Senior Crypto Regulatory Counsel

About The Legal Chain The Legal Chain is a UK-based legal and regulatory advisory firm focused on blockchain, crypto, and Web3. We work with token issuers, exchanges, stablecoin operators, and infrastructure projects navigating FCA authorisation, MLR 2017, MiCA, and the wider UK and EU regulatory landscape. This role sits at the centre of that work — the person who owns the hardest regulatory questions and signs off on the opinions that go to clients. About the Role You will be the senior regulatory voice of the firm. Clients come to us when the answer isn't in the statute — when tokenomics don't map cleanly onto existing perimeter analysis, when an FCA application needs to survive real scrutiny, when a stablecoin product has to work under both the UK and MiCA regimes at once. Your job is to work those problems end-to-end: assess, structure, opine, and defend the position. Day to day, you will draft regulatory opinions and memos, lead FCA registration and authorisation matters, review whitepapers and token terms, advise on financial promotions compliance, and work directly with clients' founders and general counsel. Expect a mix of reactive advisory and structured projects — no two weeks look the same, but the bar for written output stays high either way. This is a senior hire into a small firm. You will set the technical standard that later hires inherit, and you will have real say in how the practice is built. Key Responsibilities - Draft regulatory opinions, classification memos, and structuring advice across the FCA perimeter, MLR 2017, financial promotions, and MiCA-equivalent questions. - Lead FCA cryptoasset registration and authorisation matters end-to-end, from scoping to submission and regulator correspondence. - Review token terms, whitepapers, and promotional materials for UK and EU compliance, and negotiate changes with clients' commercial and technical teams. - Advise on cross-border structuring for clients operating across the UK, EU, and offshore jurisdictions — identifying where MiCA, the UK regime, or both apply. - Act as the senior legal point of contact for client founders, general counsel, and external stakeholders including regulators and instructing solicitors. - Build and maintain the firm's internal regulatory knowledge base — precedents, position papers, and a live tracker of FCA and EU guidance. - Work alongside AML and technical reviewers to produce integrated legal, compliance, and smart contract assessments. - Contribute to the firm's external voice — consultation responses, published commentary, and selective speaking where it matters. What We're Looking For **Must have** - 6+ years PQE (or equivalent) in UK financial services regulatory law, with at least 3 years focused on crypto, digital assets, or blockchain. - Hands-on experience with FCA cryptoasset registration under MLR 2017, or equivalent authorisation work under Part 4A FSMA. - Solid working knowledge of MiCA and how it interacts with the UK regime post-Brexit. - Demonstrated experience drafting regulatory opinions that clients rely on commercially — not just internal memos. - Qualified solicitor or barrister in England & Wales, or equivalent recognised UK/Commonwealth qualification with UK regulatory practice experience. - Native or fully fluent English, including written drafting at partner-level quality. - UK resident with the right to work in the UK without sponsorship. **Personal qualities that matter to us** - Absolute discretion. You will see clients' token launches, treasury structures, and regulatory gaps months before the market does. That information stays inside the walls. - Intellectual honesty. When the answer is "it depends" or "this probably doesn't work," you say so — and explain what would make it work. Clients pay for judgement, not comfort. - Long-term mindset. We are building a practice, not farming billables. The right person wants to be here in five years. - Writer's discipline. In regulatory work, a careless sentence is a liability. You treat drafting as craft. **Nice to have** - Prior in-house experience at a crypto exchange, token issuer, custodian, or stablecoin operator. - Familiarity with DeFi protocol structures, DAO legal wrappers, and on-chain asset classification. - Working knowledge of the FCA financial promotions regime as applied to crypto (October 2023 regime and subsequent guidance). - Exposure to Travel Rule implementation from a legal perspective. - Published writing — articles, consultation responses, conference contributions — that shows an established regulatory voice. - Working knowledge of at least one EU member state regulator (BaFin, AMF, CSSF, CBI) alongside the FCA. What We Offer - Above-market base salary (~20% above industry benchmarks for this level). No variable compensation; we believe in paying well and predictably. - Fully remote role, based in the UK, with flexibility on working hours (European business hours overlap required). - Direct ownership of substantive client matters from day one — no partner-filtered work, no pitch-deck theatre. - A senior seat in a small firm where your technical judgement shapes what the practice becomes. - A long-term, stable role with a company that values integrity and invests in the people who build it. How to Apply Send your CV. We review every application and will follow up with a short set of screening questions. Promising candidates are invited to a full interview where we discuss experience and fit in depth. - Welcome to The Legal Chain.