Ava Labs announced on May 27, 2021, that Lee Schneider had joined the company as its first general counsel1. Schneider took charge of the firm's legal matters and its government affairs strategy, Ava Labs said in the post naming him.
One of Ava Labs' 6 leadership moves on the record came in 2021
Leadership moves CryptoLately has verified at Ava Labs, by year
- 2021: 1
- 2022, 2023, 2024, 2025, 2026
Moves: The Moves Ledger, CryptoLately's record of verified leadership moves, Oct. 3, 2016 to Oct. 2, 2026.
Read the chart as a table
| Item | Value |
|---|---|
| 2021 | 1 |
| 2022 | 0 |
| 2023 | 1 |
| 2024 | 0 |
| 2025 | 0 |
| 2026 | 4 |
27 executive hires on the record in 2021
Executive hires CryptoLately has verified, by year
- 2021: 27
- 2018, 2019, 2020, 2022, 2023, 2024, 2025
Moves: The Moves Ledger, CryptoLately's record of verified leadership moves, Oct. 3, 2016 to Oct. 2, 2026.
Read the chart as a table
| Item | Value |
|---|---|
| 2018 | 8 |
| 2019 | 11 |
| 2020 | 12 |
| 2021 | 27 |
| 2022 | 37 |
| 2023 | 20 |
| 2024 | 39 |
| 2025 | 59 |
The hire
Schneider arrived with one line on his résumé that stood out. He had served as general counsel at Block.one, the company behind the EOS token sale, where he “played a key role in that company's token sale as well as several of its major projects,” Ava Labs wrote1. Before Block.one, Schneider led the blockchain, fintech and broker-dealer practices at two major international law firms, the announcement said. He holds a law degree. It comes from American University. His economics degree comes from the University of Michigan.
John Wu, Ava Labs' president, described the expertise Schneider would add. “Few people understand the legal and regulatory issues in our space as well as Lee,” Wu said. “We are thrilled to add his expertise and vision for making legal part of a winning strategy for Ava Labs and projects we're supporting on Avalanche.”1 Schneider described his own reason for the move in the same post. “Ava Labs is at the cutting edge of blockchains, digital assets and DeFi,” Schneider said. “The team is playing an instrumental role in empowering the developers and users shaping the future of our space through innovation.”
Before and after the hire
The company lacked a dedicated top legal officer before Schneider arrived. Ava Labs' own headline said as much, calling him the firm's "first" general counsel1. Crowdfund Insider's report on May 28, 2021, a day later, added that Schneider had built a public profile beyond his corporate roles. He co-hosted the Appetite for Disruption podcast and served as a senior contributor to Crowdfund Insider itself, the outlet wrote2. At the time, Ava Labs ran on funding from Andreessen Horowitz, Initialized Capital and Polychain Capital. It also carried angel money from Balaji Srinivasan and Naval Ravikant, according to the company's own post.
What came next
Schneider still held the general counsel title at Ava Labs on July 27, 2026, when American Banker published an opinion piece under his byline identifying him by that title3. The same July 27, 2026 piece argued that stablecoins qualify as lawful private money, a policy position inside the regulatory brief Ava Labs hired him to run in May 20211.
Sources
- Ava Labs, "Crypto Legal Expert Lee Schneider Joins Ava Labs as First General Counsel," Medium, May 27, 2021, https://medium.com/avalancheavax/crypto-legal-expert-lee-schneider-joins-ava-labs-as-first-general-counsel-83471ad585c0
- JD Alois, "Lee Schneider Joins Ava Labs as General Counsel," Crowdfund Insider, May 28, 2021, https://www.crowdfundinsider.com/2021/05/175964-lee-schneider-joins-ava-labs-as-general-counsel/
- Lee Schneider, "Yes, stablecoins are 'private money.' And no, that is not a problem," American Banker, July 27, 2026, https://www.americanbanker.com/opinion/yes-stablecoins-are-private-money-and-no-that-is-not-a-problem