Alan Cohn
Partner, Steptoe & Johnson LLP
Alan Cohn is a Partner in the Washington, DC office of Steptoe & Johnson LLP, and the co-chair of Steptoe’s Blockchain and Cryptocurrency Practice. Alan advises clients on a range of regulatory issues associated with blockchain technology, cryptocurrency, and crypto-assets. Alan also serves as counsel to the Blockchain Alliance, a public-private forum established by a broad coalition of companies and organizations to help combat criminal activity on the blockchain. Alan is ranked among the top U.S. attorneys in Blockchain and Cryptocurrencies by Chambers USA (2019-2022), where he is noted for his “tremendous depth of expertise in regulatory issues facing blockchain platforms and cryptocurrencies.”
Before joining Steptoe, Alan served in senior policy positions at the US Department of Homeland Security from 2006 to 2015, most recently as the Assistant Secretary for Strategy, Planning, Analysis & Risk and second-in-charge overall of what is now the DHS Office of Strategy, Policy and Plans. Among a variety of responsibilities, Alan established the cyber policy office within what is now the DHS Office of Strategy, Policy and Plans, represented DHS on the Committee on Foreign Investments in the United States (CFIUS), and architected and helped implement DHS Secretary Jeh Johnson’s Unity of Effort Initiative, a major corporate-level DHS management reform and cross-departmental governance effort. Alan earned his AB from Columbia University and his JD from Georgetown University Law Center.
