Seattle-based Bittrex announced Wednesday that lawyer Oliver Linch has joined its global cryptocurrency platform as its first-ever general counsel.

Linch was most recently senior associate for Shearman & Sterling, where he worked on the firm's London Financial Institutions Advisory and Financial Regulatory Team.

Bittrex has been called one of the most advanced cryptocurrency exchanges by industry players, such as the website ZDNet and the trading software platform TradeSanta. It features fast transactions, no wire transfer fees and more than 250 blockchain tokens.