Joseph P. Cutler

Joe advises fintech and blockchain companies on financial services regulation, with a focus on the rules governing money transmission, cryptocurrency exchanges and payment solutions. His clients include emerging distributed ledger technology companies, cryptocurrency exchanges and token-based projects. He helps them assess regulatory exposure, obtain state money transmitter licenses, register as money services businesses with the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN), and develop anti-money laundering programs. His work also covers the Bank Secrecy Act, financial privacy requirements and the internal governance needed for cryptocurrency exchanges to operate in the United States.

In the blockchain sector, Joe represented CoinMe, Washington state’s first licensed bitcoin company, and the first cryptocurrency point-of-sale solution for the cannabis industry. He has counseled 15 U.S. representatives and senators on the use of blockchain technology to reduce bureaucracy and testified before Washington State House and Senate committees considering blockchain and cryptocurrency legislation.

Alongside his financial services work, Joe counsels companies on privacy, data protection and consumer protection compliance. His advice spans state and federal financial privacy laws, the California Consumer Privacy Act, breach notification and information governance, as well as the Fair Credit Reporting Act, the Equal Credit Opportunity Act and fair debt collection practices statutes. He also advises companies transferring data internationally on applicable requirements, including the European Union’s General Data Protection Regulation, and has worked on matters involving EU Sarbanes-Oxley whistleblower programs and U.S. litigation discovery conducted in the EU. His compliance work further includes U.S. sanctions programs.

Joe’s litigation practice focuses on combating cybercrime and enforcing website terms of use. For social media companies, including Facebook, he has managed rapid-response enforcement teams addressing illegal spamming, phishing, pretexting and other malicious internet behavior. His pro bono work emphasizes refugee and asylum law across the immigration process; he has also represented an inmate of the King County Regional Justice Center in a challenge to its medical treatment policies and procedures.

• Georgetown University Law Center, J.D., 2005
• University of Washington, B.A., Political Science and Philosophy, 2001

• Washington
• U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington

• Recognized in Blockchain & Cryptocurrencies Law by Chambers FinTech Guide, 2022-2026

• Listed in Lawdragon 500 Leading Global Cyber Lawyers, 2024-2025

• Ranked by Chambers USA as a Band 1 Lawyer in FinTech Legal: Blockchain & Cryptocurrencies, 2024-2026

• Center for Computer-Assisted Legal Instruction (CALI) Excellence Award in Professional Responsibility

• Listed in Super Lawyers Magazine as a "Washington Rising Star," 2014-2016

• Digital Currency & Ledger Defense Coalition, Participating Lawyer
• Federal Bar Association
• J. Reuben Clark Law Society, Curriculum Editorial Board Member
• J. Reuben Clark Law Society, Georgetown University Law Center Chapter, Co-President, 2004-2005

• Georgetown Institute for the Study of International Migration, Washington, D.C., Researcher, 2004-2005
• Perkins Coie LLP, Seattle, WA, Summer Associate, 2004
• Human Rights Watch, Africa Division, New York, NY, Klatsky Legal Fellow, 2003