“Acts for leading crypto clients on regulatory compliance and structuring matters and has particular expertise in crypto derivatives matters.”
Chambers FinTech 2025
“Unique in her knowledge of the CFTC matters for which she's an expert and she also has a strong crypto background.”
Chambers FinTech 2025
“An excellent lawyer who really understands technology and emerging regulatory issues.”
Chambers FinTech 2025
Profile
Yvette Valdez co-chairs the Global Digital Assets & Web3 Practice, as well as the Derivatives, Equities & Structured Products Practice.
Yvette draws on more than two decades of derivatives regulatory and transactional experience to inform her cutting-edge advice to clients on digital assets, Web3, and bespoke financial regulatory matters. She advises a broad spectrum of clients, from leading global investment banks and broker-dealers to market makers across financial markets (including the Web3 and digital asset ecosystem). She helps clients navigate a range of high-stakes matters involving:
Cryptocurrency custodian and prime brokerage businesses
Crypto derivatives and spot trading
Structuring complex digital assets
Trading, clearing, and settlement solutions on distributed ledger technology
Tokenization of real-world assets
Yvette helps clients mitigate the unique risks inherent in digital assets and innovative products and structures commodities and derivatives value transfers accordingly, resulting in an emerging set of market standards against a regulatory backdrop that includes:
The Dodd-Frank Act
The Commodity Exchange Act
Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), and prudential regulation
Margining, clearing, and trade execution requirements
On the transactional front, she represents financial institutions in bespoke derivatives transactions, including:
Digital asset derivatives
Prediction markets
Interest rate and credit derivatives
Foreign exchange transactions
Total return swaps
Commodity transactions, futures, and options
As a thought leader, Yvette co-led the development of Latham’s US Crypto Policy Tracker. She speaks and writes frequently on issues at the intersection of financial markets and digital assets, including for the International Swaps and Derivatives Association (ISDA), the Futures Industry Association (FIA), DC Fintech Week, and the New York City Bar Association’s Crypto Institute.
Experience
Yvette’s representative experience includes advising:
Fintech
Microstrategy, the largest Bitcoin treasury company, as the lead fintech and financial regulatory lawyer on its US$563.4 million perpetual strike preferred stock offering and US$2 billion convertible notes offering
Coinbase on the restructuring of its strategic and commercial relationship with Circle regarding the stablecoin USDC
Robinhood on:
Its acquisition of Marex North America’s futures commission merchant business
Its US$200 million acquisition of Bitstamp, a UK-based global cryptocurrency exchange
ConsenSys:
On the structuring of token sales and cryptofund investing
In a strategic partnership with TruDigital for the development of an Ether Benchmark Rate
As derivatives and commodities legal and regulatory counsel in connection with several cryptocurrency and DLT matters
CME Group, a leading derivatives platform, on digital asset regulatory matters
Noble Markets on CFTC regulatory requirements as related to its Bitcoin exchange platform
Axoni, a provider of distributed-ledger technology, as regulatory counsel in connection with the post-execution CDS processing
A start-up on establishing a gold electronic trading platform
An FX trading platform as regulatory counsel on distributed ledger technology
Financial Regulation
Robinhood, as lead financial regulatory lawyer on its US$130 million acquisition of Marex North America, a futures executing broker
Marex Group plc on all CFTC matters related to its US$292 million IPO on the Nasdaq
NextDecade on US$18.5 billion equity and debt project financing for the development of the Rio Grande LNG export facility and associated carbon capture and sequestration facility, the largest greenfield financing in US history
Coinbase on commodities and derivatives legal and regulatory matters in connection with its direct listing on the Nasdaq
Rabobank on its LIBOR transition strategy
Nomura International Plc with respect to its swap dealer regulatory and compliance obligations
Citibank in connection with the creation of an options trading platform for an insurer
Investment managers in connection with commodity pool operator and commodity trading advisor regulatory and compliance obligations
Qualifications
Bar Qualification
New York
Education
JD, Columbia University School of Law, 2005 Harlan Fiske Stone Scholar
Stephen Wink, Global Co-Chair of the Fintech Industry Group, and Yvette Valdez, Global Co-Chair of the Digital Assets & Web3 Practice, discuss the development of Latham’s US Crypto Policy Tracker, which helps innovators, investors, and market participants stay updated with legislative and regulatory developments in the rapidly evolving blockchain, cryptocurrency, and digital asset landscape.
Firm’s Capital Markets Practice once again earns top legal advisor league table rankings across debt and equity products and industries globally in Bloomberg, Dealogic, Deal Point Data, and LSEG.
Firm shortlisted for Law Firm of the Year and earned recognitions for litigation, transactional, and regulatory prowess and innovative office and practice leadership.
The guide enables side-by-side comparison of critical equity derivatives issues across the key jurisdictions of France, Germany, Hong Kong, Japan, Switzerland, United Kingdom, and USA. Reproduced with permission from Law Business Research Ltd. This article was first published in Lexology Panoramic – Equity Derivatives 2025.
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