Crypto Lawyer Faces Uphill Battle In New York Attorney General Race

A former lawyer for Coinbase, Khurram Dara, has thrown his hat in the race for New York attorney general. But incumbent Letitia James has a strong foothold, and a Republican hasn't won in 30 years.

A former policy lawyer at crypto exchange Coinbase is running for attorney general of New York. His bid to represent the crypto industry’s interests runs against a strong Democratic bias and concerns over industry influence in policymaking.

Khurram Dara, who also worked as a regulatory and policy principal at Bain Capital Crypto, announced his campaign on Nov. 21. In a video accompanying his post on X, Dara said he wants to stop the supposed “lawfare” that current Attorney General (AG) Letitia James is waging against the crypto industry.

Dara said that the reportedly unfair treatment of the industry drives up costs for New Yorkers. New York City Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani recently won his election with a focus on cost-of-living issues.

Dara’s campaign faces strong headwinds. James won her last two elections by a wide margin, and there are broader concerns over how much the crypto lobby is influencing policymaking.

According to Dara, James’ policies hurt New York’s business climate and drive prices higher.

“When you play politics with the law, when you regulate by enforcement. When you use lawsuits to make policy that increases the cost of doing business, that increases legal and insurance costs; that increases prices, which hurts small businesses, new entrepreneurs and working-class New Yorkers the most,” Dara said in his announcement video.

As AG, Dara would curb the powers of the state’s Martin Act. The statute gives the AG’s office broad powers to investigate and prosecute securities and real estate fraud. Critically, it allows the AG to prosecute these activities “detrimental to the public without requiring proof of intentional or negligent conduct.”

Dara and other critics claim that James has used this act for her own political purposes, rather than as a neutral enforcement tool.

Under James, the AG’s office led enforcement actions against several crypto firms, including Bitfinex and Tether’s parent company, iFinex. The AG sued it for commingling client and corporate funds to cover up $850 million that went missing. Her office also secured $50 million for investors who were defrauded in Gemini’s Earn program.

Source: CoinTelegraph