Our Professionals
YOULI LEE
Founder | Chief Executive Officer
DAN CURTIN
Principal | Legal & Advisory
Principal | Legal & Advisory
ARVIND K. LAL
SUMIT MALLICK
Strategic Advisor
WILLIS MACDONALD
Security Advisor
TONI ANNE DONATO
Enterprise Operations
AKHI JOHNSON
Scholar in Residence
TOBIAS LEE-TRUESDELL
Legal & Technology Intern
Mission
INNOVATION BUILT TO WITHSTAND SCRUTINY
Innovation is ultimately tested not at launch, but under scrutiny from regulators, courts, counterparties, and the market.
Aethemis works with organizations at the intersection of technologyandregulationto ensurethat innovationis not only achievable, butdefensibleunder regulatory review, enforcement inquiry, and operational stress.
Youli Lee
Youli Lee is the founder and Chief Executive Office of Aethemis. Her work focuses on regulatory strategy, governance frameworks, and complex legal analysis affecting organizations operating in evolving regulatory environments. Youli advises institutions confronting challenges involving regulatory compliance, institutional risk, and emerging governance structures across financial, technological, and policy domains. Youli brings deep experience at the intersection of financial crime, national security, and complex technology. Her experience is informed by her work on some of the most significant enforcement matters in the digital asset and cybercrime landscape.
As a federal prosecutor, Youli’s work included many landmark investigations and prosecutions including: Welcome to Video (child exploitation cryptocurrency cases), Bitcoin Fog (precedent-setting, cryptocurrency-money laundering prosecution), Hydra Darknet Market (major darknet-marketplace takedown), and 1Broker (the first bitcoin-denominated securities trading platform). Youli’s work also includes significant matters involving state-sponsored cyber activity and North Korean hacking operations, where digital assets, sanctions evasion, and illicit finance intersected with national security concerns.
Youli’s work has been formally recognized with multiple honors, including the Department of Homeland Security Secretary’s Unit Award (2019); the Internal Revenue Service – Criminal Investigation Chief’s Investigative Excellence Team Award (2020); and, numerous Special Achievement Awards and U.S. Attorney’s Office awards. Her team was also named a finalist for the Samuel J. Heyman Service to America Medal, one of the highest distinctions in public service.
In addition to casework, Youli contributes actively to the global regulatory and enforcement dialogue. She has been a featured speaker at the ACAMS and Europol forums, addressing financial crime, crypto assets, and regulatory risk. She is on the Steering Committee for the Cambridge Forum on Risk Regulation and Enforcement in Fintech, helping shape cross-border perspectives on supervision, enforcement, and emerging technologies.
DEFI LEGAL & COMPLIANCE EXPERT
Independent Compliance Monitor for Binance Holdings Ltd. on behalf of FinCEN, OFAC, and CFTC
SENIOR LEGAL DIRECTOR
Chainalysis, Inc. & Chainalysis Government Solutions
Global Investigation, Litigation, & Governance
ASSOCIATE GENERAL COUNSEL
Strategic Response
Coinbase
LEGAL COUNSEL
Office of Legal Policy
Biden-Harris Presidential Transition Team
CHIEF: POLICY AND LEGISLATION
Office of the Chief Counsel
Bureau of Industry and Security
U.S. Department of Commerce
ASSISTANT U.S. ATTORNEY
Cyber Crime Section; Appellate Division
U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia
Department of Justice
ADJUNCT PROFESSOR OF LAW
The Criminal Appeal: Upper-Level Seminar
Boston University School of Law
EDUCATION
Boston University School of Law (J.D.)
Yale University (B.S.; Molecular Biophysics & Biochemistry)
Additional details available on request
Dan Curtin
Dan Curtin serves as a principal in the Legal and Advisory practices of Aethemis, where he provides legal advisory and strategic analysis on regulatory frameworks, governance systems, and complex legal matters affecting organizations operating in highly regulated environments. His work supports institutions navigating evolving legal and regulatory landscapes.
Dan is a nationally recognized authority on cryptocurrency-enabled cybercrime, blockchain investigations, and anti-money laundering (AML) compliance. He brings a rare combination of legal, investigative, and strategic expertise to the intersection of digital assets and financial crime.
