SEC-turned-crypto lawyer talks revolving door, industry tensions

The revolving door between the U.S. cryptocurrency industry and Wall Street’s top cop has been particularly active this year — a trend that one former SEC lawyer who now defends crypto clients in the private sector says is a good thing.

Ladan Stewart, spent eight years as an enforcement attorney at the Securities and Exchange Commission where she helped bring high-profile cases against major crypto companies like Coinbase and Ripple. Now a partner at prominent law firm White & Case, Stewart is helping defend the same types of clients she made a career litigating against while at the SEC.

“In general, there’s a lot of reporting about the revolving door between the SEC and the defense bar, and there’s a lot of negative connotations,” Stewart said. “I think it’s a really good thing because being on both sides allows you to really understand how to think the way they do.”

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Stewart made the comments on stage last week at Crypto Investor Day, an event held by entrepreneur and investor Anthony Pompliano. The focus of her remarks centered on what she’s learned since making the switch to private practice, and it drew strident responses on social media regarding the government’s regulatory agenda and whether it’s appropriate for former SEC officials to cash-in on their government experience by representing companies they once regulated.

“The thing that was very striking coming over to this side was just how much anger there was on the industry side toward the SEC and this sort of like almost boogeyman figure of Gary Gensler,” she said, referring to the agency’s crypto-skeptic chairman.

Securities and Exchange Commission Chairman Gensler testifies before a Senate Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee oversight hearing on the SEC on Sept. 14, 2021, in Washington, D.C. (Evelyn Hockstein-Pool/Getty Images / Getty Images)

Gensler has been heavily criticized by the crypto industry due to the three-year enforcement blitz he’s enacted on the sector since becoming chairman in 2021. Crypto execs like Ripple Labs CEO Brad Garlinghouse, whose company is battling the SEC in court, have described Gensler’s rule as a “reign of terror,” often complaining that their good faith attempts to engage with the agency often ends with them being sued anyway.

Ripple Labs CEO Brad Garlinghouse attends a panel discussion at the Singapore FinTech Festival in Singapore, on Nov. 12, 2018. (Wei Leng Tay/Bloomberg via Getty Images / Getty Images)

“I think, when you’re on the SEC side, and you’re dealing with people in an adversarial setting, you expect that to be what it is,” Stewart said. “But when you come to this side, and you realize that there are people who really want to find a way to work with…