Big Law Investing in Digital Asset Practices

Crypto’s ‘Broad Ambitions’ Have Big Law Making Investments

With new crypto rules percolating in Washington, D.C., and predictions of growth stemming from the industry’s broad ambitions, Big Law firms are continuing to stock up on lawyers, deals and practices in the digital assets space.

Just this month, Latham & Watkins and Kirkland & Ellis announced crypto-related transactions or added digital currency expertise, while Winston & Strawn officially launched a financial innovation and regulation practice. […]

Mark Perlow, a former SEC senior counsel and partner at Dechert, told Law.com it represented “a real attempt to regulate and bring stablecoins into the financial system in a way that is more consistent with the existing banking and anti-money laundering law regimes.”

For lawyers already focused on this area, “your practice is likely going to grow,” Perlow said.

“There is going to be more entrance; there’s going to be more innovation,” he said, adding that, even if a lawyer practices in an adjacent area, “you should immediately start getting up to speed on both the technology and the developing legal and regulatory regime, because the industry has broad ambitions.”

Crypto in 401(k)s: Trump’s Stance Spurs Optimism for Inclusion of Private Assets

The US Labor Department will no longer urge 401(k) overseers to act with “extreme care” before offering cryptocurrencies, a decision that will be welcomed by some firms lobbying to add private assets to those accounts.

In rescinding the 2022 guidance issued under President Joe Biden, the Labor Department said it’s now taking a neutral stance on whether administrators of defined-contribution plans should be cautious about including crypto in their menus of investment options.

“We’re rolling back this overreach and making it clear that investment decisions should be made by fiduciaries, not DC bureaucrats,” Secretary of Labor Lori Chavez-DeRemer said in a statement Wednesday.

What About AI-Related Enforcement Under the Trump Administration?

The conclusion that the administration will continue to watch AI-related disclosures is underscored by an SEC official’s statements at a recent conference. As reported in a May 15, 2025, Law360 article (here), an enforcement attorney working on the SEC’s newly formed cybersecurity and emerging technologies unit, speaking at a conference organized by Securities Docket, reaffirmed that the agency is focused on AI-related misrepresentations. The attorney is quoted as saying that “Overall, I would say we have an overarching focus on rooting out those seeking to misuse this new technology and to harm investors.”

In her remarks, the SEC attorney elaborated on the kinds of things the agency is reviewing. She said that among other things, the agency’s areas of interest include the use of AI in predictive data analytics, AI-based trading algorithms, the use of chatbots and the use of artificial intelligence to provide investment advice. The attorney said that “We’re looking at whether there’s transparency around the technology, whether it’s described accurately, whether there’s responsible communications to customers,” adding that “It’s easy to use a term like ‘AI,’ but is it automation of code or is it actually AI?”

Trump Tariffs Blocked by U.S. Court of International Trade

A panel of federal judges on Wednesday blocked President Trump from imposing some of his steepest tariffs on China and other U.S. trading partners, finding that federal law did not grant him “unbounded authority” to tax imports from nearly every country around the world.

The ruling, by the U.S. Court of International Trade, delivered an early yet significant setback to Mr. Trump, undercutting his primary leverage as he looks to pressure other nations into striking trade deals more beneficial to the United States.