Overview
A digital asset platform provider is seeking a proactive Legal Counsel to join their Trading Solutions team. This role involves partnering closely with product and business teams to bring new institutional crypto products and features to market. The Legal Counsel will provide strategic legal guidance, conduct research, establish policies, and ensure regulatory compliance across crypto market infrastructure including trading venues, prime brokers, custodians, and payment rails.
Responsibilities
- Lead structuring, drafting, and negotiation of key counterparty agreements such as electronic trading, derivatives, and financing arrangements.
- Coordinate with internal teams and manage external counsel to support transaction execution.
- Serve as a trusted advisor to executive leadership on complex regulatory frameworks, reputational risks, and ongoing compliance obligations.
- Develop and manage contract templates.
- Partner with Compliance to develop guidelines, policies, procedures, playbooks, and staff training.
- Work independently while leading medium-to-large projects and processes.
- Communicate relevant legal issues to internal stakeholders to ensure knowledge sharing.
- Build close relationships with trading solutions, legal, and compliance teams to resolve legal issues and improve efficiency.
Requirements
- JD preferred.
- 8+ years of transactional experience reviewing financial transaction agreements, including lending agreements, prime brokerage agreements, ISDA/CSA, and trade confirmations.
- Strong understanding of laws and regulations applicable to spot, margin, derivatives, platform trading, and prime brokerage for digital assets.
- Ability to draft, negotiate, and create a wide range of agreements including digital asset trading agreements, collateral agreements, margin agreements, loan agreements, settlement terms, ISDAs, confirmations, disclosures, and risk factors.
- Experience working in a fast-paced startup or early-stage company environment.
- Highly organized with meticulous attention to detail and ability to produce quality work in a high-volume environment.
- Understanding of regulatory frameworks pertaining to digital asset business models and ability to apply traditional financial legal concepts to digital asset institutional client needs.
- Strong communication skills, both internal and external, with ability to be client-facing and collaborate cross-functionally.
- Ability to think creatively and propose commercial, pragmatic solutions.
Preferred Qualifications
- Familiarity with crypto trading venues, prime brokers, custodians, and payment rails.
- Experience working closely with business heads and legal teams to grow trading solutions.
- Ability to prioritize work aligned with company goals and communicate rationale effectively.
Compensation & Benefits
Details on compensation and benefits were not provided.
Location
The role requires in-person onboarding due to security policies mandating physical identity verification and secure IT setup. Specific office locations include San Francisco, New York, Porto (Portugal), Singapore, and Sioux Falls (South Dakota). Candidates should be prepared for physical presence during onboarding.
Additional Information
The organization is committed to equal employment opportunity regardless of race, color, ancestry, religion, sex, national origin, sexual orientation, age, citizenship, marital status, disability, gender identity, or veteran status. Qualified applicants will be considered regardless of criminal histories, consistent with legal requirements.
Artificial intelligence tools may be used to support parts of the hiring process, but final hiring decisions are made by humans.