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Jason P. Gottlieb

Partner & Chair, Digital Assets; Chair, White Collar and Regulatory Enforcement
Jason P. Gottlieb's headshot
Jason P. Gottlieb Partner & Chair, Digital Assets; Chair, White Collar and Regulatory Enforcement

Jason Gottlieb’s practice focuses on regulatory enforcement, litigation, and arbitration relating to cryptocurrency, securities, commodities, futures and derivatives, and structured finance.

Jason principally defends companies and individuals in the digital assets space, in investigations and enforcement actions conducted by governmental or self-regulatory agencies. He also regularly advises U.S. and foreign companies on blockchain and cryptocurrency law relating to litigation and regulatory risk issues.

Jason is ranked in Chambers Band 1 for his digital assets disputes practice, and in Band 3 for his blockchain practice more generally. He was also named to The National Law Journal's inaugural list of Cryptocurrency, Blockchain and Fintech Trailblazers. He has been widely published and quoted in the media for his cryptocurrency and blockchain expertise, including for CNN, CNBC, Bloomberg, Fortune, The National Law Journal, New York Law Journal, Law360, The Real Deal, Forbes, Coindesk, a one-on-one “fireside chat” with SEC Commissioner Hester Peirce, and many more.

Jason is also the principal author of the Morrison Cohen Cryptocurrency Litigation Tracker, a publicly-available, comprehensive resource that follows regulatory actions and pronouncements, private litigation, and other events of interest in the cryptocurrency space.

In each regulatory enforcement matter, Jason brings a practical, business-friendly approach to protecting his client’s economic and reputational interests. When necessary, Jason is fully ready to litigate, and has done so – for example, winning dismissal of an SEC case in federal district court, a victory later sustained by the Supreme Court of the United States.

In Jason’s litigation practice, he regularly defends securities issuers, trading companies, cryptocurrency companies, manufacturers, pharmaceutical companies, real estate entities, banks, hedge funds, private equity funds and individuals in a host of different areas, including securities, EB5 financing, real estate, structured transactions, partnership disputes and intellectual property.

Prior to joining Morrison Cohen, Jason was an attorney at Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton LLP and Curtis, Mallet-Prevost, Colt & Mosle LLP.  Before becoming a lawyer, Jason worked at a Japanese internet services company in Tokyo.

Experience

Cryptocurrency and Blockchain Enforcement and Litigation

Regulatory Enforcement:

  • Canadian individuals in an SEC litigation in federal district court over an initial coin offering, the first case brought by the SEC’s Cyber Unit
  • a California cryptocurrency hedge fund in an SEC investigation (obtained a letter of non-enforcement)
  • Genesis Global, in a litigation brought by the SEC
  • several software development companies in SEC, CFTC, and/or state investigations regarding the DeFi protocols they released
  • a software company and its developers in a landmark investigation and settlement with the CFTC
  • several DeFi protocols and developers in connection with hacking attacks
  • several cryptocurrency issuers (in the United States and abroad) in various SEC investigations regarding a token issuance
  • numerous cryptocurrency companies and individuals in connection with investigations by SEC, CFTC, and/or the Department of Justice
  • several cryptocurrency trading companies in various state regulatory investigations
  • a bitcoin payments company in a state regulatory investigation
  • regulatory advisory work for several blockchain and cryptocurrency companies
  • approved as an expert witness for the defense on certain cryptocurrency matters in a federal criminal trial

Litigation:

  • the ICON Foundation in litigation with an individual who exploited a bug to extract value from the protocol
  • a leading DeFi foundation in a class action over purported wrongdoing involving a decentralized protocol
  • DeFi developers and a technology company in a class action case claiming a particular token is a security
  • a foreign cryptocurrency exchange in connection with customer claims
  • a software company in putative class action litigation alleging violations of New York law in connection with unlicensed gaming
  • a cryptocurrency trading company in a JAMS arbitration with a counterparty over a failure to settle trades
  • a foreign investor in a complaint for violations of the federal securities laws and common law fraud against a cryptocurrency investment fund
  • a major blockchain industry advocacy organization in filing amicus briefs in two significant cases
  • a Swiss blockchain company in litigation related to its token issuance
  • a cryptocurrency investment fund in an employment dispute
  • litigation advisory work for American investors involved in litigation over a cryptocurrency broker-dealer over issues of fraud

