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Marco A. Santori

Counsel

Marco Santori�is a counsel in the law firm�s Intellectual Property practice and is located in the New York office.Recently described by an American Banker reporter as "the dean of digital currency lawyers," Marco is a recognized authority in the law of digital currencies and emerging payments. He counsels exchanges, payment processors, institutional miners, and other companies making new and exciting uses of distributed ledger technology, including so-called "Bitcoin 2.0" implementations. As Chairman of the Bitcoin Foundation's Regulatory Affairs Committee, his knowledge of the latest industry trends develops in near-real-time. He advises his clients on regulatory matters, including the compliance with and avoidance of money services and securities regulations. The winner of the first annual Blockchain Award for Bitcoin Legal Expert, Marco is fluent in the Bank Secrecy Act (BSA) and Patriot Act's application to digital currency businesses, including Know Your Customer (KYC) and Anti Money Laundering (AML) regulation. Marco works closely with his clients to structure their business plans to comply with these regulations, and whenever possible avoid them entirely.Marco�s technology transactions practice focuses on early-stage companies in the high-technology sector, including web, e-commerce, financial technology (FinTech), and the emerging digital currency space. For these businesses, Marco offers comprehensive, full-service business counsel. Marco assists his clients in structuring complex international technology transactions � often in heavily regulated industries.He is well-versed in the corporate requirements of early-stage businesses, including seed, angel and venture-backed fundraising.Marco's litigation practice focuses on commercial and high-technology matters. He litigates disputes arising out of intellectual property, trade secrets, defamation and securities fraud. He is well-versed in alternative dispute resolution (ADR) and lectures on the topics of mediation and arbitration.Before beginning his legal career, Marco founded and operated a successful home-decor distribution company, which imported textiles from India, China and Canada and sold to institutional customers in the Americas and across Europe. Since then, Marco has counseled organizations of all sizes in their business matters. He has successfully represented large, well known brands, such as Nike, Inc., 3M Corp., Nautica and Tory Burch, as well as medium-sized and growing businesses. Marco appears on Real Money with Ali Velshi and Bloomberg TV. He has also been profiled by the Wall Street Journal, Forbes, Washington Post, The New Yorker, Wired, Entrepreneur.com and Crain's New York Business.Prior to joining Pillsbury, Mr. Santori worked as a counsel for Nesenoff & Miltenberg LLP.