About Chanté Eliaszadeh

Chanté's path through crypto law began before most regulations existed. That insider perspective—combined with experience on billion-dollar matters—gives her clients a rare advantage: an attorney who understands how regulators think AND how to execute at scale.

2018: Inside the SEC

While most attorneys were still dismissing crypto as a fad, Chanté was drafting deficiency letters to non-compliant issuers from inside the SEC's San Francisco office. As an Honors Intern, she investigated token offerings, authored regulatory memoranda on blockchain ETFs, and proposed preliminary ICO oversight rules.

This wasn't academic work. She learned exactly how the SEC analyzes crypto offerings, what triggers enforcement attention, and how examiners think. That insight now protects every client she advises.

2020-2022: Big Law Training

At Dechert, Chanté built her securities law foundation advising startups and institutions on digital asset offerings. She structured tokenized securities, supported broker-dealer registration efforts, and drafted legal opinions for DeFi protocols navigating uncharted regulatory waters.

The work taught her how to design compliance frameworks that satisfy regulators without killing innovation—a balance most attorneys never master.

2022-2025: Crisis Experience

When crypto winter hit and FTX, Genesis, and Celsius collapsed, Chanté was at White & Case representing creditors in all three bankruptcies. She led creditor committees as public-facing counsel for tens of thousands of account holders, advised litigation teams on novel recovery theories, and navigated the most complex digital asset disputes in legal history.

She also closed Regulation D private placements, counseled financial institutions on stablecoin issuance, and led regulatory change-in-control processes for multi-billion-dollar acquisitions. This combination—crisis work and growth work—gives her clients expertise across the entire crypto business lifecycle.

2025-Present: Astraea Counsel

Chanté founded Astraea Counsel because founders kept telling her the same thing: Big Law expertise was essential, but Big Law bureaucracy was crushing. Clients wanted direct access to senior attorneys who understood both technology and regulation—and could respond at startup speed.

Now she serves as outside general counsel to blockchain, AI, and fintech companies. She structures token offerings, designs custody frameworks, secures money transmitter licenses, and builds compliance programs that satisfy SEC, FinCEN, and state regulators. Her clients get the same expertise she delivered at White & Case—without the conflicts, delays, and associate training costs.