BitPay Hires Lawyer Allison Raley as Compliance Chief

bitpay, legal talent, crypto, regulation, chief conpliance counsel

Cryptocurrency payment firm BitPay hired Allison Raley to the position of general counsel and compliance chief, replacing Eden Doniger, who left BitPay in April.

Raley comes to BitPay as the former regulatory compliance and digital asset partner at the law firm Mitchell, Williams, Selig, Gates & Woodyard, where she helped manage compliance, litigation, investigation and consulting needs for financial institutions and mining companies, according to her LinkedIn. 

“Wonderful first day at BitPay as Chief Compliance Officer and General Counsel. I’m very excited to join an incredible team and look forward to the program we are building,” Raley said on her LinkedIn page. She started her new role on June 6.

See also: Crypto Talent War Refocuses on Lawyers as Investment Booms, Regulations Loom

BitPay is one of many firms inside and outside of the industry racing to attract legal talent. Crypto firms, as well as banks, law firms and corporations, have struggled to find lawyers with experience in cryptocurrencies and blockchain as the legal and regulatory landscape is being established worldwide, PYMNTS reported in April. 

While BitPay is headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, Raley is based in Rogers, Arkansas, where she will continue to work.

“I’m also thankful to have the opportunity to remain in Northwest Arkansas and watch the area continue to be at the forefront of innovation and development,” she said on LinkedIn.

Read more: BitPay, Edge Team to Promote Crypto ‘Payment Quality’

BitPay is striving to make cryptocurrency a mainstream payment method. Crypto wallet Edge has implemented BitPay’s protocol, allowing its customers to spend cryptocurrency online and in stores “free of payment exceptions,” PYMNTS reported earlier this month. 

Edge is a non-custodial wallet that supports more than 1.7 million accounts in 10 languages and 179 countries, letting customers buy, sell, trade and spend more than 130 digital assets.

Related: Biden’s Executive Order Set to Fast-Track Crypto Policy 

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