Jesse N Greenwald

Associate, New York

Jesse N Greenwald

Associate, New York

Jesse N. Greenwald is an associate in Cohen & Gresser’s New York office and is a member of the firm’s White Collar Defense & Regulation and Litigation & Arbitration practice groups. He has extensive experience representing clients in the financial services industry, including banks and decentralized finance (DeFi) entities, in regulatory and internal investigations and securities litigation involving the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), the Department of Justice (DOJ), State Attorneys General, and other regulatory agencies. Jesse maintains an active pro bono practice.

Prior to joining the firm, Jesse was an associate at Sullivan & Cromwell. While in law school, he served as an extern for the Southern Africa Litigation Centre in Johannesburg, providing legal assistance on international criminal justice and human rights law cases in several southern African countries. He also served as an intern for the Federal Defender Office and as a legal intern for the New York State Attorney General’s Public Integrity Bureau while in law school. Before attending law school, Jesse was a trial preparation assistant for the New York County District Attorney’s Office.

Jesse graduated from the University of Michigan Law School, where he was an associate editor for the Michigan Journal of Gender & Law, president of the Criminal Law Society, and a recipient of the Certificate of Merit in civil procedure. He received his B.S., magna cum laude, in Political Science and Theatre from Northwestern University.

He currently serves as a member of Community Board 4, representing Chelsea and Hell’s Kitchen.

Jesse N. Greenwald is an associate in Cohen & Gresser’s New York office and is a member of the firm’s White Collar Defense &…

Education

University of Michigan Law School (J.D. 2017); Northwestern University (B.S., magna cum laude, 2011)

Bar Admissions

New York State; U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York

Activities and Affiliations

Member, Community Board 4

A four-count indictment was recently brought by the DOJ and SEC against three individuals, including a former employee of Coinbase, for alleged insider trading of crypto assets. While the DOJ brought the criminal case under the wire fraud and conspiracy statutes, the SEC asserted its claims under the securities laws – marking the first time the SEC has alleged insider trading in violation of securities laws in the crypto context.

  • The SEC action directly raises the question whether the tokens at issue qualify as unregistered securities, with significant implications for whether the platforms that facilitate trading in those tokens are potentially exposed to legal liability as unregistered securities exchanges.
  • While Coinbase is not named in the SEC's complaint as an unregistered securities exchange, the nine tokens mentioned in the complaint were all traded on Coinbase, leaving it unclear what, if any, consequences will result from the SEC’s enforcement action for Coinbase.
  • These are also the first cases to allege “tippee” liability for insider trading in the crypto sphere -- a "tippee" being a person who receives and trades on information obtained by someone else (the "tipper") in violation of the tipper's duty to a third party.
In this client alert, Douglas Pepe, Christian Everdell, and Jesse Greenwald discuss the myriad of issues this case presents for the crypto sphere and analyze the potential implications on crypto exchange if the SEC’s action is successful.