About the Project

As transformative financial technologies such as digital assets explode in the U.S. and global financial system, AUWCL’s Business Law faculty explore both the promise and potential concerns raised by this financial revolution through the AUWCL Digital Asset Law Project. Headed by Professor Gerard V. Comizio, who teaches one of the first courses in the country on digital asset law, the Digital Asset Law Project is designed to foster a deeper understanding of the legal, regulatory, compliance, and policy issues raised by the emerging world of digital assets and other transformative financial technologies.  Through the Project, the Business Law Program encourages students to explore both the promise and potential concerns raised by the digital financial revolution. AUWCL’s Business Law Program is a key training ground for lawyers working on digital asset issues.  As the market for digital assets continues to grow, so does the need for counsel who understand how they function and who can participate in the debate about their value and role, their regulatory status, and appropriate legal and policy strategies. AUWCL’s Business Law faculty is comprised of a number of talented and innovative leaders in scholarship, policy, and the profession related to digital asset law issues. 

Conferences and Events

The Digital Asset Law Project regularly hosts a series of events, webinars, and conferences addressing cutting edge issues, from the market innovation in financial technologies, and emerging regulatory framework for cryptocurrencies and market innovation in financial technologies to emerging laws and policies governing digital assets.

Distinguished Speaker Series

To kick off the 2022-2023 academic year, the Business Law Program and AUWCL Digital Asset Law Project hosted the inaugural Virtual Currency Law, Regulation, and Policy conference. Speakers included a current CFTC Commissioner, as well as a former General Counsel for the agency; the CEO of Bitfury Group (and former Acting Comptroller of the Currency); and leaders from the American Bankers Association and crypto industry. We also featured some of our prominent alumni practicing in the digital asset law field, such as Lee A. Schneider (WCL '91), General Counsel for AVA Labs; Andrew Siegel (WCL '94), General Counsel and Chief Compliance Officer of Galaxy LP; and David Brill (WCL ‘96), Deputy General Counsel of Voyager Digital and former General Counsel of Gemini; as well as senior lawyers, partners, and group heads from high-profile law firms, corporations, and government. You can view the full conference here.

In Spring 2023, we are hosting a series of events titled "Reckoning with the Aftermath of Crypto Winter." On February 23, we hosted an interview with Chris Giancarlo, the former Chair of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission and author of "Crypto Dad: The Fight for the Future of Money" to discuss current and potential regulation of crypto trading exchanges, and the future of central bank digital currencies. On March 20, we will feature Josh Sussberg, one of the nation’s leading bankruptcy lawyers, described in the press as “the busiest lawyer in crypto,” representing virtually all of the nation’s crypto trading exchanges that went into bankruptcy during the “crypto winter" of 2022.

Faculty Scholarship, Achievements, and Activities  

A group of AUWCL scholars is leading the discussion in this new phase of finance. For example, the faculty has recently produced two books in the digital assets space: Hilary Allen's "Driverless Finance: Fintech's Impact on Financial Stability (Oxford)" and Jerry Comizio's "Virtual Currency Law: The Emerging Legal and Regulatory Framework (Aspen Law), one of the first major textbooks on virtual currency law. The views of both colleagues are being sought in the most prominent forums. In addition to her testimony before Congress, Professor Allen has appeared at the Aspen Institute, Bank of England, Brookings, a CFTC roundtable, FSOC, and the IMF. Her opinions appear in the Financial Times, New York Times, and NPR. Professor Comizio has appeared at the International Centre for Parliamentary Studies, Paris Arbitration Week, and SCACPA Fall Fest. His opinions have been featured in Bloomberg Law, Katie Couric Media, Fortune Magazine, and the American Banker.

In receiving the top A+ ranking for Business Law from PreLaw Magazine in its new rankings for Fall 2021, WCL joined Harvard and a select group of only 14 leading law schools for the second year in a row, and our groundbreaking Virtual Currency Law course was one of five business law initiatives to receive a special mention in the article. 

A complete list of faculty scholarship, achievements, and activities can be found here.

The Blockchain and Cryptocurrency Law Society

The BCLS was established to gather AUWCL and the AU community who are interested in blockchain or other emerging technologies. With the help of BCLS, students write about issues of and attain internships related to blockchain technology. BCLS also seeks to provide meaningful and unique networking opportunities for its members by hosting thought-provoking forums and events in the Washington D.C. metropolitan area.  

For more information about the BCLS, click here.