Digital Assets

Building a digital asset business involves decisions about who owns the technology, how the company earns revenue, what customers are promised, and who controls the assets. Those decisions shape the agreements with developers, commercial partners, service providers, and customers. Whether you’re launching a platform, licensing software, accepting stablecoin payments, or negotiating a commercial relationship, the terms affect what your business owns, owes, and can enforce.

Hank Fasthoff applies 29 years of business, intellectual property, and litigation experience to those decisions. He drafts and negotiates commercial agreements, protects ownership and licensing rights, prepares customer terms, and represents businesses in disputes. His counsel connects the proposed transaction or product to the obligations your company is prepared to assume and the protections it can negotiate.

For a proposed launch or new service, Hank assesses the business model using your product description, transaction structure, customer interactions, and proposed agreements. He advises on whether and how to proceed within the agreed scope, what changes are necessary, which questions require additional analysis, and what documents and operating procedures implementation will require. You and Hank define the scope and deliverables before the assessment. Tax, securities, and money transmission licensing questions require separate advice.

Ownership of the technology belongs in that analysis from the outset. A business commissioning software or integrating another company’s product needs agreements that distinguish what it owns from what it licenses. Hank drafts development, contractor, and licensing agreements addressing deliverables, acceptance, copyrights, patent rights, confidentiality, maintenance, and use of existing or open source components. For commercial collaborations, he negotiates each party’s responsibilities, payment rights, permitted uses, and rights when the relationship ends.

Customer terms define the service your company undertakes to provide. For a digital asset application, that includes who can authorize transactions, what permissions continue after a customer signs, and what assistance is available if access is lost. Hank drafts terms addressing those functions, fees, refunds, suspension, liability, and dispute procedures. He also advises on how customers accept the terms and how the business records that acceptance.

The commitments your business makes to customers should be evaluated alongside the commitments it receives from providers. Hank reviews and negotiates custody, payment processing, and infrastructure agreements for permitted use, service standards, charges, suspension rights, liability limits, and termination. A provider’s remedy may cover only a fraction of the loss your company could owe a customer. He identifies that exposure and negotiates the allocation of responsibility, including access to records and assistance when changing providers.

For businesses accepting stablecoins, the payment terms address what satisfies the debt and who bears the risk before and after payment. The agreement identifies the accepted asset and network, valuation method, conversion costs, refunds, and procedures for incorrect or unauthorized payment instructions. It also addresses delays, changes in token value, and substitute payment methods if the agreed asset or provider becomes unavailable.

Security audits and research programs involve their own agreements. Hank drafts and negotiates audit engagements addressing scope, deliverables, review of repairs, report publication rights, and remedies for deficient performance. He also prepares terms for vulnerability reporting, researcher rewards, and proposed emergency intervention, including who may authorize transfers and how recovered assets are returned. Engineers and auditors define the technical scope; Hank addresses the legal obligations and permissions. He does not inspect source code, conduct security testing, or verify technical safeguards.

Privacy is one part of the customer and provider relationships. Hank drafts privacy policies, consent language, and data processing agreements around the information your business collects, retains, and shares. He also advises on customer privacy requests, retention procedures, and legal obligations following a data breach, with the documentation matched to the product’s actual practices.

When a provider fails to perform, assets are stolen, or a commercial relationship ends in dispute, Hank evaluates the agreements, evidence, available claims, and practical prospects for recovery. Representation includes negotiation, preservation demands, applications for emergency court relief where supported, and litigation. The assessment accounts for who can be identified, where relief can be enforced, and whether the likely recovery justifies the expense. Technical investigators supply transaction analysis and incident findings where those services are needed.

You work directly with Hank on the business decisions and documents within the engagement. Counsel continues through negotiation and implementation, with ongoing representation available as the business adds products, customers, and commercial relationships.