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Blockchain and Fintech Program

Program Leadership

Prof. Douglas Eakeley

Founder and Co-director, Rutgers Center for Corporate Law and Governance

Photo of Professor Yuliya Guseva

Prof. Yuliya Guseva

Head of the Blockchain and Fintech Program

On this page:

About the Program

The Blockchain and Fintech Program is organized under the auspices of the Rutgers Center for Corporate Law and Governance. It is engaged in multidisciplinary blockchain and fintech research, as well as a curriculum- and project-based set of activities designed to advance faculty and student engagement in blockchain, cryptocurrency, cybersecurity, fintech, and related subjects. It seeks to help prepare the next generation of lawyers, business leaders, politicians, entrepreneurs, and others to be able to develop and apply these technologies and business practices.

Fintech Updates

 January 2023 Dear Colleagues Letter

Research and Publications

  1. Carol Goforth & Yuliya Guseva, Regulation of Cryptoassets (2d ed. West Academic 2022)
  2. Yuliya Guseva, Irena Hutton & Hang Miao, “National Enforcement and International Consequences in Cryptoasset Markets” (work in progress)
  3. Yuliya Guseva, “When the Means Undermine the End: The Leviathan of Securities Law and Enforcement in Digital-Asset Markets,” The Stanford Journal of Blockchain Law & Policy (peer-reviewed, forthcoming 2022)
  4. Douglas Eakeley & Yuliya Guseva with Leo Choi & Katarina Gonzalez, “Crypto-Enforcement Around the World,” 94 Southern California Law Review Postscript 99 (2021)
  5. Yuliya Guseva, “The SEC, Digital Assets, and Game Theory,” 46 The Journal of Corporation Law 629 (2021)
  6. Yuliya Guseva, “A Conceptual Framework for Digital-Asset Securities: Tokens and Coins as Debt and Equity,” 80 Maryland Law Review 166 (2020
  7. Douglas Eakeley & Yuliya Guseva with Leo Choi & Katarina Gonzalez, “The Comparative Crypto-Enforcement Report” (2021)

Programs and Events

The Rutgers Fintech and Blockchain Collaboratory

The Collaboratory is a series of bimonthly gatherings of leading lawyers, former regulators, and academics interested in regulatory and industry developments in fintech, defi, crypto, and blockchain-based businesses. The purpose of the Collaboratory is to create a forum for policy discussion and analysis.

Fall 2022 Meetings of the Collaboratory:

Speakers & Panelists:
 
September 2022 meeting:
November 2022 meeting:
  • Professor Xuan-Thao Nguyen, University of Washington School of Law Pendleton Miller Chair in Law & Director, Asian Law Center

Regulating Financial Innovation: The Future of Crypto and Blockchain (Register Here)

Fireside Chat

  • Rostin Behnam, Chairman of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC)
  • Douglas S. Eakeley (Moderator), Alan V. Lowenstein Professor of Corporate & Business Law and Distinguished Professor of Professional Practice, Rutgers Law School
  • Yuliya Guseva (Moderator), Vice Dean and Professor of Law, Rutgers Law School

Managing Regulatory Risk Panel

  • Ethan L. Silver (Moderator), Partner, Investment Management Practice; Chair of FinTech Practice; Chair of Broker-Dealer Practice; Co-chair of Lowenstein Crypto Practice, Lowenstein Sandler
  • Ryne Miller, General Counsel, FTX US
  • Joseph Rotunda, Director of Enforcement Division, Texas State Securities Board
  • Andrew Siegel, General Counsel and Chief Compliance Officer, Galaxy Digital

Challenges of Financial Innovation

  • Christopher W. Gerold (Moderator), Partner, Securities Litigation Practice, Corporate Investigations & Integrity Practice, Lowenstein Crypto Practice, Lowenstein Sandler
  • Yuliya Guseva, Vice Dean and Professor of Law, Rutgers Law School
  • M. Todd Henderson, Michael J. Marks Professor of Law, University of Chicago Law School
  • J.W. Verret, Associate Professor of Law, Antonin Scalia Law School at George Mason University

Spring 2022 Meetings of the Collaboratory:

Speakers & Panelists:

The Future of Cryptoasset Regulation:

Keynote

  • Hon. J. Christopher Giancarlo, former Chairman of the United States Commodities Futures Trading Commission

Panelists

  • Douglas S. Eakeley, Alan V. Lowenstein Professor of Corporate & Business Law and Distinguished Professor of Professional Practice at Rutgers Law School (moderator)
  • Yuliya Guseva, Professor of Law and Head of the Blockchain and Fintech Program at Rutgers Law School
  • Kristin Johnson, Asa Griggs Candler Professor of Law and Co-Associate Dean for Faculty Research at Emory University School of Law
  • Lawrence V. Lewitinn, Managing Editor, Global Capital Markets and Co-Host of First Mover at CoinDesk (moderator)
  • Drew Propson, Head of Technology and Innovation in Financial Services at World Economic Forum
  • Lee A. Schneider, General Counsel at Ava Labs
  • Steven L. Schwarcz, Stanley A. Star Distinguished Professor of Law & Business at Duke University School of Law
  • Maria T. Vullo, CEO at Vullo Advisory Services, PLLC

April 2022 meeting:

  • Dan Awrey, Professor of Law at Cornell Law School

Crypto-Firm Meets Law School:

Fall 2021 Meetings of the Collaboratory:

Speakers & Panelists:

September 2021 meeting:

  • Yesha Yadav, Associate Dean for Diversity, Equity and Community & Professor of Law, Vanderbilt Law School

