Stuart Hoegner

Stuart Hoegner earned a Bachelor of Public Administration in economics and public administration from Carleton University in 1993 and a law degree from the University of Toronto in 1996.⁠[1]

Hoegner is a Canadian lawyer and accountant. He spent eight years in the Mergers & Acquisitions Tax Group at Ernst & Young, was a principal and barrister and solicitor at DXH Professional Corporation, and served as deputy general counsel and director of compliance at the poker software company Excapsa Software. Before Bitfinex his practice focused on online gambling and cryptocurrency.⁠[1][2]

In 2014 Hoegner joined Bitfinex as general counsel and later also served as general counsel of Tether.⁠[1][2]

In 2018 Hoegner owned about 15% of Tether and was one of four people who then controlled the company.⁠[2][3]

In April 2019 the New York Attorney General alleged that Bitfinex had borrowed more than $600 million from Tether after losing as much as $850 million with a currency converter, and obtained an ex parte order. Hoegner filed an affidavit with the New York Supreme Court in support of a request to vacate or modify the order, stating: “Tether has cash and cash equivalents (short term securities) on hand totaling approximately $2.1 billion,” about 74% of USDT in circulation.⁠[4]

On January 2, 2025, Tether and Bitfinex announced Hoegner’s retirement, leaving Michael Hilliard, who had co-led the two companies’ legal work with him for several years, in charge of legal affairs. Tether chief executive Paolo ArdoinoPaolo ArdoinoPaolo Ardoino is an Italian software engineer and executive who has been chief executive of Tether, the issuer of the USDT stablecoin, since December 2023, while remaining chief technology officer of the cryptocurrency exchange Bitfinex. He joined Bitfinex in 2014, became Tether’s chief technology officer in 2017 and has been chief strategy officer of the peer-to-peer app developer Holepunch since 2022.Open the full entry said: “Stu’s contributions to both Tether and Bitfinex have been immeasurable.”⁠[5]

Hoegner is called to the bar in Canada and the United States and is a member of the Law Society of Upper Canada, the State Bar of Nevada, the Chartered Professional Accountants of Ontario, the Canadian Bar Association and the International Masters of Gaming Law.⁠[1]

He has testified as a cryptocurrency expert before international securities commissions and regulators, Canada’s Department of Finance, the Canadian Intellectual Property Office and a Senate standing committee, and he edited the book “The Law of Bitcoin.”⁠[1]

X: Public account: https://x.com/bitcoinlawyer (opens in a new window).⁠[2]

LinkedInLinkedInLinkedIn is a social networking platform for professionals. It was founded in 2002 by Reid Hoffman and others, launched in 2003, and listed on the New York Stock Exchange in 2011; after Microsoft acquired it for approximately $26.2 billion in 2016, it became a wholly owned Microsoft subsidiary. Its revenue comes from membership subscriptions, advertising, and recruitment solutions.Open the full entry: Public profile: https://www.linkedin.com/in/stuart-hoegner/ (opens in a new window).⁠[1]