Prior to entering private practice, Dan spent nearly a decade at Coinbase, where he was instrumental in building the company’s anti-fraud, AML compliance, and Global Intelligence functions from the ground up. As a senior leader, he oversaw a team of investigators responsible for managing Coinbase’s engagements with U.S. law enforcement and advised on some of the industry’s most complex and sensitive crypto-related investigations. His portfolio included large-scale fraud, money laundering, darknet market activity, and emerging scam typologies such as “pig butchering.”
Dan’s hands-on experience extends to the design and implementation of compliance programs across all stages of a crypto company’s lifecycle. He played a critical role in developing policies and procedures for AML investigations, suspicious activity reporting (SAR), and high-risk institutional onboarding. He also led SAR-lookback reviews during pivotal periods of regulatory and technological change in the crypto space.
From 2022 to 2025, Dan served as a member of the U.S. Secret Service Cyber Investigations Advisory Board, where he provided strategic guidance on the agency’s cybercrime enforcement mission. He has trained thousands of state, local, and federal law enforcement officers and prosecutors on blockchain analysis, forensic tracing, and digital asset investigations. Prior to his work at Coinbase, Dan was a litigation associate at BakerHostetler, where he supported the liquidation of Bernard L. Madoff Investment Securities LLC.
DEFI COMPLIANCE EXPERT
Independent Compliance Monitor for
Binance Holdings, Ltd., on behalf of the
Department of Justice
ADVISORY BOARD MEMBER
Cyber Investigations Advisory Board
United States Secret Service
SENIOR DIRECTOR
Global Intelligence
INVESTIGATOR
Compliance, Fraud, and Customer Support
Coinbase
ASSOCIATE
Litigation
Baker Hostetler, LLP
EDUCATION
New York University School of Law (J.D.)
University of Delaware (B.A.; Political Science and Philosophy
Additional details available on request
Arvind K. Lal
Arvind Lal is a principal in Aethemis’s Legal and Advisory practices, specializing in strategic risk analysis, security governance, and regulatory policy affecting emerging technological and geopolitical challenges. His advisory work helps organizations understand evolving security environments and regulatory developments shaping global governance frameworks.
Arvind is a seasoned trial attorney with more than three decades of experience spanning federal prosecution, securities regulation, and global cryptocurrency investigations. Most recently, Arvind served as Associate General Counsel of Global Investigations, Governance, and Litigation at Chainalysis, where he oversaw complex litigation, internal and external investigations, regulatory compliance, and interactions with law enforcement and government agencies worldwide.
Before joining Chainalysis, Arvind spent over 25 years at the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia, including more than a decade as Chief of the Asset Forfeiture and Money Laundering Section. In that role, he led high-impact financial crime and national security investigations involving terrorism financing, sanctions evasion, cryptocurrency-enabled crime, and large-scale money laundering. He developed and supervised threat finance prosecutions against international actors linked to ISIS, North Korea, Russia, Syria, and Iran, and worked closely with U.S. and foreign law enforcement agencies on complex cross-border matters. Arvind’s casework includes: Welcome to Video (child exploitation, cryptocurrency case), Bitcoin Fog (precedent-setting, cryptocurrency-money laundering prosecution), Payza (money-services business that laundered millions in proceeds of illicit finance), and 1Broker (the first bitcoin-denominated securities trading platform).
Earlier in his career, Arvind served as an Assistant U.S. Attorney in the Organized Crime and Narcotics Trafficking Section, where he prosecuted multi-defendant RICO, narcotics, homicide, and money laundering cases, many involving sophisticated financial schemes and emerging technologies. He also began his federal service at the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, advising on broker-dealer regulation, financial responsibility rules, and litigation involving the Commission and its staff.
Arvind is widely recognized for his expertise in asset forfeiture, sanctions enforcement, cryptocurrency investigations, and financial regulation. He has trained prosecutors, judges, investigators, and private-sector professionals across more than 20 countries and regularly advises on expert testimony, regulatory risk, and investigative strategy.
ASSOCIATE GENERAL COUNSEL
Global Investigations, Litigation, and Governance
Chainalysis & Chainalysis Government Solutions
CHIEF | ASSISTANT U.S. ATTORNEY
Asset Forfeiture and Money Laundering Section
ASSISTANT U.S. ATTORNEY
Organized Crime & Narcotics Trafficking Section
U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia
Department of Justice
SENIOR COUNSEL
Office of General Counsel
STAFF ATTORNEY
Division of Market Regulation
Securities and Exchange Commission
EDUCATION
Delaware Law School of Widener University (J.D.)
