The former head of the financial technology team at Bryan Cave Leighton Paisner has moved in-house to the crypto space.

Cryptocurrency lending and borrowing company Cred announced Monday that Daniel "Dan" Wheeler, a former partner in Bryan Cave's San Francisco office, will serve as its general counsel. It was not immediately clear whether Wheeler is the company's first-ever GC.

Wheeler, who will be based in San Francisco, has represented banks, fintech companies, credit unions and other financial institutions during his 22-year legal career, according to the company statement announcing his hire.

Prior to joining Bryan Cave, where he regularly interacted with federal and state regulators, Wheeler was a shareholder for more than five years at Buchalter, where he was a shareholder in the firm's bank and finance practice group. Before that, he was a partner at Friedemann Goldberg, where he advised and assisted community banks in solving a range of regulatory, lending and operational problems, according to his LinkedIn profile. A graduate of New York University School of Law, Wheeler began his legal career as a corporate associate at Jones Day.

Wheeler could not immediately be reached for comment but said in the statement that he was drawn to Cred's growth model.

"I've seen many fintech and blockchain companies come across my desk as head of Bryan Cave's Fintech practice but Cred stood out from the pack," he said. "Cred's unique combination of global talent, growth potential, and collaborative working relationships with regulators, politicians, investors and partners is a winning formula that led me to join this highly competent team. Cred has a highly sustainable model and I expect it will have great success in the years to come."