Ex-FTX US Legal Chief Joins Lowenstein, Eying Crypto Resurgence

The top US lawyer for FTX before the crypto exchange’s massive implosion has been hired by New Jersey-founded law firm Lowenstein Sandler to launch its commodities and derivatives practice.

Ryne Miller is joining Lowenstein as a partner in its Manhattan office, the firm announced on Tuesday.

Miller was US general counsel for FTX, the crypto giant whose 2022 collapse led to a fraud conviction against founder Sam Bankman-Fried and a sprawling bankruptcy fight. He previously was a partner at Sullivan & Cromwell, the Wall Street firm whose close ties to FTX came under scrutiny.

“The traditional commodities markets are in a bull market and there is a ton of activity,” Miller said in an interview. “The huge win for me is now having a scale and resource base of a premier firm to go out and serve clients with.”

Miller joined FTX’s US arm as its general counsel in August 2021 after eight years at Sullivan & Cromwell, where he co-chaired the firm’s commodities, futures and derivatives practice. The firm and Silicon Valley’s Fenwick & West were accused of being complicit in Bankman-Fried’s fraud, but Miller wasn’t named as a defendant in the civil litigation that followed. The lawsuit against Sullivan & Cromwell was voluntarily dismissed in October.

He helped steer the company through bankruptcy proceedings—with Sullivan & Cromwell racking up $180 million in billing hours for its work as counsel—before leaving in March 2023. He later started Miller Strategic Partners, advising traditional finance and digital assets clients on regulatory matters.

Earlier, Miller previously was lead counsel for Gary Gensler in his role as chairman of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission. Gensler, now chair of the Securities and Exchange Commission, has led a regulatory crackdown on the digital asset industry since his appointment in 2021.

Crypto is poised for a comeback under President-elect Donald Trump, who has promised to roll back Gensler’s initiatives.

“The amount of commercial activity that wants to be in the United States now and perceives the willingness to be here is an order of magnitude larger today than it was seven days ago,” Miller said. “I’m excited to see that commercial activity turn into clients and projects and new businesses,” he said.

Miller officially starts at Lowenstein on Nov. 18. He will lead the new commodities and derivatives group and co-chair Lowenstein Crypto. The firm is aiming to double its headcount to as many as 700 lawyers in three to five years.

“Ryne offers a nuanced understanding of the interplay between financial services, venture capital, and investment management, particularly with regard to OTC derivatives, futures, and other complex financial products,” Gary Wingens, Lowenstein’s chair and managing partner, said in a statement.

The focus of his practice “aligns perfectly with Lowenstein Sandler’s strategic plan and vision for the future,” Wingens said.

As Miller Strategic Partners grew, Miller said he needed a resource base and scale and connected with Ethan Silver, the head of Lowenstein fintech and broker-dealer practices and co-chair of Lowenstein Crypto. Silver was early counsel to investing platform Robinhood, helping the company scale the business on the securities side that evolved into crypto work.

Miller’s “knowledge and experience is going to be important and and he provides a lot of value and is very complimentary to the practice that we’ve been building over the last close to 10 years,” Silver said.