Most crypto-native startups and growth-stage fintechs cannot justify the cost of an in-house General Counsel. Senior in-house crypto counsel commands USD 250,000 to USD 450,000 in annualised compensation in the UAE and London markets, with equivalent costs in São Paulo and Singapore. A fractional GC arrangement provides the same senior legal function at one-third to one-fifth of that cost, structured as a monthly retainer that scales with the business. Esquare Legal serves as fractional general counsel for crypto-native companies across UAE, Brazil, Pakistan, and the offshore centres.
What a Fractional General Counsel Actually Does
A fractional GC is the same senior legal function that an in-house General Counsel would perform, delivered on a part-time basis through a structured retainer arrangement rather than as a salaried employee. The work is the same. The structure is different.
The functional scope
A fractional GC arrangement typically covers commercial documentation review and drafting (customer agreements, partnership agreements, vendor contracts, employment documentation, equity arrangements), regulatory monitoring and analysis for the jurisdictions where the business operates, board-level legal advice on strategic decisions, oversight of external specialist counsel for litigation and complex transactional work, and the executive function of being the senior legal voice in the room when decisions are being made.
For crypto-native businesses specifically, the fractional GC scope typically also includes ongoing compliance with the operating regulatory regime (VARA, PVARA, CBB, BCB, MAS, LFSA, OJK, or whichever applies), Travel Rule operationalisation, AML/CFT programme oversight, token launch governance, and the regulatory engagement work that arises naturally as the business grows.
Who Benefits From a Fractional GC Arrangement
Seed to Series B crypto and fintech startups
Companies past pre-seed but not yet at scale where a full in-house GC makes commercial sense. The legal function needs to exist with seniority and continuity — ad hoc external counsel does not provide the institutional memory and proactive coverage that a regulated business requires. The fractional model gives you a senior lawyer with deep crypto and fintech experience who knows the business, attends the executive meetings, and is on call for the day-to-day legal work without the cost of a full hire.
Growth-stage companies expanding into new jurisdictions
Companies that have an in-house GC in their home market but need senior local legal capability in a new jurisdiction. A UAE-based exchange expanding into Pakistan needs a Pakistan-side GC function during the PVARA application and operationalisation phase. A São Paulo fintech expanding into the Gulf needs UAE-side regulatory and commercial legal coverage. The fractional arrangement provides that local senior function without building a full local legal team prematurely.
Operating companies needing crypto-specific senior counsel
Traditional companies (real estate developers, asset managers, family offices, commodities traders) launching tokenized products or crypto-adjacent business lines often have generalist in-house counsel but no senior crypto-specialist capability. A fractional GC arrangement adds that specialist senior layer alongside the existing legal function without disrupting the existing team structure.
Founders pre-incorporation through Series A
Founders building a crypto-native company from the ground up benefit from having senior legal counsel embedded from the structural decisions through the licensing and into early commercial operations. The cost of restructuring early-stage structural decisions is high; the cost of getting them right at the outset is significantly lower if a senior lawyer is part of the conversation from incorporation.
How Esquare Legal Structures Fractional GC Engagements
We work on monthly retainer arrangements with defined scope, hours, and response time commitments. Three retainer tiers cover the majority of client needs.
Advisory retainer
Strategic legal advice, regulatory monitoring, board attendance, and senior legal input on commercial decisions. Suitable for early-stage companies where the day-to-day legal volume is modest but the strategic and regulatory work requires senior judgment. Typical scope is twenty to thirty hours per month at a fixed monthly fee.
Full GC retainer
The complete in-house GC function delivered fractionally. Commercial documentation work, regulatory engagement, board legal support, oversight of specialist counsel, and the executive presence in management decisions. Typical scope is forty to sixty hours per month, with priority response times and dedicated client team allocation.
GC plus regulatory licensing retainer
The full GC function plus active regulatory licensing work. Suitable for clients in the middle of a VARA, PVARA, CBB, MAS, or LFSA application where the licensing work is intensive and the broader GC function continues in parallel. Typically a hybrid structure combining the GC retainer with a fixed-fee licensing scope.
Why Esquare Legal for Fractional GC
Three things distinguish our fractional GC practice. First, direct experience holding the function in-house. Our managing partner has served as Fractional Head of Legal and Compliance at major crypto exchanges through full licensing cycles. The advice is not theoretical — it reflects what the function actually requires when delivered properly.
Second, the multi-jurisdictional reach. Most fractional GC clients have at least two regulatory jurisdictions in their operating footprint, often more. We operate registered entities in UAE, Brazil, and Pakistan, with active practice across Bahrain, Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, the BVI, and Cayman, and a China partnership through Tahota Law Firm. A single fractional GC arrangement with Esquare Legal covers the cross-border work that would otherwise require coordinating multiple local firms.
Third, the crypto-native operating context. We understand the underlying technology, the commercial models that drive crypto businesses, and the cross-border structures that crypto-native operators actually need. Every lawyer on our team works on crypto and fintech matters; this is not a generalist firm that has added a crypto practice line.
Email safighauri@esquarelegal.com with the subject line “Fractional GC Enquiry” and a one-paragraph description of your business and what you need from the GC function. We respond within 48 hours with a structured proposal.
This page provides general information about fractional general counsel arrangements and is not legal advice. Specific terms, scope, and fees are agreed under individual engagement letters following an initial consultation.