As was first reported on The Block, lawyers in Washington D.C. can now accept cryptocurrency as a legal form of payment for their services.
The DC Bar said in its ethics opinion published last month that it is not unethical for lawyers to accept cryptocurrency, as long as the fee is reasonable and lawyers can safeguard the digital asset.
“Payment of fees in cryptocurrency is more akin to payment in property than payment in a fiat currency,” said the Bar’s statement. “Cryptocurrency is, ultimately, a relatively new means of transferring economic value.”
The volatile nature of cryptocurrencies will likely raise challenges for lawyers, but they “cannot hold back the seas of change even if they wanted to,” said the Bar, adding that crypto is increasingly becoming a popular form of payment among vendors and service providers.
D.C. becomes the fourth Bar to allow crypto as a legal form of payment. North Carolina, Nebraska, and New York City bars have also issued ethics opinions that allow for crypto payments for lawyers.
Image by Ezequiel Octaviano from Pixabay