Practitioners highlighted for a distinctive sub-specialty edge in this field — beyond the directory criteria.
New York State Department of Financial Services (NYDFS) · United States
Editor's note. NYDFS Superintendent operating the most rigorous US state-level crypto licence (BitLicense). Active policy voice on stablecoin reserves and operational supervision.
Adrienne A. Harris is Superintendent of the New York State Department of Financial Services (NYDFS), the regulator that operates the NYDFS BitLicense — the most rigorous US state-level crypto credential. Harris took the Superintendent role in January 2022. Her NYDFS tenure has overseen substantial expansion of the BitLicense framework, crypto-asset operator authorisations including major exchanges and custodians, and policy development on stablecoin reserves and operational requirements. NYDFS under Harris has been one of the most active US regulators on crypto-asset firm supervision.
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Bundesanstalt für Finanzdienstleistungsaufsicht (BaFin) · Germany, European Union
Editor's note. BaFin President with FINMA CEO heritage. Combined Swiss-German regulator-side perspective on crypto-asset firm supervision — most-respected EU supervisor positioning.
Mark Branson is President of BaFin (Bundesanstalt für Finanzdienstleistungsaufsicht), the German financial regulator with one of the most rigorous EU supervisor approaches to crypto-asset firms. Branson took the BaFin Presidency in August 2021 after serving as CEO of FINMA (Swiss Financial Market Supervisory Authority) from 2014 to 2021. His combined Swiss-German regulator experience covers crypto-bank licensing development (SEBA, Sygnum under FINMA) and MiCA implementation in Germany (KMAG framework). The combination makes him one of the most consequential EU regulator voices on crypto-asset firm supervision.
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Custodia Bank · United States
Editor's note. Architect of Wyoming SPDI framework — most-developed US state-level crypto-banking model. Federal Reserve master-account litigation shapes public-record analysis of crypto-bank regulatory access.
Caitlin Long is Founder and CEO of Custodia Bank, a Wyoming-chartered Special Purpose Depository Institution (SPDI) designed specifically for digital-asset custody and banking. Long is one of the architects of the Wyoming digital-asset regulatory framework — the most-developed US state-level crypto regulatory framework — and has been one of the most-influential industry voices on banking-system integration with crypto-assets. Her Federal Reserve master-account application litigation has shaped the public understanding of crypto-bank Federal Reserve access framework.
Full profile → Editor's note. Founder of Dilendorf Law Firm — one of the first US digital-asset-dedicated practices, founded 2017. Distinctive track record on consumer-arbitration matters against major exchanges.
Max Dilendorf is Founder of Dilendorf Law Firm in New York, one of the first US attorneys to dedicate his practice to digital-asset law. He founded the firm in 2017 and has 15+ years of experience advising US and international clients on digital-asset custody, regulatory compliance, asset protection, estate planning, cybercrime recovery, and cross-border structuring. He has represented clients in 130+ consumer arbitration matters against major crypto exchanges including Coinbase and Gemini.
Full profile → Editor's note. Head of Legal & Compliance at the CLPAI #1-ranked firm. Mihhail's track record on 300+ financial-licence files makes him one of the highest-throughput EU crypto-licensing practitioners.
Mihhail Sherle is Senior Partner and Head of Legal & Compliance at Gofaizen & Sherle. With 13 years of legal experience including seven years specialising in FinTech and AML/CTF compliance, he has led the firm's team on more than 300 successful financial-licence projects — including CASPs, investment fund managers, and EMIs across the EU.
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Arendt & Medernach · Luxembourg, European Union
Editor's note. Mouton led Arendt's team on the first Coinbase MiCA CASP authorisation from the Luxembourg CSSF — the highest-profile MiCA file in the EU.
Marc Mouton is a Partner in the Banking & Financial Services practice at Arendt & Medernach in Luxembourg. He advises banks, investment firms, payment institutions and electronic money institutions on financial regulatory matters, M&A in the financial sector, and emerging fintech sectors. Arendt, jointly with Latham & Watkins, advised Coinbase on its successful CASP licence application under MiCA from the Luxembourg CSSF.
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CMS von Erlach Partners AG · Switzerland, European Union
Editor's note. Co-Head of CMS's global Crypto / Digital Assets / FinTech focus group — one of the few practitioners with documented authority across both the Swiss DLT framework and MiCA implementation.
Tina Balzli is a Partner and Head of Fintech & Blockchain at CMS Switzerland in Zurich, and Co-Head of the CMS Crypto, Digital Assets and FinTech International Focus Group. She advises crypto-asset firms on the Swiss DLT Act, FINMA fintech and banking licensing, and the MiCA interface for firms with cross-EU footprint.
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