Crypto Lawyers Will Be In Demand in 2023 As Regulators Heighten Compliance

According to two legal scholars, crypto-savvy lawyers will take on a bigger role in Web3 firms as the sector prepares for regulatory uncertainty in the wake of FTX's collapse.

According to Senior Research Fellow Dr. Aaron Lane of RMIT's Blockchain Innovation Hub, Web3 businesses should be cautious in the current climate and seek legal counsel as necessary.

"Entrepreneurs are used to making decisions under economic uncertainty but are not as good at operating under legal uncertainty," Lane said.

Lane highlighted that the rapid pace of blockchain-based innovation, as well as the recent introduction of over 50 distinct digital asset laws in the United States Congress, underscores the necessity.

He believes that some of the top Web3 lawyers will emerge from the commercial law sector, which he considers to be a "crucial" foundation for crypto lawyers.

"A good Web3 lawyer will be a good commercial lawyer. The best Web3 lawyers in the field today started out as commercial lawyers of one kind or another and I expect that core foundation will continue to be crucial."

"Knowledge of the technologies that make up the Web3 stack will be increasingly in demand over the next decade," Lane however stressed.

In-house lawyers, who focus primarily on disputes involving financial services and securities laws, provide a smaller portion of the legal assistance for Web3 firms, according to Lane.

Thomas Hook, a professor at Boston Law School and the chief compliance officer at the cryptocurrency exchange Bitstamp, predicted that Web3 attorneys will soon become "business differentiators" because of the challenging work of guiding businesses through legal and regulatory difficulties.

How quickly businesses may launch their goods and services on the market will ultimately be determined by this.

"Given the lack of clarity in many regulations and the complexity, Web3 companies will continue to need legal and compliance representatives to support them," Hook said. "These types of individuals are becoming business differentiators as they can help or hinder a business to get to market quickly in a legal and compliant manner."

"Without them, companies could face setbacks as regulators are looking to get a handle on the industry," Hook added.

However, according to CryptoRecruit founder Neil Dundon, the sector remains "very niche" for the time being.