Washington D.C. lawyers can accept crypto as payment for services

Lawyers in Washington D.C. can now accept cryptocurrencies as a form of payment for their services, the D.C. Bar has said.

In its ethics opinion published in June, the Bar said it is not unethical for lawyers to accept cryptocurrency, as long as the fee is reasonable and lawyers can safeguard that virtual property.

“Payment of fees in cryptocurrency is more akin to payment in property than payment in fiat currency,” said the Bar. “Cryptocurrency is, ultimately, simply a relatively new means of transferring economic value.”

The volatile nature of cryptocurrencies, however, does raise challenges for lawyers, but they “cannot hold back the tides of change even if they would like to," said the Bar, adding that crypto is increasingly becoming a form of payment among vendors and service providers.

D.C. becomes the fourth Bar to allow crypto as a form of payment. North Carolina, Nebraska, and New York City bars have also issued ethics opinions that favor crypto payments for lawyers.

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