Alameda’s Ellison Hires Ex-SEC Lawyer Who Charged Musk, Holmes

Former Alameda Research CEO Caroline Ellison has a new defense lawyer with serious chops, having spearheaded SEC enforcement for six years

article-image

Alameda CEO Caroline Ellison hires a former top SEC lawyer

share

Caroline Ellison, the disgraced CEO of Alameda Research, has reportedly hired a former US Securities and Exchange director as her lawyer.

Stephanie Avakian, Ellison’s new counsel, previously oversaw high profile cases including those against Theranos fraudster Elizabeth Holmes and Elon Musk after he’d tweeted misleading statements about Tesla, per Bloomberg

Avakian was also involved in charging Ripple Labs over its alleged $1.3 billion securities offering (the XRP token sale), as well as discount brokerage Robinhood for misleading customers about its “payment for order flow” business model.

Avakian is currently a partner at international law firm WilmerHale, which she joined in 2020 after altogether serving six years at the SEC in both deputy director and director roles. Other lawyers at WilmerHale will also be representing Ellison, according to Bloomberg sources.

Still, Ellison recruiting Avakian as her lawyer comes as FTX Group and its former executives are under investigations by federal prosecutors over potential fraud.

Alameda Research, part of the FTX umbrella, served as market maker, crypto hedge fund and venture capitalist across the crypto space. The firm has been dogged by allegations of misusing FTX user funds for risky bets, eventually leading both firms to file for bankruptcy last month.

Onlookers are eager to hear from FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried, who is expected to testify remotely in a Congressional hearing scheduled for Tuesday. Bankman-Fried is still in the Bahamas, he said in a Twitter space on Monday. Ellison’s whereabouts are unknown.

Prospects of Ellison appearing at the hearing alongside Bankman-Fried seem slim. Still, it’s clear Ellison is preparing for an intensive legal fight moving forward.


Start your day with top crypto insights from David Canellis and Katherine Ross. Subscribe to the Empire newsletter.

Explore the growing intersection between crypto, macroeconomics, policy and finance with Ben Strack, Casey Wagner and Felix Jauvin. Subscribe to the Forward Guidance newsletter.

Get alpha directly in your inbox with the 0xResearch newsletter — market highlights, charts, degen trade ideas, governance updates, and more.

The Lightspeed newsletter is all things Solana, in your inbox, every day. Subscribe to daily Solana news from Jack Kubinec and Jeff Albus.

Tags

Upcoming Events

Javits Center North | 445 11th Ave

Tues - Thurs, March 18 - 20, 2025

Blockworks’ Digital Asset Summit (DAS) will feature conversations between the builders, allocators, and legislators who will shape the trajectory of the digital asset ecosystem in the US and abroad.

Brooklyn, NY

TUES - THURS, JUNE 24 - 26, 2025

Permissionless IV serves as the definitive gathering for crypto’s technical founders, developers, and builders to come together and create the future.If you’re ready to shape the future of crypto, Permissionless IV is where it happens.

recent research

Unlocked Advisory-min.png

Research

This report distills Blockworks Advisory’s research on incentive programs and their analysis, offering a foundation for designing future initiatives and advancing industry-wide standards. By highlighting key lessons and methodologies, we aim to empower protocols to make informed, data-driven decisions.

article-image

Data came in a bit mixed, but is overall consistent with the 13-week moving average

article-image

Austin Federa had been at Solana Labs and Foundation for nearly four years

article-image

There’s a lot of confusion as to why the Fed might still be cutting rates despite what looks to be an economy doing pretty well

article-image

More momentum could drive BTC past the six-figure price mark — albeit not without volatility

article-image

The HAWK token crashed 87% around 30 minutes after launching

article-image

The company did about 2.5 times the amount of crypto-backed collateral financing in November compared to the rest of 2024, exec says