Accepting Cryptocurrency As Payment for Legal Fees: Ethical and Practical Considerations

Abstract

In the early 1970s, the legal community grappled with whether to allow payment of legal fees by then-innovative means: the credit card. The first ABA opinion on the subject permitting payment of legal services by credit card was issued in 1974. Today, attorneys are faced with another cutting-edge method of paying legal fees: virtual currency, also known as cryptocurrency. Cryptocurrency is not money - it is property. Attorneys accepting cryptocurrency in payment of fees raises a number of ethical and practical issues which should be addressed by the attorney in the engagement letter with the client.