I am excited to announce that I’ve joined Bain Capital Crypto as a Partner and Head of Regulatory & Policy.

I had an unusual journey to Web3. After spending years advising tradfi institutions on a wide range of financial regulatory and enforcement matters, I joined the SEC to go after securities fraudsters. When the agency started looking more closely at digital assets, I had never heard of blockchains, but dove headfirst into some of the SEC’s earliest crypto investigations. Later, as Chief Counsel of the SEC’s legislative affairs office, I took part in the growing policy discussions surrounding the regulation of digital assets during a formative year for Web3. By then, I was hooked. So when an early-stage crypto startup asked me to come on board to help them scale and launch responsibly, it was a no-brainer.

What quickly became clear to me was how confusing and fast-evolving the regulatory regime could be, both here and around the world, and that it was important for projects to proactively think about regulatory issues early, from roadmap to design to execution. Likewise, from an investor’s perspective, regulatory expertise should be part of investment decisions, as well as an important part of its value proposition to the founders it serves. Regulatory expertise as a value-add, not a roadblock. Regulatory compliance as a competitive advantage, not a burden.

At the same time, paradigm-shifting advances in technology require us to reimagine what is possible, from devising new legal frameworks to tackle the novel regulatory questions in crypto, to working in collaboration with forward-thinking lawmakers, regulators, and the public to craft sensible policies that will allow Web3 to responsibly realize its promise of improved transparency, access, efficiency, privacy, community, and so much more.

I’m so excited to work with Stefan Cohen, Alex Evans, and the rest of our amazing investment and research team to collaborate with brilliant founders and builders at every stage and through every cycle, and to serve as a resource and advocate to help push the entire ecosystem forward.

Feel free to reach out at TLe@baincapital.com or Twitter @TuongvyLe12!