Speaker 22
Adella Touron-Foerster LLM

Cogent Law Group | Director, Fintech Legal Department

Adella Toulon-Foerster's experience with alternative currencies spans over 15 years. In 2000, She Co-Founded LongLever and built online gold-backed payment systems. She adopted bitcoin in 2012 and subsequently wrote her legal thesis on bitcoin. Adella currently spearheads the blockchain and crypto/virtual currency practice at the Cogent Law Group, LLP. Adella has consulted, written and spoken extensively on bitcoin and its possible uses for remittance and other markets. She is passionate about disruption and believes in a future where financial inclusion is the status quo. She attended the Nottingham Law School (UK) and George Washington University Law School.

linkedin.com/in/adellatoulon

CogentLaw.co

The Elephant And The Blind Men

Since it's inception and application, regulators have puzzled over how to treat bitcoin. The law was simply not built to handle the novel technology and, in the absence of applicable black letter and case law, various regulatory agencies have grappled with different interpretations. Thus, the current legal terrain can be difficult to navigate for actors engaged or invested in the virtual currency space. The new wave of "blockchain technology" has spawned interest from banking institutions and entrepreneurs alike. This presentation will briefly outline regulatory interpretation from finCEN, The IRS, the SEC, the CFTC and various State laws. It will examine the current legal climate: theDAO, Bitfinex and how alternative companies may legally utilize bitcoin.