LThere’s a lawyer for everything — estate planning, personal injury, entertainment. With crypto, blockchain, and Web3 becoming more popular, the need for crypto lawyers is becoming more apparent. Crypto and blockchain laws are constantly evolving and changing; as to be expected with such new concepts. Right now, there are convoluted regulations as well as its own set of specific lawsuits. Of course, you can draw similarities to financial law, a crypto law specialist is integral especially if you find yourself in litigation.

What is a crypto lawyer?

Crypto lawyers can be defined as legal experts who specify in blockchain technology and cryptocurrency regulations. They follow updates, regulations, and legal updates regarding the new technology. They help developers, startups, sellers, and buyers ensure that they are safe in the eyes of the law and are following all necessary regulations. Think of them as the mediator between the crypto industry and the law. It goes without saying that as blockchain technology, crypto, NFTs and Web3 become more commonplace in our day-to-day lives, crypto lawyers will become more and more essential.

The FTX collapse

After the FTX collapse, there was a rise in the number of lawyers who are choosing to go into the crypto space. The reason? They know there will be a lot of work to come in the future. This is just an indication of how integral crypto lawyers will be.

Reports have also arisen stating that the FTX ignored (and continues to) ignore a typical legal strategy. Again, showcasing how important crypto lawyers would be for founders and developers. Ensuring that you’re following regulations will keep everybody safe from the top all the way to the bottom.

Perhaps with more legal experts in the space, trust in the industry will begin to rise again after taking a hit in the last few years.

NFT copyright issues

Recently, Hermes won a landslide copyright case against Rothschild. They were awarded $133,000 in damages. This occurred after Rothschild released digital handbags that looked just like Birkins. With copyright laws so complex regarding digital arts and digital assets, this is where a crypto lawyer would help avoid these hefty lawsuits.

Lawyers who are aware of trademark laws, copyright laws, and NFT laws would be able to advise NFT and Web3 copyright issues. As digital assets are becoming so commonplace, having lawyers that can protect you would be worthwhile.

Hackers

If you’re in the crypto-exchanging world, you’ll know how faith you put in exchanges. You just have to cross your fingers and hope that they work out every time. You’ll also know that not every exchange works out, unfortunately. A lot of times, these issues can easily be resolved with quick communication. However, sometimes it’s a little more sinister. Hacking is the largest issue that exchanges face at the moment. Millions of dollars of assets have been stolen by hackers. The exchangers and investors are both negatively affected, which is where a lawsuit will likely ensue. This is why having a crypto lawyer is so important.

Crypto lawyers will defend you in court, either proving that the exchange is or isn’t to blame for this mass loss. Lawyers will also work hard to persuade the court to how much money damaged parties are owed. This requires an expert in crypto that can also summarise regulations and law to the court to prove their point.

ICO indiscretions

You have likely seen in the news how commonplace it is for people to fall for a scam/counterfeit crypto project. This is even true with crypto whitepapers. Investors have a habit of skimming through crypto whitepapers, or even when they do read through them, developers are just not able to develop the project. Don’t kick yourself if you find yourself as a victim of a scam ICO. If you ever (God forbid) find yourself in a position where you have chosen the wrong ICO, a crypto lawyer will be able to get you through it.

There are examples of this happening, perhaps most famously Centra Tech who are now facing charges after essentially scamming their investors — this outcome was made possible by crypto lawyers.

Furthermore, crypto lawyers will also help prevent these kinds of lawsuits from ever occurring. If you are a crypto startup, you should avoid trying to understand laws and regulations by yourself, getting a lawyer in will aid you in ensuring that everyone is safe.

As with every industry, the blockchain and crypto industry comes with its own risks. Even when you do your own due diligence, getting a crypto lawyer in just to check everything over could help you avoid a lawsuit or loss of money.