Professional Associations
American Bar Association, Business Law Section
Pennsylvania Blockchain Coalition
Wall Street Blockchain Alliance
AREAS OF PRACTICE
Blockchain and Cryptocurrency Corporate
Capital Markets
FinTech
Start-Up and Venture Capital
Private Equity Securities
Securities
Bar Admissions
Pennsylvania
United States District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania
EDUCATION
J.D. – 2017
Drexel University Thomas R. Kline School of Law
BA, Communication Arts & Sciences Business, Minor
Pennsylvania State University
MEDIA AND INSIGHTS
Tyler Harttraft is a Partner at Bull Blockchain Law LLP, focusing his practice on corporate law, capital markets law, and financial regulations.
Tyler provides strategic advice on the regulation of blockchain technology and digital assets. As counsel to various blockchain and cryptocurrency clients, Tyler provides critical legal advice on cryptocurrency, exchanges, non-fungible tokens (NFTs), decentralized autonomous organizations (DAOs), decentralized finance (DeFi), securities and commodities laws compliance, gaming platforms, governance token structures, and venture financing. Tyler also advises a wide range of clients interacting with or investing in blockchain technology, including start-ups and emerging companies, publicly traded companies, regulated financial services entities, fund managers, and money services businesses.
Tyler is a member of the Wall Street Blockchain Alliance, a non-profit trade association created for financial market professionals and legal practitioners dedicated to remaining on the cutting edge of developments in blockchain technology and smart contracts
Publications and Speaking Engagements
- Author, Client Alert, NFT Marketplaces and the Shifting Regulatory Environment (April 1, 2022)
- Speaker, Business and the Environment: Challenges and Opportunities, Villanova Environmental Law Journal Blank Rome LLP Symposium (February 11, 2022)
- Speaker, Webinar, Real Estate Tokenization and Global Regulations, Digishares (January 19, 2022).
- Speaker, Webinar, The Tokenization of Real Estate Investing, MSC Webinar Series (June 24, 2021).
- Speaker, State of Regulation, The Blockchain Real Estate Summit (September 2021)
- Co-Author, Virtual Currencies Comparative Guide, February 22, 2021 (Updated February 22, 2022).
- Speaker, Webinar: Blockchain & Cryptocurrency Law: Understanding Regulatory & Legal Issues, January 5, 2021 (Updated January 2022).
- Co-Author, Cryptocurrency and Blockchain Law: SEC’s Heightened Enforcement Against Digital Assets, 27 RICH. J.L. & TECH., no. 4, (2021).
- Contributor, Study on Blockchains, Legal Governance and Interoperability Aspects, A Study Prepared for the European Commission (2018)
- Co-Author, The Potential Reach of High Court’s New Slant on Trademarks, July 5, 2017.
Charitable Work
Philadelphia Volunteer Lawyers for the Arts
Volunteer lawyer for the PVLA providing pro bono legal services in connection with preparing applications for federal registration of trademarks and providing support for the protection of intellectual property of artists and creators in the greater Philadelphia region. The PVLA connects low-income artists and inventors, artist collectives, and small-budget arts and cultural organizations with volunteer lawyers who contribute over $1 million in pro bono legal services each year.
Representative Matters
- Successfully represented cryptocurrency exchanger in Bank Secrecy Act investigation for operating as an unregistered money services business
- Represented client against a high-profile, multi-national cryptocurrency exchange in an action alleging violations of the Bank Secrecy Act, fraud, misrepresentation, and violations of the Massachusetts Uniform Securities Act, among others
- Counseled digital payments transmitter in obtaining money transmitter license and developing Anti-Money Laundering (AML) policies and procedures
- Counsel to prominent NFT gaming company and DAO
- Counsel to Bitcoin liquidity provider regulated as SEC registered broker-dealer
- Advised prominent crypto index fund client conducting private securities offering under Regulation D/Regulation S
- Advised various private companies on offers and sales of over $300 million in securities to U.S./non-U.S. investors
- Advised to first real estate investment fund issuing $15 million in digital securities to raise funds for single-tenant net lease properties