November 2021 meeting:

  • Carol Goforth, University Professor and Clayton N. Little Professor of Law at the University of Arkansas School of Law
  • Brian C. Avello, General Counsel of the Maker Foundation

Spring 2021 Meetings of the Collaboratory:

Speakers and Panelists:

February 2021 meeting:

  • David L. Yermack, Albert Fingerhut Professor of Finance and Business Transformation, Chair, Finance Department, NYU Stern School of Business

April 2021 meeting:

  • Todd Henderson, Michael J. Marks Professor of Law, Chicago Law School,
  • Yuliya Guseva, Professor of Law, Rutgers Law School

May 2021 panel discussion:

  • Francesca Don Angelo, Deputy General Counsel & Corporate Secretary at Galaxy Digital
  • Elizabeth Lan Davis, partner at Murphy & McGonigle and former Chief Trial Attorney for the CFTC’s Division of Enforcement
  • Merav Ozair, Fintech Faculty Member at Rutgers Business School
  • Lee Schneider, General Counsel at Ava Labs

Courses

Financial Regulation and Innovation Course

This course introduces students to the regulatory framework designed for legacy financial institutions and explores regulatory approaches to financial innovation, including cryptocurrencies, digital assets, defi, and fintech. The course was first offered in the spring 2021 semester. It was co-taught by Professor Yuliya Guseva, Rutgers Law School, and Professor Merav Ozair, Rutgers Business School. Several distinguished guest speakers joined the class and shared their experiences with the students. Among the speakers were Markos Zachariadis, Professor in Financial Technology at Manchester Business School and Fintech Research Fellow at Cambridge University; Lee Schneider, General Counsel at Ava Labs; John Ho, Global Head of Legal, Financial Markets at Standard Chartered Bank; and Lewis Cohen, partner at DLx Law.

Regulation of Cryptoassets

This course explores cryptocurrencies, blockchain technology, decentralized finance, and cryptoassets. Students examine financial regulation, securities law, and commodity derivatives regulation applied to crypto-related institutions, assets, and services. The focus of this class is the federal regulatory framework in the United States, U.S. state regulation, international law, and law of the European Union.

 

 

Blog Posts and News Articles

Sponsors

The Fintech and Blockchain Program is generously supported by the University Blockchain Research Initiative, the Ripple Impact Fund, and the Silicon Valley Community Foundation.

Fintech Fellows and Researchers

2022-2023 Research Team

  1. Mitchell Chan, JD (expected 2023): A third-year law student, Mitchell is Senior Articles Editor of the Rutgers University Law Review, Co-Chair of the Moot Court Board, and former President of the Society for Corporate Law & Governance. He previously interned with the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority’s Department of Enforcement.
  2. Conor Dickson, JD (expected 2023): A third-year law student, Conor is a student fellow of the Rutgers Law School Blockchain and Fintech Program. Conor earned his Bachelor’s degree in Philosophy at the University of Scranton and currently works as an Intern on the Legal team at DriveWealth, a U.S. equities brokerage that partners with Fintech firms around the world.
  3. Kale Pasch, CFA, JD (expected Class of 2024). Kale is a research fellow at CCLG and currently serves as a Teacher’s Assistant for the “Regulation of Cryptoassets” course at the law school. His background includes regulatory risk at Bank of America, product management at Fulton Bank, CEO of a financial technology company (Froogal), and national bank regulation with the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency.

2021-2022 Research Team

  1. Riham Alzabey, JD (expected 2022): A third-year law student, Riham is the Senior Articles Editor for the Rutgers Business Law Journal, a Teaching Associate in the Legal Analysis, Writing and Research Skills course, and the student fellow for the Center for Corporate Law and Governance.
  2. Allison Berdichevskiy, JD (expected 2022): A third-year law student, Allison is the Publication Editor for the Rutgers Computer and Technology Law Journal, a member of the Alternative Dispute Resolution Competition Team, and a clinical student attorney for both the Rutgers Federal Tax Law Clinic and Intellectual Property Law Clinic.
  3. Hang Miao, PhD Student, Rutgers University
  4. Kale Pasch, JD (expected 2023). Kale is a first-year law student at Rutgers University-Camden. Prior to joining the Center’s Fintech Research Program, he co-founded a financial technology startup and worked for the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency as a national bank examiner.

  5. Melissa L. Perez, JD (expected 2022).  Melissa is a candidate at Rutgers School of Law (Newark) and currently works as a law clerk at Inglesino, Webster, Wyciskala & Taylor LLC. Melissa earned her Bachelor’s degree in International Affairs from George Washington University. Prior to law school, Melissa served the United Nations Joint Inspection Unit in Geneva, Switzerland to conduct research for an organizational management and accountability report.

2020-2021 Research Team

  1. Allison Berdichevskiy, JD (expected 2022)
  2. Hang Miao, PhD Student, Rutgers University
  3. Matthew Moore, JD (2021)
  4. Nikita Shah, JD (2021)
  5. Kristen Scully, JD (2021)
  6. Andrew Serulneck, JD (2021)
  7. Yang Zhang, PhD Student, Rutgers University

2019-2020 Research Team

  1. Leo Choi, JD (2020)
    Leo is currently an Associate at Sosnow & Associates PLLC.

  2. Katarina Gonzalez, JD (2020)
    In 2020, Katarina published a note on permissioned blockchains and smart contracts in the Rutgers University Law Review. She is currently working for WingIt Innovations LLC as an eCommerce and Contracts Manager.

Email

CCLGFinTech@gmail.com