University of Delaware (B.A.; Political Science and Theater)
Additional details available on request
Sumit Mallick
Sumit Mallick is an experienced legal and compliance leader with deep expertise in regulatory engagement, public policy, and emerging risks for fintech companies. He graduated from Berkeley Law in 2010 and began his career as a Senior Associate at WilmerHale, focusing on complex litigation and regulatory matters. He later served as an Assistant U.S. Attorney in Washington, D.C., where he prosecuted a wide range of criminal cases.
Sumit went on to become the Global Head of Litigation and Investigations at Stripe, overseeing high-stakes disputes and regulatory matters for the global payments company, before serving as Deputy General Counsel at Chime, a leading consumer fintech. He currently serves as General Counsel of Brex, a global corporate card and spend management company.
Throughout his career, Sumit has advised on high-impact regulatory engagements, shaped public policy strategies, and built compliance- and risk-management frameworks for rapidly scaling businesses in highly regulated industries.
Willis MacDonald
Willis McDonald is a seasoned cybersecurity and physical security expert with over 30 years of experience in insider-threat investigations, threat intelligence, incident response, and operational security. Willis has led high-impact teams specializing in threat intelligence, offensive operations, digital forensics, and physical security across private industry and within the U.S. government (including the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and the National Security Agency (NSA)).
As a threat-intelligence leader, Willis tracked nation, state-sponsored malware campaigns and their supporting infrastructure, targeting public and private organizations. At the FBI, he conducted forensic investigations of compromised systems and identified threat actors, directly supporting their apprehension and subsequent prosecution. While at the NSA, he executed offensive operations and developed advanced tools for access and analysis in support of military and intelligence community missions at home and abroad.
Toni Anne Donato
Toni Anne is a senior investigative analyst with more than a decade of experience supporting complex, federal investigations involving financial crime, illicit finance, cybercrime, sanctions evasion, and cryptocurrency-related activity. Currently, Toni Anne serves as an Investigative Analyst with the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve. Toni Anne supports the Office of Inspector General by briefing leadership, conducting research, analyzing evidence, and reporting in on investigations.
Prior, Toni Anne served as an Investigative Analyst with Defense Criminal Investigative Services (DCIS), providing analytical support to cyber, sensitive investigations, and transnational crime units. She also served with distinction as a Paralegal Specialist with the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia and was assigned to the Asset Forfeiture and Money Laundering Section. She supported federal prosecutors and law enforcement on investigations and prosecutions involving fraud, money laundering, cybercrime, illicit use of virtual currency, and national security offenses. She also served as lead paralegal of the National Security Threat Finance section. Toni Anne’s notable casework includes the Welcome to Video case (large cryptocurrency, child pornography, darknet-market takedown), Bitcoin Fog (precedent-setting prosecution of cryptocurrency-money laundering site), and numerous forfeiture actions involving priceless artwork, antiquities, and jet fuel.
Across these roles, she has been a member of multiple Financial Crimes Task Forces, maintained liaison relationships with federal, state, and local agencies, financial institutions, and blockchain companies. Her work has been recognized with numerous awards for investigative excellence, including honors from DHS, FinCEN, DCIS, and the Federal Law Enforcement Foundation.
Akhi Johnson
Professor Akhi Johnson teaches Evidence, Criminal Law, and Criminal Procedure at the University of Massachusetts School of Law.
As a practicing attorney, Professor Johnson served two terms in the U.S. Department of Justice. From 2013-2019, he was an Assistant U.S. Attorney in the Criminal Division for the District of Columbia. As an AUSA, he handled cases in local and federal court and served as a senior sex offense prosecutor. From 2023-2025, he was a civil rights attorney in the Educational Opportunities Section, where he enforced federal statutes to shield students from discrimination based on race, color, sex, national origin, language, religion, or disability.
Professor Johnson was previously the Director of the Vera Institute of Justice’s Reshaping Prosecution initiative. At Vera, he managed a team that worked with prosecutors across the country to use research-based approaches to end mass incarceration and improve public safety. Under his leadership, Vera helped multiple prosecutors end pre-textual traffic stops based on research that they undermined public safety.
Professor Johnson clerked for the Honorable Kimberley S. Knowles at D.C. Superior Court, and was an associate at Jones Day's Los Angeles office. He was also an Adjunct Associate Professor at American University Washington College of Law, and taught Street Law courses at the D.C. Jail in partnership with Georgetown Law. Professor Johnson also advised the Biden-Harris transition team on how to implement the Administration’s criminal justice platform.