Stéphane Daniel

Stéphane Daniel advises founders, investors and technology companies on their most strategic transactions: structuring of complex projects, fundraising in equity or crypto-assets, asset tokenisation and mergers & acquisitions in regulated environments.

A recognised partner in business law, he is one of France’s leading references in the structuring of DAOs, decentralised finance (DeFi) and complex legal transactions involving crypto-assets. Through pioneering expertise, he supports the most ambitious players in the blockchain ecosystem in securing and accelerating their growth. At d&a partners — the first firm in France to have developed a practice specifically dedicated to decentralised autonomous organisations — he operates at the intersection of law, innovation and transactional strategy.

Structuring — Complex & Strategic Projects

The first lawyer in France to have structured decentralised autonomous organisations (DAOs) under French law, Stéphane Daniel advises on the most advanced transactions in the decentralised ecosystem — in particular the structuring of DAOs and DeFi protocols, the issuance of decentralised stablecoins, and the structuring of on-chain vaults. He has been active in this field since 2017.

d&a partners has built on this head start a dedicated practice without equivalent in France, covering the full spectrum of legal issues specific to decentralised protocols.

As a member of the High Committee on the reception of DAOs in French law, Stéphane Daniel contributes directly to the development of the regulatory framework governing these structures — enabling him to anticipate regulatory developments to the direct benefit of his clients.

Fundraising — Venture Capital & Hybrid Instruments

From pre-seed to Series B, Stéphane Daniel advises founders and investment funds on their financing transactions in equity, debt or crypto-assets, acting on behalf of both project founders and investors.

His distinctive edge on the French market lies in his command of hybrid equity/token fundraising: a financing architecture combining traditional instruments with crypto-assets. His expertise spans the full range of blockchain market instruments: token warrant, SAFT (Simple Agreement for Future Tokens), BSA Air / SAFE and TPA (Token Purchase Agreement).

Co-founder and Secretary General of the Digital Assets Venture Network (DAVN), Stéphane Daniel brings together the European blockchain and crypto-asset investment industry — a network that directly benefits his clients through access to key players and early visibility into emerging market standards.

Mergers & Acquisitions — Tech, Blockchain & Regulated Environments

Stéphane Daniel is an M&A lawyer specialising in the tech, blockchain and fintech sectors, advising both acquirers and sellers. He handles transactions involving companies with a strong technological profile — blockchain, artificial intelligence, fintech — in all their legal and sectoral complexity.

His positioning is particularly distinctive on M&A transactions in regulated environments: change-of-control transactions involving licensed entities (VASPs, investment services providers, payment institutions, etc.), conducted in close coordination with the firm’s regulatory partners.

This combined corporate/regulatory expertise — rare on the market — enables him to secure transactions whose closing depends on regulatory approvals.

He also advises on M&A transactions involving crypto-assets: acquisition of decentralised protocols, token-swaps, crypto-asset contributions, transfer of on-chain treasuries and assignment of governance rights.

Tokenisation & Structured Finance

Stéphane Daniel advises on the full range of real-world asset tokenisation and structured blockchain financing transactions: issuance of traceable bonds in real estate and miscellaneous assets, public offerings of financial securities (OPTF), organisation of club deals for qualified investors and structuring of tokenised real-world assets (RWA).

His hallmark is end-to-end coverage of the legal chain — from deal conception to contractual documentation, through regulatory compliance and placement organisation — combining corporate law, financial markets law and technical command of blockchain.

Speaking & Teaching

A recognised voice in France’s blockchain ecosystem, Stéphane Daniel speaks regularly on DeFi, DAOs and crypto-asset regulation for institutions, industry groups and professional organisations.

He recently delivered a keynote at the Vault Summit, held as part of EthCC in Cannes.

Alongside his speaking activities, he contributes to academic training through interventions in specialist programmes, including the DeFi Certificate at Université Paris-Dauphine and the DJCE Corporate Certificate in Montpellier.

Deal List

– Advising Data Factory on its merger with Hivenet and Policloud, giving rise to Antimatter, positioning France as a key player in global artificial intelligence — May 2026

– Advising the founders of Stakin, a leading institutional staking platform, in connection with its acquisition by The Tie, a leading data and institutional solutions platform for crypto-assets — Mar. 2026

– Advising Palisade Inc., a crypto-asset portfolio management company, on its acquisition by Ripple, the global leader in blockchain infrastructure and crypto-assets — Dec. 2025

– Advising the founders of Suzaku, an innovative project dedicated to the secure decentralisation of the Avalanche ecosystem, on its structuring and fundraising totalling $1.5 million — Oct. 2025

– Advising Million Victories, the Lyon-based studio behind the mobile strategy game Million Lords, on its Series B fundraising of $40 million led by Haveli Investment, a firm specialising in growth equity and venture capital — Sep. 2025

– Advising Greenfield Capital, Europe’s largest blockchain investment fund, on its participation in Rebind’s fundraising of $1.6 million — Jul. 2025

– Advising the founders of DFNS, a Wallet-as-a-Service platform for crypto-assets, on its Series A fundraising of $16 million led by Further, an asset management platform — Jan. 2025

– Advising Crunch Lab, a collective intelligence protocol leveraging Web3 technologies to produce and sell market predictions, on its fundraising of $3.5 million led by Multicoin Capital — [month] 2025

– Advising Morpho, the decentralised blockchain lending and borrowing protocol, on its fundraising of $50 million led by Ribbit Capital, alongside a16z, Coinbase Ventures, Variant, Brevan Howard, Pantera Capital and BlockTower Capital — Aug. 2024

– Advising Unshut Labs on the sale of @conversapp, its secure messaging application built on XMTP, to XMTP Labs, developer of the decentralised XMTP messaging network — 2025

– Advising Hyli on its fundraising of $2.6 million led by Framework Ventures, a leading crypto-focused venture capital firm — May 2024

– Advising PlayMakers, a Paris-based studio developing a user-generated content (UGC) platform for web2 and web3 video games, on its fundraising of $1.5 million — May 2024

– Advising Fxhash Foundation, a reference platform for on-chain generative art, on its fundraising of $5 million led by 1kx and Fabric Ventures — Aug. 2023

– Advising Kairos, an instant NFT-backed lending protocol, on its fundraising of $1 million from Atka, Lionschain Capital, Blockhub DAO, Kima Ventures and NxGen — May 2023

– Advising Swaap Finance, a next-generation decentralised market-making protocol enabling liquidity providers to generate sustainable yields, on its fundraising of €4.1 million led by Signature Ventures — Apr. 2023

– Advising Mangrove, a decentralised order-book exchange enabling market makers to operate without capital lockup, on its Series A of $7.4 million led by Cumberland and Greenfield Capital — Feb. 2023

– Advising Morpho, a decentralised lending and borrowing protocol optimising interest rates on existing lending platforms, on its Series A of $18 million led by a16z and Variant — Jul. 2022