Baker McKenzie

Baker McKenzie has particular strength in Asia-Pacific and emerging market jurisdictions — covering markets like Singapore, Hong Kong, Japan, Australia, and Southeast Asia where crypto licensing frameworks are evolving rapidly. This makes it the natural choice when strong APAC regulatory coverage is required alongside global coordination, in contrast to firms with more US-heavy practices.

Baker McKenzie's Digital Assets and Fintech practice covers digital asset licensing, financial regulatory compliance, crypto tax structuring, employment and token compensation, APAC regulatory strategy, cross-border transactions, and stablecoin and CBDC policy advisory. The practice is integrated with the firm's tax, employment, and financial regulatory teams — enabling coordinated advice across a growing Web3 business's full legal needs.

Lena Ng in Singapore and Ian Sykes in London are the firm's primary digital assets relationship partners. Given Baker McKenzie's regional structure, the relevant point of contact depends heavily on the primary markets a business operates in — the firm's website lists digital assets specialists in most major offices.

Baker McKenzie is predominantly focused on institutional crypto businesses, global exchanges, and banks entering digital assets — rather than early-stage projects. Its global BigLaw rates make it less cost-effective for founders at the earliest stages, but it is a strong option once a business has meaningful operations across multiple markets and needs coordinated multi-jurisdiction legal support.

Baker McKenzie's differentiator is the depth of its presence in APAC and emerging markets where other global firms have thinner coverage — markets like Japan, Indonesia, Vietnam, and South Korea where crypto regulation is active but specialist expertise is scarce. For businesses targeting these markets, Baker McKenzie's local relationships and regulatory knowledge are genuinely hard to replicate.

Initial contact through the firm's website or via referral is the standard route. For APAC-focused matters, engaging Lena Ng's team in Singapore is typically the most efficient entry point; for European or global matters, Ian Sykes in London. The firm's size means it can quickly assemble multi-jurisdiction teams once a relationship is established.