Women in Crypto
SEC enforcement and other regulatory trends impacting crypto
Welcome to our latest episode of Women in Crypto, the podcast presented by the Association for Women in Cryptocurrency and sponsored by Bracewell LLP. In this compelling episode, we dive into “SEC Enforcement, Formal Verification, and the Future of Crypto Compliance”. We’re joined by Fiona Moran, Partner in the White Collar Defense and Investigations practice at Davis Polk, and Patrick Azzopardi, founder and CEO of Dowsers. Fiona brings deep expertise in white-collar defense and regulatory investigations, while Patrick is a former investment banker leading a deep-tech firm focused on formal verification and smart contract safety. In this episode, we explore major regulatory shifts at the U.S. SEC—including moving away from "regulation by enforcement" toward traditional fraud and AML oversight—and how compliant companies are using this space to mature their compliance programs. We discuss how existing legal frameworks intersect with AI agents and autonomous code, as well as the technical realities of smart contract security, including how formal verification could prevent up to 75% of protocol hacks. The panel also dives into Europe's MiCA framework, cross-border jurisdictional challenges, and why proactive prevention must replace postmortems in Web3 security. Fiona and Patrick also share practical guidance for corporate leaders and tech teams on governing technical architecture, building programmable compliance directly into code, and engaging constructively with global regulators. To learn more about AWIC, you can visit our website: www.womenincrypto.org Follow AWIC on LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/company/the-association-for-women-in-cryptocurrency Follow AWIC on Twitter: www.twitter.com/awicglobal Special thanks to Bracewell for its sponsorship, and to Emily for her invaluable technical support. Bracewell is a leading law and government relations firm whose award-winning teams lead the market in cutting-edge transactions and litigation, regulatory matters and government relations. Learn more at bracewell.com . ⚠ Our podcasts are for informational purposes only, and are not intended to provide legal, tax, financial, or investment advice. Listeners should consult their own advisors before making these types of decisions. AWIC has no responsibility or liability for any decision made or any other acts or omissions in connection with your use of this material. AWIC does not guarantee or warrant the accuracy, completeness, timeliness, suitability or validity of the information in the podcast and is not responsible for any claim attributable to errors, omissions, or other inaccuracies of any part of such material. Unless stated otherwise, reference to any specific product or entity does not constitute an endorsement or recommendation by AWIC. Views expressed by guests are their own and their appearance on the podcast does not imply an endorsement of them or any entity they represent. Views and opinions expressed by AWIC representatives are theirs alone and do not necessarily reflect the views of the organization or their sponsors.
