Former FTX US general counsel to co-lead law firm crypto practice
By David Thomas
Nov 12 (Reuters) -Ryne Miller, the former general counsel of the now-bankrupt FTX US exchange, has joined U.S. law firm Lowenstein Sandler amid rekindled enthusiasm for cryptocurrencies following Republican Donald Trump's presidential election win last week.
Miller will co-lead Lowenstein Sandler's cryptocurrency practice and head its commodities, futures and derivatives practice, the firm said on Tuesday. He said the crypto market is optimistic that a second Trump administration will be less focused on enforcement and more on engagement.
"I think you’re seeing that reflected in the prices," Miller said.
Bitcoin's price rallied to the verge of $90,000 on Tuesday. Trump embraced digital assets during his campaign, promising to make the United States the "crypto capital of the planet" and to accumulate a national stockpile of bitcoin.
FTX filed for bankruptcy in November 2022 in the wake of claims that the company misused and lost billions of dollars of customer crypto deposits. Sam Bankman-Fried, founder and CEO of the cryptocurrency exchange, was found guilty a year later of charges that he defrauded FTX customers by using their funds to prop up his own risky investments.
Miller, a former Sullivan & Cromwell partner, was listed as a potential witness in Bankman-Fried's trial, but he was never called to testify. Bankman-Fried was sentenced to 25 years in prison in March.
Sullivan & Cromwell was accused by some investors of participating in the defunct cryptocurrency exchange's multibillion-dollar fraud and then enriching itself as FTX's lead bankruptcy counsel.
The investors last month dropped their lawsuit against Sullivan & Cromwell, which denied wrongdoing.
Miller said his time at FTX gives him credibility in advising clients who are experiencing their own crises.
"It's a crisis management credential you really only get by being in the seat," Miller said.
Miller last year started his own law firm known as Miller Strategic Partners. That firm is in the process of being wound down, Miller said.
New Jersey-founded Lowenstein Sandler has more than 350 lawyers in California, New Jersey, New York, Utah and Washington, D.C.
Reporting by David Thomas
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