General Biography

Dr. Morgan B. Ward Doran stands at the forefront of financial technology enforcement and analytics at the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). Over the course of two decades in public service, he has fused investigative acumen, courtroom advocacy, and hands-on technical expertise to help develop signature government initiatives involving emerging technologies, including cyber forensics, blockchain, crypto assets, generative AI, and dark web. 

After earning his Ph.D. from the Northwestern University Graduate School and graduating cum laude from the Northwestern University School of Law, Dr. Ward Doran clerked for Judge Rosemary Barkett on the United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit and Judge Kim Wardlaw on the Ninth Circuit. He then joined the United States Department of Justice’s Antitrust Division, National Criminal Enforcement Section, through the Attorney General’s Honors Program, where he served as a criminal prosecutor for significant bid-rigging and price-fixing conspiracies tied to defense contracts and helped lead undercover “sting” operations. 

Since joining the SEC in 2007, Morgan has served in a range of senior investigative, litigation, and leadership roles.  Early in his tenure, he investigated the implosion of a broker-dealer tied to risky investments in complex mortgage-backed securities, and he first-chaired the resulting months-long trial for the case.  Morgan envisioned, developed, and/or led multiple first-of-their-kind offices and working groups at the SEC, including:  

• the Center for Risk and Quantitative Analytics (focused on integrating data and analytics in Enforcement cases);
• the Dark Web Working Group (focused on educating staff on cyber, internet, and dark web technology and bringing cases involving securities fraud on the dark web);
• the Digital Asset Tracing Working Group (focused on bringing crypto tracing tools and capabilities to agency staff); the Cyber Unit (focused on crypto-, cyber-, and dark web-enabled securities law violations);
• the Office of the Strategic Hub for Innovation and Financial Technology (FinHub) (focused on new and innovative financial technology and its impact on securities law);
• the Crypto Quants Working Group (focused on the technology underlying blockchain, crypto, and crypto analytics); and 
• the Emerging Technology Working Group (focused on educating SEC staff on all emerging financial technology and bringing that FinTech to the agency). 

Morgan also single-handedly designed, coded, and ran the SEC’s internal FinTech laboratory, which enabled staff to have hands-on engagement with new technology, including crypto and generative AI.  Through this laboratory, Morgan stood up the first Ethereum node run by a United States Government (USG) entity and brought the first generative AI-enabled APIs to the SEC.  

In addition to his leadership activities in FinTech, Morgan served as a specialized Enforcement attorney for most of his career.  Between 2012 and 2016, he worked in the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act Unit, investigating and bringing foreign bribery cases.  From 2017 to 2021, he served as the founding subject matter expert in the then newly-created Cyber Unit.  In that role, he investigated and litigated numerous high-profile “national priority” cases involving crypto and the dark web, including  the landmark cases SEC v. Telegram and SEC v. Trovias (aka “TheBull”).  As the Cyber Unit’s dual subject-matter expert and senior attorney, Morgan acted as a technological and legal consultant on the most significant Unit cases during his tenure.    

Since 2021, Dr. Ward Doran has served as Senior Special Counsel and Strategy & Innovation Advisor to the Director of FinHub.  In this role, Morgan led the agency’s efforts to integrate generative AI into front-line staff’s workflows.  He also managed an elite, cross-functional team that provided legal and technological consulting to staff agency-wide on matters involving blockchain, crypto, and generative AI.  Under his leadership, this unique and exceptional consulting team played an advisory role in all major FinTech matters at the agency between 2021 and 2025.  Simultaneously, he relentlessly drove innovation at the SEC, pushing staff and leadership to adopt and integrate new technologies into their workflows.  

Morgan has directed and/or led interdisciplinary and interagency Enforcement teams, seamlessly combining his background in data analytics, blockchain forensics, cyber operations, and law.  He also dedicated considerable time to public engagement and government education, including creating a USG-wide symposium on dark web-enabled fraud; speaking at international conferences regarding cyber, crypto, dark web, and AI; and leading “peer-to-peer” meetups with industry leaders in crypto and generative AI.  His academic research has appeared in leading journals and edited volumes, and he is admitted to practice before the United States Supreme Court, multiple federal courts of appeals and districts, and the state bars of California (active) and Illinois (inactive). 

