2026 9NEWS For-Profit Leader of the Year Finalist Yevgenya Muchnik
Leading Colorado honors leaders who are shaping the future of our state through innovation, service, and impact across every sector. This year, we are proud to recognize finalists across three categories: For-Profit Leader of the Year, Nonprofit Leader of the Year, and Public Sector Leader of the Year.
The For-Profit Leader of the Year recognizes executives and entrepreneurs who demonstrate exceptional leadership, ethical business practices, and a deep commitment to Colorado’s economic and civic vitality.
Yev Muchnik is a corporate and securities attorney and Web3/AI strategist with more than 15 years of experience advising high-growth technology companies, funds, and decentralized protocols on governance, regulatory strategy, and complex transactions. She is the Founding Partner of Launch Legal, where she supports early-stage and venture-backed companies navigating onshore and offshore structuring, securities compliance, AML and payments risk, and engagement with regulators including the SEC, CFTC, and FinCEN, and has served as principal outside counsel to leading Web3 and AI projects, including advising EigenLayer's $1billion liquid staking protocol, counseling a DEX aggregator with more than $10B in trading volume across multiple EVM chains, structuring governance and compliance for privacy-focused Ethereum applications, and advising decentralized ecosystems on DEX launches, treasury asset transactions, and ongoing compliance. Her work also includes spearheading the establishment of Colorado’s first DAO cooperative under the Limited Cooperative Association framework, drafting proposed legislation for Colorado’s DAO laws, and actively participating in state and national policy efforts through Colorado DORA consultations, Governor Polis’ Web3 roundtables, the Colorado Department of Agriculture Blockchain Working Group, and Coinbase’s Stand for Crypto initiative.
In addition to her work at Launch Legal, Yev serves as Senior Of Counsel at Jason Wiener, PBC, supervising teams advising mission-driven companies on alternative financing, M&A, stakeholder ownership, and DAO coordination, and previously held General Counsel roles at eBenefits Network, JetSmarter, and Santeon Group, where she led spin-offs, mergers, Series A and B financings, public-company governance and reporting, and data security and HIPAA compliance initiatives. Earlier in her career, she practiced at Paul Hastings, King & Spalding, and Squire Patton Boggs, focusing on cross-border transactions, white-collar investigations, FCPA and OFAC compliance, and emerging technology matters.
Yev holds advanced law degrees from the University of Oxford and George Washington University, an LL.B. from the University of Birmingham, and a B.S. from the University of Colorado, and serves on multiple nonprofit, venture, and technology advisory boards, including Lex:lead, Rockies Venture Club, Opolis/Employment Commons, and Global Women in Blockchain.
