TRM Talks: Securities to Sanctions: A Perspective on the Legal Issues Defining the Crypto Space with Matt McGuire

Matt McGuire is a Partner at Arktouros PLLC. His experience combines litigation at every level of federal and state judicial systems, including the U.S. Supreme Court, with practical, international commercial and emerging technology in-house expertise. Before joining the firm, he served in government, private practice, and academia along with deep in-house global experience at both public (Shopify) and private (DeFi Labs GmbH) international tech companies. From initial domestic or foreign government inquiry to oral argument in the U.S. Supreme Court, Matt has been involved in innumerable types of criminal and civil government investigation and litigation matters, including major cross-border disputes and crisis/incident response.

Matt’s public service and private practice experience was primarily as litigator and government investigation lawyer, handling significant appellate matters, trial court motions, litigation strategy, and investigations/subpoenas. As Virginia’s first Principal Deputy Solicitor General, he argued and won (5-4) a complex double jeopardy case in the U.S. Supreme Court (Currier v. Virginia). Matt has been counsel of record in more than 40 other Supreme Court matters, argued more than 20 appellate cases across wide-ranging subjects, and led the briefing strategy in more than 100 cases. Matt uses his appellate experience to efficiently embed with trial and arbitration teams to develop legal strategy and prepare major motions.

Matt was enticed away from private practice by the opportunity to be Shopify’s first global regulatory lawyer, and by the time he left Shopify, he had served as head of Shopify’s data protection legal team, led policy engagement for major European tech regulations (Digital Markets Act and Digital Services Act), and served as Senior Advisor/Deputy to the General Counsel to oversee the most difficult and complex legal issues facing the company. As General Counsel/Chief Compliance Officer at DeFi Labs GmbH, Matt guided the team through the numerous issues affecting a venture-backed startup while working closely with the founders and product team on the global legal obligations for crypto/blockchain.

Between his public service, private practice, and in-house experiences, Matt’s advised on matters involving innumerable government actors in the United States (e.g., US Congress, CFPB, DHS, DOJ, FBI, FERC, FTC, SEC, and State Attorneys General and state agencies), European Union and individual Member States, United Kingdom, Canada, Japan, Singapore, Argentina, Cayman Islands, and South Africa, among others. He’s previously taught a law school course on State Constitutions and State Attorneys General at the University of Richmond.