Stablecoin and Crypto Market Dynamics 2026

Criston E. Cicala is a corporate, finance and banking attorney with more than two decades of both domestic and international experience. He focuses his multifaceted practice on providing banks and other financial institutions, corporations, private equity and credit funds, real estate developers, media companies and entrepreneurs with practical and strategic legal advice. Mr. Cicala regularly represents clients in complex matters involving structured finance, trade finance, securities and capital markets, private equity and credit, commercial lending, real estate finance and mergers and acquisitions He is a former principal investor and advisor in both private equity and real estate matters, providing him the unique perspective of having played a lead role in both the acquisitions and dispositions of assets, as well as having been involved in the day-to-day management of both real estate and corporate ventures. Mr. Cicala is a member of Duane Morris’ Digital Assets and Blockchain Group, a multidisciplinary group of attorneys providing a full suite of services to clients in the cryptocurrency, digital assets and blockchain industries, both domestically and internationally. Mr. Cicala is a graduate of Tulane Law School (J.D., cum laude, 2000) and Vanderbilt University (B.A., 1996).

Joseph E. Silvia knows banks. Mr. Silvia represents financial institutions in a variety of corporate and regulatory matters, including mergers, acquisitions, strategic transactions, structured finance, corporate governance, payments, anti-money laundering and OFAC/sanctions compliance, and private equity and venture capital investments – in short, everything but litigation. Mr. Silvia’s clients include international, national, regional, community, retail and commercial banks, fintech companies, credit unions and corporations. Mr. Silvia is a member of the Duane Morris Digital Assets and Blockchain Group, a multidisciplinary group of Duane Morris partners providing a full suite of services to clients in the cryptocurrency, digital asset, and blockchain industries, both domestically and internationally. Mr. Silvia also hosts the Duane Morris Money and Banking Law Podcast, where he educates clients and friends on critical developments in the law and regulation of money and banking, as well as some fundamental concepts and structure of the banking ecosystem itself. Mr. Silvia previously served as counsel to the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago, where he focused on the supervision and regulation of banks, bank holding companies, and savings and loan holding companies, as well as consumer finance and compliance matters. He is Chair of the American Bar Association’s Banking Law Committee, a faculty member of the bi-annual seminar, Fundamentals of Banking Law and an adjunct professor of law at the IIT Chicago-Kent College of Law (Banking Law) and the Boston University School of Law (Fintech Regulation). Mr. Silvia is a graduate of the George Washington University Law School (LL.M., 2010), Chicago-Kent College of Law (LL.M., J.D., 2007) and Miami University (B.A., 2004).

Stefanie M. Wayco focuses her practice on representing financial services firms, broker-dealers, investment advisors, clearing firms and securities industry professionals in regulatory and enforcement matters, civil litigation, arbitrations and internal investigations. She has experience handling mass actions, clearing firm cases, products liability cases, alternative investments, anti-money laundering, Bank Secrecy Act, outside business activities, selling away, privilege issues, compliance policies, supervisory policies and standard operating procedures for financial services firms. In the enforcement arena, Ms. Wayco works with and litigates against securities industry regulators, including the SEC, FINRA and state regulators, among others. Ms. Wayco is a member of the Duane Morris Digital Assets and Blockchain Group, a multidisciplinary group of Duane Morris partners providing a full suite of services to clients in the cryptocurrency, digital asset, and blockchain industries, both domestically and internationally. Ms. Wayco is active in the financial and legal industries, currently serving as Co-Chair of Southeastern Women in Financial Services (SWIFS) and Advisory Board Member, an organization comprised of women lawyers practicing in the financial services industry. She previously served as Board Secretary. Ms. Wayco also serves as the New York Regional Committee Chair for the Georgia Tech President’s Scholarship Program. Ms. Wayco is also the Founder and Chair of the Lustgarten Foundation for Pancreatic Cancer Research K and has served the Lustgarten Foundation for Pancreatic Cancer Research (nationally) since 2011 as a volunteer and team leader. Ms. Wayco is a 2009 cum laude graduate of the University of Georgia School of Law, where she was articles editor for the Georgia Journal of International and Comparative Law. She also received an M.A. from New York University in 2006 and a B.A., with highest honors, from the Georgia Institute of Technology.