lead the company's approach to legal and regulatory matters across the U.S. (SEC, CFTC, FinCEN, OFAC, state MTLs) and internationally (MiCA, FCA, MAS), while staying ahead of regulatory developments and working directly with regulators when necessary.
- Lead deal work: M&A, strategic investments, financings, joint ventures, etc. and draft, negotiate, and operationalize the full commercial contract stack: customer, partner, vendor, BD, integration, and protocol partnership agreements.
- Own the company's intellectual property strategy, including trademarks, licensing, and open-source software considerations.
- Manage disputes, regulatory inquiries, subpoenas, investigations, and other legal matters as they arise. Select and oversee outside counsel and ensure legal resources are used effectively, when necessary.
- Structure and maintain the company's corporate architecture and governance across multiple entities.
- Build legal and compliance processes that can scale with the company while balancing risk, regulatory requirements, and speed of execution.
- Advise and work with founders on best practices for entity structuring, tokenomics and securities, innovative business models and compliance solutions.
Qualifications
- 5+ years of experience in financial services law with a strong concentration in CFTC regulation. Experience may be drawn from practice at a top-tier law firm, an in-house role at a registered entity (DCM, DCO, FCM, or swap dealer), or the CFTC itself.
- Demonstrated ability to operate as a sole legal lead, preferably with an early stage company, and comfortable being the only lawyer in the room and the last set of eyes before something ships.
- Prior experience advising a crypto, DeFi, or fintech company, in-house or as outside counsel.
- Experience structuring multi-entity setups, including offshore affiliates and operating subsidiaries.
- Direct experience advising on, preparing, or managing CFTC regulatory filings, rule submissions, or examination responses.
- Outstanding analytical, drafting, and organisational skills with the ability to produce clear, commercially actionable legal guidance.
- Ability to translate complex regulatory requirements into practical product and operational guidance for non-lawyer business partners/colleagues.
Skills
Cftc Regulation, Sec Regulation, Fincen Compliance, Ofac Compliance, State Mtl Licensing, Mica Regulation, Fca Regulation, Mas Regulation, M&A, Intellectual Property Strategy, Corporate Governance, Commercial Contracts, Regulatory Filings
Similar jobs
Legal jobs
Postman
New York, NYCommercial counsel will lead partner, customer, vendor, and procurement contracting while advising Sales, Product, Finance, Security, and other stakeholders. The role requires a U.S. J.D., bar admission, and 5–8 years of SaaS commercial legal experience.
6sense
United States
Employment Counsel will advise the People team on employment law, investigations, policies, compliance, and multijurisdictional workforce matters while supporting broader legal and governance needs. The role requires a J.D., U.S. bar admission, at least five years of legal experience, and meaningful employment law experience.
Virta Health
United States
Own day-to-day privacy operations and cross-functional compliance initiatives for a health technology company. The role requires 4–7 years of privacy or compliance experience, knowledge of HIPAA and state privacy laws, and expertise in assessments, incident response, and data subject requests.
Harvey
London, United KingdomPrivacy and AI counsel supporting global privacy programs, data protection agreements, product development, and AI governance across EMEA. Requires qualification as a lawyer and at least four years of post-qualification privacy and data protection experience.
Forus
New York, NY
The Legal Operations Manager will build and optimize Legal & Compliance workflows, technology, reporting, governance processes, and vendor operations. The role requires at least five years of legal operations experience and strong cross-functional execution, communication, and legal technology skills.