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Daniel C. Isaacs

Partner
Daniel C. Isaacs's headshot
Daniel C. Isaacs Partner

Daniel Isaacs focuses his practice on regulatory enforcement, investigations, litigation and arbitration relating to securities, cryptocurrency and digital assets, commodities, futures and derivatives, and structured finance.

Daniel regularly advises U.S. and foreign companies on blockchain and cryptocurrency law relating to litigation and regulatory risk issues. Additionally, he defends and advises companies and individuals in investigations and enforcement actions conducted by governmental or self-regulatory agencies, including the SEC, CFTC, Department of Justice, FINRA and state attorneys general and securities regulators, among others.
As part of his litigation practice, Daniel defends clients, including securities issuers, trading companies, cryptocurrency companies, banks, hedge funds, private equity funds and individuals in a variety of commercial, financial and securities disputes. Daniel regularly practices in federal and state courts and before various arbitration tribunals. He has also litigated appeals to the U.S. Supreme Court, Second Circuit Court of Appeals, NY Court of Appeals, and NY Appellate Division. 

Daniel is a thought leader in the DAO and cryptocurrency space, writing frequently on legal developments in the sector. His articles have appeared in CoinDesk, Bloomberg Law and Law360, among other publications. Daniel filed an Amicus Brief, covered widely in the press, on behalf of client The Blockchain Association in the landmark SEC v. Ripple Labs, Inc., et al. litigation, which detailed how a ruling in the Ripple case could have negative consequences for the digital asset and blockchain industry at large. He is also a co-author of the MoCo Cryptocurrency Litigation Tracker.

Prior to joining Morrison Cohen in 2015, Daniel was an associate at Cahill Gordon & Reindel LLP.

Experience

  • Representing cryptocurrency software developers against a proposed class action after hackers stole $55 million from a software protocol that they had previously helped create. The outcome could be precedent-setting in determining who bears responsibility in decentralized and autonomous organizations (DAOs) when the enterprise is harmed.
  • Represented several software development companies in SEC, CFTC, and/or state investigations regarding the DeFi protocols they released.
  • Represented several cryptocurrency issuers (in the United States and abroad) in various SEC investigations regarding their token issuance.
  • Represented numerous several cryptocurrency companies and individuals in connection with investigations by SEC, FINRA, CFTC and/or the Department of Justice.
  • Represented several cryptocurrency trading companies in various state regulatory investigations.
  • Regulatory advisory work for several blockchain and cryptocurrency companies.
  • Advising several prominent DeFi protocols, exchanges, projects and institutional traders on SEC, CFTC, FinCEN and state regulations.
  • Advising several major DeFi protocol “grants programs” on structuring and regulatory issues.
  • Advising on the cryptocurrency 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.
  • Represented an Israeli telecommunications company and its officers in connection with an SEC investigation and litigation.

Recognition

  • Best Lawyers: Ones to Watch® in America for Litigation - Securities, 2025 edition
  • Thomson Reuters' Super Lawyers, New York Metro Rising Stars list in Business Litigation and Securities Litigation, 2020

News & Publications

Referenced

Daniel C. Isaacs's headshot

Education

  • Brooklyn Law School, J.D., magna cum laude, Journal of Law and Policy, Moot Court Honor Society
  • Binghamton University, B.A., cum laude

Bar Admissions

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

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