Rafael Yakobi

Spanning eight years of exclusive practice in the cryptocurrency space, Rafael has extensive regulatory experience at the state and federal levels, including matters involving the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN), the Commodities Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), the Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI), the United States Department of Justice (DOJ), and countless state regulators. In addition to proactive or defensive regulatory work, Rafael advises a variety of startups including crypto exchange operators, token issuers, and DeFi protocol developers to help them navigate their legal obligations, mitigate risks, and focus on growing their businesses, disrupting existing regimes, or experimenting with censorship-resistant, immutable, decentralized technology.

Rafael has emerged as a leader in federal civil asset forfeiture proceedings involving cutting-edge legal issues unique to digital assets, recovering millions of dollars for crypto scam victims in precedent-setting matters across U.S. district courts. He currently represents hundreds of financial fraud victims in civil forfeiture actions nationwide, combining deep procedural command of federal forfeiture practice with hands-on blockchain forensics and on-chain tracing to identify, follow, and pursue recovery of stolen funds wherever they move.

Rafael’s initial interest in Bitcoin and cryptocurrency began more than ten years ago. Since then, he has gained extensive understanding and experience with fundamental and technical analysis, market operations and risks, arbitrage, custodial and cyber-security procedures, and the political, philosophical, and economic motivations that set the stage for the ubiquitous rise of cryptocurrency. As the world began to finally notice the technological and economic disruption taking place in this arena, Rafael felt compelled to get involved, contribute, and support what is likely to be the most important technological revolution of our generation.

Prior to the formation of The Crypto Lawyers, Rafael litigated complex securities class actions against the biggest financial institutions in the world, represented consumers in class actions combating corporate malfeasance, prosecuted antitrust class actions against bad actors in the financial and commodity space, represented whistleblowers in False Claims Act cases against corporations that defrauded taxpayers, defended the rights of individuals charged with white collar and other crimes on Wall Street, and represented investors and financial advisors in FINRA, AAA, and JAMS arbitrations.