Regulatory Advisory Work:

  • advising several prominent DeFi protocols, exchanges, projects, and institutional traders on SEC, CFTC, FinCEN, and state regulations
  • advising Ember Fund on regulatory aspects of a major deal partnership
  • advising the Washington Nationals baseball team on regulatory aspects of a sponsorship deal involving a cryptocurrency platform
  • advising several major DeFi protocol “grants programs” on structuring and regulatory issues
  • advising a leading social media company on the treatment of ERC-20 tokens within their platform
  • advising on the cryptocurrency regulatory aspects of several cryptocurrency fund formations
  • advising on regulatory diligence on cryptocurrency and blockchain aspects of significant investments
  • advising several foreign cryptocurrency exchanges on United States regulatory matters

White Collar and Regulatory Enforcement Representations

Securities:

  • an Israeli telecommunications company in connection with an SEC investigation and litigation
  • a California EB-5 Regional Center in an SEC investigation
  • an EB-5 Regional Center in litigations in Florida, California, and New Hampshire
  • a charitable organization and its founder in an SEC investigation into alleged fraud
  • a Chinese company in connection with securities compliance issues
  • the founders of an Israeli technology company in connection with an SEC insider trading investigation and litigation
  • an individual accused by FINRA of unauthorized trading
  • an individual accused by FINRA of manipulative high-speed trading
  • an individual in an SEC investigation into fraudulent trading in biopharmaceutical securities
  • a global investment bank in an SEC investigation arising from the Bernard Madoff fraud
  • a global investment bank in an SEC investigation into trading improprieties related to private investments in public equity transactions

Real Estate / Development Matters:

  • a national commercial mortgage broker in an internal investigation
  • a New York real estate management company in a NYAG investigation
  • the principal of a New York real estate development company in a NYAG investigation
  • a commercial real estate broker in an NYAG investigation
  • a real estate company in an internal investigation into potential wrongdoing by an employee
  • a real estate company in an internal investigation into potential governmental fraud by a contract counterparty

Funds Matters:

  • an individual witness in an SEC investigation into fraud at an investment fund
  • an investment fund in an internal investigation into potential embezzlement
  • a senior employee of a New York hedge fund in an SEC investigation into fraudulent trading of penny stocks
  • a mutual fund group in an SEC investigation into a potentially illegal multi-level marketing scheme
  • a private equity fund in several SEC, NYSE, and NASD insider trading investigations
  • a mutual fund manager in an SEC investigation and civil action in federal court related to mutual fund market timing
  • an individual in a D.C. Division of Securities and Banking inquiry into investment structures

Commodities / Futures Matters:

  • a commodities trading company in a CFTC investigations into oil futures trading
  • an individual at a trading company in a CME investigation into wash trades
  • a trading company in a CFTC investigation into “exchange for related position” transactions
  • a commodities trading company in a series of CFTC investigations into cotton futures trading
  • a British commodities trading company in a CFTC investigation into liquefied petroleum gas trading
  • a trading company in a CFTC investigation into soybean and soybean oil futures trading

Criminal Matters:

  • an individual witness in a DOJ investigation into alleged improprieties at a hedge fund
  • various funds and individuals in connection with grand jury subpoenas
  • a company and its principal in a DOJ investigation into criminality in a real estate investment fund
  • several witnesses in a DOJ prosecution of bribery and public corruption
  • several witnesses in a DOJ prosecution of a fraudulent investment scheme 
  • several individuals arrested in connection with the summer of 2020 "Black Lives Matter" protests (pro bono, each client's case was fully dismissed)

