Maltese lawyer and cryptocurrency regulation expert Jonathan Galea has been promoted to the position of partner at major US law firm Cahill Gordon & Reindel.
The law firm is over 100 years old and boasts some famous alumni, including Loretta Lynch, who used to serve as Attorney General under Joe Biden.
Dr Galea is based at the firm’s London office, where he focuses on cryptocurrency regulation issues.
He has long been involved in the crypto space, and used to organise regular Bitcoin meet-ups as the President of the NGO BitMalta.
“I think it would be easy for me to say that when I first came across Bitcoin in 2013, I immediately knew that it would be a revolutionary asset unlike anything we had seen; the reality, however, is that it took me years to better understand its true value and the impact it could have on the modern world,” he tells WhosWho.mt.
In 2015, he published his Doctor of Laws thesis, which focused on the effect Bitcoin would have on anti-money laundering legislation.
“Reading back through it, I am surprised to see that most of the predictions laid out there came true,” he said.
As Malta moved to regulate crypto-assets during its ‘Blockchain Island’ push, Mr Galea got to collaborate with the MFSA on Malta’s Virtual Financial Assets (VFA) legislation, the world’s first ad-hoc legal framework for crypto-assets at the time, which served as a blueprint for the EU’s MiCA Regulation.
“The experience gave me the unique insight of the legislator and the regulator, which helped tremendously in my private practice work while running my own crypto legal and consultancy firm for eight years.
In 2017, Dr Galea took a plunge into the unknown and started his own legal practice.
“I had absolutely no idea where to start, where to get clients, and how to service them,” he recounted.
“In 2018 alone, I spoke at over 30 international conferences, limiting costs by getting invited to speak for free and surviving on a diet of McDonald’s chicken nuggets (the 20-pack is great value). Slowly, I built my network, which to this day remains the greatest professional asset I have.”
“I also maintained my innate curiosity about technological developments, constantly trying out new protocols, decentralized finance platforms, and token launch mechanisms as they emerged.”
“The day I stop learning is the day I know I will have to hang up my boots and move on to something else – and that day, thankfully, is nowhere near. It’s easily the most dynamic industry I’ve worked in, and with the U.S. now moving to regulate the space more comprehensively, it’s also one of the most exciting times for lawyers to get involved.”
After securing the latest milestone in his impressive career, Dr Galea has some words of advice for people wondering whether to take a risk and pursue their dreams.
“Nurturing any passion inevitably comes with compromise, sacrifice, and criticism,” he said.
“In my case, it was the regular derision and ridicule, especially in the early days whenever I told people I work in crypto.”
“Call it pig-headedness, call it unwavering commitment – but once you find your ‘mission’, stick to it, no matter what anyone else says or believes. I did that, and here I am, possibly one of the very few Maltese lawyers in history to become a partner at a major US law firm. I don’t think I’ve fared too badly following my own advice.”
