Robert Letson

Principal

Contact

  • Washington

Education

Robert Letson has more than a decade of experience consulting on litigation and regulatory investigations involving market manipulation claims, market microstructure, financial benchmarks, and trading activity. Mr. Letson has extensive expertise with issues arising in the FinTech and digital asset spaces, including those related to cryptocurrency exchanges, blockchain transactions, valuation, and commercial uses for blockchain technology. He also consults on merger review issues and matters involving antitrust economics.

Mr. Letson’s experience includes substantial expertise in analyzing trade data, consulting on regulatory investigations, and assisting major financial institutions with extracting, analyzing, and producing large transaction-level datasets. He has appeared on behalf of clients before enforcement officials at the Department of Justice (DOJ), the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC), and the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN).

Mr. Letson works with attorneys in all phases of the litigation process and supports academic and industry experts through discovery and trial.

FinTech, blockchain, and cryptocurrency

In FinTech matters related to digital assets and blockchain, Mr. Letson’s experience includes:

 Consulting on matters involving cryptocurrency markets, valuations of cryptocurrency holdings, and commercial uses for blockchain technology

  • Conducting forensic analyses of cryptocurrency transactions occurring across blockchains and centralized exchanges
  • Analyzing profitability of cryptocurrency exchanges
  • Analyzing high-profile non-fungible token (NFT) transactions and performing analyses related to NFT asset and brand value
Market manipulation and market microstructure

Mr. Letson works on matters involving allegations of benchmark manipulation and assesses the impact of trading and trading strategy on market dynamics. His experience includes:

  • Assessing trading in foreign exchange (FX) products in multinational investigations alleging collusion and FX market manipulation
  • Analyzing money markets and interest rate derivatives data in connection with regulatory investigations involving alleged LIBOR manipulation
  • Evaluating allegations of manipulative trading on cryptocurrency exchanges
Merger reviews

Mr. Letson manages teams to address merger reviews in a variety of industries, including automobile rentals, consumer products, media, and telecommunications. He has also consulted on high-profile mergers, including Walt Disney Company’s Acquisition of 21st Century Fox Film and TV Studios and Certain Cable Networks.

Prior to joining Cornerstone Research, Mr. Letson worked at the Federal Reserve Board of Governors in Washington, D.C.

Event

GAR Live: North America 2024

Event

Securities Enforcement Forum West 2024

Press Release

Cornerstone Research Announces Promotions to Principal

Article

Tips for Making the Most of Blockchain Analysis

Event

FinTech Series: Emerging Economic Issues in Cryptocurrency Litigation

Article

CME Ether futures: How is the contract designed?

Case

Walt Disney Company’s Acquisition of 21st Century Fox Film and TV Studios and Certain Cable Networks

Article

Bitcoin Futures: A Closer Look At CME's Contract Design

  • “Cryptocurrency Regulation, Enforcement and Litigation,” Securities Enforcement Forum West 2022, 12 May 2022
  • The global fight against the use of crypto for money laundering and financial crime. What are the key challenges trying to combat it?The Future of Crypto Regulation Summit, City & Financial Global, 21 March 2022