Other Business Litigation Matters

  • Defended Ability, Inc. in a shareholder class action litigation in federal court in New York
  • Defended a New York EB-5 Regional Center and its principals in a case alleging securities fraud
  • Defended a pharmaceutical company in a putative class action relating to alleged wrongdoing by corporate officers
  • Defended several individuals and entities in a real estate litigation in federal court in New York alleging $2 billion in damages
  • Represented a Canadian commodities company as plaintiff in a contract dispute over a failure to ship goods
  • Represented a state-owned entity in tax litigation in the United States Virgin Islands, defending against $3 billion in asserted liabilities and prosecuting claims for $150 million in refunds 
  • Defended a company in Connecticut state court against allegations of breach of an employment agreement
  • Defended a hedge fund and its senior personnel in two federal lawsuits regarding a $600 million valuation fraud at the Bank of Montreal
  • Defended a securities industry professional in a New York state court civil suit accusing him of fraud and breach of fiduciary duty
  • Represented a European company in Connecticut state court regarding a cancelled sulfuric acid shipment
  • Represented a Japanese manufacturer as plaintiff in federal district court in a trade secret misappropriation case (team cited by a federal judge for “first-rate” lawyering)
  • Represented a Mexican bank as a securities-holder creditor in the Refco bankruptcy proceedings, including a trial regarding the conversion of the proceedings from Chapter 11 to Chapter 7 of the Bankruptcy Code

Structured Finance Litigation

  • Defended a financial institution in New York state court against $2.5 billion in claims relating to investments in a structured finance vehicle
  • Defended an investment bank in federal and state litigations regarding alleged fraud in the sale of subprime-backed securities
  • Represented a corporate services provider in a series of restructurings of structured finance vehicles
  • Defended an investment bank in federal district court in a dispute over the valuation of subprime-backed securities under repurchase agreements
  • Represented a mezzanine lender in several state and federal litigations regarding real estate financing
  • Defended an investment bank in an arbitration regarding the purchase price of a subprime mortgage origination company (involving a dispute over the valuation of securities)
  • Defended an investment bank in New York State court and in NASD arbitration regarding a dispute over the valuation of when-issued securities

International Arbitration

  • Defended a Russian businessman in a $3 billion LCIA arbitration over a disputed real estate project in Moscow, including related proceedings in English and Cyprus courts
  • Represented an Italian pharmaceutical manufacturer as claimant in a Swiss Chamber of Commerce arbitration against an American pharmaceutical distributor alleging breaches of their distribution contract 
  • Represented a Chinese company as claimant in an ICDR arbitration in a contract dispute with a Texas company
  • Represented a Swiss commodities company in an ICDR arbitration and related U.S. federal court proceedings regarding a $90 million fuel delivery contract
  • Defended three international commodities trading companies (from Switzerland, Singapore, and Hong Kong) in an ICDR arbitration alleging breaches of an executive employment agreement
  • Represented a Japanese manufacturer as claimant in an ICC arbitration in a trade secret misappropriation case

Professional Activities

Wall Street Blockchain Alliance
New York County Lawyers’ Association (Securities and Exchanges Committee; Futures and Derivatives Committee)
Association of the Bar of New York City (Securities Litigation Committee)
Federal Bar Council

Recognition

Ranked in Chambers FinTech Guide 2024 (USA), Crypto-Asset Disputes, Band 1 and FinTech Legal: Blockchain & Cryptocurrencies, Band 3 

The National Law Journal, “Cryptocurrency, Blockchain, and FinTech Trailblazers,” 2018

Jason P. Gottlieb's headshot

Education

  • Columbia University School of Law, J.D., Columbia Journal of Asian Law, Editor-in-Chief
  • Harvard University, A.M.
  • Rutgers University, B.A., Phi Beta Kappa

Bar Admissions

  • New York
  • U.S. Supreme Court
  • U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit
  • U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit
  • U.S. District Court – Southern District of New York
  • U.S. District Court – Eastern District of New York
  • U.S. District Court – Eastern District of New York

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