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Overview

Structuring the legal foundations of digital asset markets

Few industries evolve as rapidly or draw as much regulatory scrutiny as cryptocurrency. New blockchain protocols, tokenized products, decentralized platforms, and digital asset marketplaces emerge continuously, often surpassing the pace of legal frameworks built to regulate them. For founders and investors, legal concerns arise frequently: How will regulators classify the product? Who retains rights to the underlying technology? What compliance obligations arise when the platform expands internationally?

As digital asset businesses grow, those questions become operational challenges. Regulators continue to define how securities, commodities, financial crime, and sanctions rules apply to blockchain platforms. Intellectual property protection becomes critical as software and protocol innovation drive competitive advantage. At the same time, cybersecurity expectations are unusually high in a market where a single breach or smart contract failure can erase significant value./p>

Dunlap Bennett & Ludwig advises cryptocurrency businesses confronting these legal challenges as they launch and scale digital asset products. Our attorneys counsel founders, investors, and operators as they structure companies, negotiate commercial agreements, protect intellectual property, and manage regulatory and cross-border risk. In short, we help clients design the legal infrastructure necessary to support tangible products, partnerships, and growth./p>

OUR EXPERIENCE IN THE CRYPTOCURRENCY SECTOR

Cryptocurrency businesses are built on software, but their long-term success often depends on the legal architecture behind the platform. The lawyers at Dunlap Bennett & Ludwig help cryptocurrency companies structure ownership, protect technology, and manage regulatory exposure as digital asset products move from concept to market.

We work with businesses operating in and around the digital asset economy, including the following:

  • Blockchain software and infrastructure companies
  • Wallet, custody, and payments providers
  • Tokenization and smart contract ventures
  • Crypto-adjacent fintech and software businesses
  • Founders, investors, and strategic acquirers evaluating digital asset opportunities
  • Technology companies commercializing blockchain-enabled products


WHAT WE DO

 

From lease negotiation and liquor licensing to litigation and regulatory actions, franchise agreements, and multi-unit acquisitions, our team delivers practical, business-minded counsel grounded in decades of experience serving food and hospitality businesses.

Corporate structuring and strategic transactions
  • Structure entities and governance frameworks for digital asset and blockchain ventures
  • Negotiate founder agreements, investment documents, and strategic partnership terms
  • Support mergers, acquisitions, and asset purchases involving cryptocurrency and blockchain businesses
  • Conduct due diligence focused on intellectual property ownership, licensing rights, cybersecurity posture, and regulatory exposure
  • Organize joint ventures and commercialization arrangements for blockchain-enabled products


Technology transactions and commercial agreements
  • Draft and negotiate platform terms, API agreements, custody-adjacent service agreements, and software licensing arrangements
  • Allocate ownership and usage rights for smart contract code, platform architecture, and proprietary analytics tools
  • Structure white-label, Software-as-a-Service (SaaS), and infrastructure agreements for crypto-adjacent technology providers
  • Develop vendor and outsourcing agreements addressing uptime, security, indemnification, and service levels
  • Resolve disputes involving failed integrations, product specifications, and platform access rights


Intellectual property and brand protection
  • Protect blockchain-related software, platform innovations, and proprietary technical processes through patent, copyright, and trade secret strategies
  • Register and enforce trademarks for exchanges, wallets, token projects, NFT collections, and related digital services
  • Structure licensing programs for software, protocols, and branded digital services
  • Address infringement claims involving code, branding, and platform content
  • Safeguard confidential business methods, pre-disclosure tokenomics models, and technical know-how


Regulatory and cross-border compliance
  • Advise on U.S. federal and state regulatory classification and compliance across the full agency matrix applicable to digital assets, including the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), federal banking regulators (OCC, FDIC, and the Federal Reserve), the New York Department of Financial Services (NYDFS) BitLicense and limited-purpose trust charter regimes, and state money transmitter licensing authorities
  • Assess how digital asset business models intersect with U.S. regulatory frameworks, including economic sanctions programs administered and enforced by the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) and Bank Secrecy Act requirements administered by the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN)
  • Design compliance structures addressing sanctions screening, restricted-party concerns, and cross-border technology transfers
  • Evaluate export-control classification, publicly-available-software analysis under 15 CFR §§ 734.3(b)(3) and 734.7, and License Exception ENC eligibility under the Export Administration Regulations administered by the Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) when crypto platforms distribute software or encryption technology internationally
  • Support internal compliance planning for globally distributed teams and international counterparties
  • Coordinate responses to government inquiries and enforcement actions involving cross-border activity, including matters involving OFAC, BIS, and national security review by the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS)


Cybersecurity, data security, and incident response
  • Develop contractual and governance frameworks for safeguarding customer data, wallet infrastructure, and proprietary code
  • Review cybersecurity controls and incident-response planning
  • Draft vendor and internal policies addressing access controls, breach response, and information security responsibilities
  • Address legal exposure arising from security incidents, service interruptions, and unauthorized access events
  • Align data protection practices with broader commercial and regulatory obligations


Capital formation and growth planning
  • Support private financing and strategic investments for blockchain and crypto-adjacent ventures
  • Draft subscription, equity, and convertible financing documents
  • Evaluate reputational, contractual, and regulatory diligence issues in growth-stage transactions
  • Structure exit transactions
  • Help founders and investors align legal architecture with long-term commercialization goals

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Intern Program

As part of our effort to recruit, develop and retail the best and brightest attorneys, Dunlap Bennett & Ludwig offers a summer intern program for promising law school students who are looking to work as part of an innovative and incredibly successful team. With a global team of lawyers, selected candidates are able to work on high level projects in a collaborative space.

Paralegals and Legal Support Staff

At Dunlap Bennett & Ludwig, our team of paralegals and staff work together collaboratively along side our attorneys toward a common goal. We have created a positive work environment where our paralegals and legal assistants work to successfully reach firm-wide goals and support each other to combine individual strengths to enhance team performance. They regularly assist our attorneys with organizing and maintaining files, conducting legal research, and preparing documents.