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Wee Ming Choon is the chief legal officer at Ava Labs, the company that developed the Avalanche protocol, a blockchain platform that’s quietly reshaping how businesses offer their products and services on chain. For a public that’s still largely unfamiliar with the blockchain, consider a shared, digital ledger that provides the foundations of a new internet—one that empowers users not only to read and write data, but to also own and control that data and transfer it peer-to-peer in a permissionless manner. But Avalanche is so much more. It’s designed to be fast, flexible, and accessible to everyone.
Avalanche is a next-generation blockchain platform that allows anyone to create and manage data in the form of crypto-assets, build decentralized applications (dapps) that expand functionality of crypto-assets, and launch custom blockchains that power dapps.
Unlike older blockchains that can be slow and expensive, Avalanche introduced a unique network architecture and consensus mechanism, making it highly performant, scalable and adaptable. One of its standout features is the ability to create independent, custom blockchains that can be tailored for specific needs, such as private financial networks or regulated environments, and easily interoperate with other blockchains. Avalanche is particularly appealing to enterprises and institutions across a variety of industries, such as Sports Illustrated Tickets, which launched an NFT-based ticketing platform, and BlackRock, which launched a tokenized money market fund.
As CLO, Choon is responsible for guiding Ava Labs on the frontlines of blockchain technology, some of the most burgeoning tech on the planet. His background is a rare blend of law and computer science, having worked as a software engineer before heading to law school and taking on roles at major tech companies like Meta and Consensys. This dual expertise provides a valuable perspective that allows him to bridge the gap between the precise, binary logic of software and the open-textured nature of the law.
“It’s so intellectually interesting to advise the business in uncharted territory; that’s very much what lawyers need to do in industries that are rapidly innovating like blockchain and AI,” Choon says. “The law around crypto-assets may not be settled, but it is important that we skate to where the puck is going and find solutions.”
Choon’s work is especially critical as blockchain technology moves from niche applications to mainstream adoption. He helps shape policies that protect users, ensure privacy, and foster innovation within the Avalanche ecosystem. His legal guidance enables businesses to build and operate in an evolving legal landscape, including designing their own crypto-assets and launching and running their own decentralized applications and blockchains.
The attorney says Ava Labs is committed to making blockchain technology accessible to everyone, not just tech experts. The company also develops tools and product suites, such as AvaCloud, white glove blockchain-as-a-service, and Core wallet, a gateway to the on chain world, that simplify the process of building, deploying and using blockchain applications. This means that even those with limited technical knowledge can leverage the power of blockchain for a variety of things such as financial services, consumer applications and digital art and entertainment.
Avalanche’s impact extends beyond the tech community. Its ability to support decentralized finance (DeFi), non-fungible tokens (NFTs), and enterprise blockchain solutions is transforming industries ranging from finance to gaming. The platform’s speed and scalability make it ideal for applications that require real-time processing, such as high-frequency trading or supply chain management.
Choon gravitated toward the burgeoning blockchain space in private practice, drawn by the opportunities to work with early crypto projects and understand their legal and technological underpinnings. Through that initial experience, he realized that crypto sat right at the intersection of technology and law, which very much aligned with his interests and background.
His interest soon turned from peripheral adviser to active innovator, joining Consensys in 2018 to work in-house at one of the leading blockchain companies. It was during this experimental time in the crypto space, with decentralized finance beginning to emerge, that he realized the potential for blockchain technology not just to disrupt but to create entirely new ecosystems of value.
At Ava Labs, Choon broadened his practice when he joined as Deputy General Counsel in 2021.
“The law around crypto-assets may not be settled, but it is important that we skate to where the puck is going and find solutions.”
Wee Ming Choon
Choon has since worked closely with business and product teams to ensure that innovations are in line with regulations while still enabling new use cases. He’s involved in deal-making — negotiating partnerships, acquisitions, public company transactions, and commercial agreements that reflect the complexity and risks unique to blockchain— in addition to other areas of practice, including corporate, intellectual property, and employment law.
At present, Choon also spends significant effort educating policymakers and regulators, bridging the gap between this novel technology and traditional rulemaking. Ava Labs has created resources like OwlExplains.com to unpack blockchain concepts in accessible terms and collaborate on sensible regulatory frameworks. The CLO stresses that regulators today are much better informed and more supportive of innovation than in earlier years, helping to shape clearer pathways for token launches, digital payments, and decentralized finance.
Choon acknowledges the paradigm shift introduced by blockchain technology with which policymakers and regulators continue to grapple. In particular, blockchains are open, permissionless, and transparent by default. These attributes can conflict with norms of confidentiality and control. As a result of collaborating closely with financial institutions, Ava Labs has developed privacy-preserving technologies that allow private transactions with audit rights, aiming to strike a balance between user privacy and regulatory compliance.
Another key focus is the evolving area of stablecoins, crypto-assets connected to traditional currency, and asset tokenization, where real-world assets like real estate or intangible rights such as car titles or loyalty points are represented digitally on the blockchain. These innovations require nuanced legal thinking to determine how securities laws and financial regulations more broadly should apply, avoiding existing pitfalls while protecting investors, consumers and markets.
As Ava Labs expands its product suite, including wallets, bridges, and enterprise solutions, the CLO is focused on sophisticated deal structures, privacy enhancements, and regulatory clarity. He sees an increasing role in helping business leaders understand how different blockchain ecosystems compare, tailoring solutions for institutional and enterprise users.
For many of us, the world of the blockchain is still something shrouded in mystery, replete with its own lexicon. But there are those like Choon working to demystify what he and his organization see as the next great jump forward in finance and technology.
“Wee Ming is smart, hardworking, and well-versed in the areas of law impacting Web 3.0. It was a pleasure working with him during a secondment at Ava Labs and remains so now as outside counsel.”
–Justin Gunnell, Partner