Select Accomplishments

• Built and led the SEC’s earliest digital asset enforcement infrastructure, including a cloud-based FinTech and blockchain analytics lab.
• Launched and scaled programs targeting dark-web-based securities fraud, crypto tracing, and AI-enabled market manipulation.
• Directed complex, multi-jurisdictional, muti-agency investigations resulting in emergency asset freezes, billion-dollar disgorgements, and landmark litigation outcomes.
• Served as litigation counsel and strategic lead in multi-billion-dollar financial fraud and MBS litigation.
• Developed data-driven methodologies to support wallet attribution, mixer deanonymization, and smart contract analysis.
• Created cross-functional enforcement playbooks used across SEC units and adopted by interagency partners.
• Developed and/or consulted on strategic briefings to the United States Treasury, DOJ, and Congressional oversight committees on emerging crypto and AI risks.
• Drafted and revised international governing body position papers involving crypto and generative AI.
• Consulted as an expert witness and technical advisor in matters involving crypto token classification, smart contracts, DeFi, AI-assisted fraud, and other emerging technologies.

Practice Areas

Regulatory Enforcement & Crypto Investigations

• Designed and deployed the SEC’s blockchain‑forensics stack and trained 250+ Enforcement staff on wallet attribution and mixer deanonymization. 
• Led investigations and served as primary subject matter expert on headline crypto and cyber matters, including significant emergency actions resulting in multi-billion‑dollar disgorgements. 

Securities & Digital‑Asset Litigation Support

• First chair trial counsel in complex MBS fraud.
• Provides expert audits of smart contract code, tokenomics, staking programs, and exchange metadata.

Undercover & Forensic Techniques

• Developed and guided dark web market covert operations, ransomware‑wallet seizures, and purported AI‑based trading. 

Quantitative Risk & Damages Analysis

• Combines Ph.D.‑level data analytics with Python, Git, and SQL to model price impact, peg‑break probability, and Monte‑Carlo loss curves for algorithmic‑stable‑coins.

Background

• Senior Special Counsel & Strategy/Innovation Advisor, FinHub, SEC (2021 – present) – Led cloud‑based FinTech lab; directed emerging‑technology initiatives on crypto and AI.
• Emerging Technology Working Group, SEC (2023-Present) – Conceptualized emerging technologies working group to facilitate intra-agency collaboration on crypto, AI, and other emerging technologies that impact the financial markets.
• Senior Special Counsel, Cyber Unit, SEC (2017 – 2021) – Primary unit innovator for crypto, darknet, and AI‑enabled fraud; managed cross‑functional consulting teams on esoteric issues. 
• Head, Dark Web Working Group, SEC (2016 – 2021) – Founded group that delivered SEC’s first dark‑web securities‑fraud actions.
• Co‑Head, Digital Asset Tracing Working Group, SEC (2019 – 2021) – Advanced Enforcement’s capabilities in blockchain tracing.
• Senior Special Counsel, FCPA Unit, SEC (2012 – 2016) – Prosecuted multinational bribery schemes in China and India.
• Senior Counsel, Enforcement Division, SEC (2007-2012) – Prosecuted multinational bribery schemes in China and India. 
• Litigation Associate, Quinn Emanuel (2006-2007) – Pursued civil RICO action against international memory chip technology licensing company.
   
   
• Trial Attorney, DOJ Antitrust Division (2004 – 2006) – Honors Program prosecutor for Sherman‑Act bid‑rigging and price‑fixing cases.
• Clerkships – United States Courts of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit (Judge Wardlaw) and the Eleventh Circuit (Judge Barkett).

Representative Cases 

• SEC v. Telegram Group Inc., 19-CV-09439, S.D.N.Y.
• SEC v. Trovias, 1:2021-CV-05925, S.D.N.Y.
• SEC v. Brookstreet Securities Corp., 09-CV-01431, C.D. Cal.
• SEC v. Betta, et. al., 09-CV-80803, S.D. Fla.
• SEC v. Medical Capital Holdings, Inc., 09-CV-818), C.D. Cal.
• SEC v. 1Pool Ltd. a.k.a. 1Broker, 1:18-CV-02244, D.D.C. 
• SEC v. Donlan, 07-CV-00793, S.D. Cal.
• SEC v. Hvizdzak Capital Management, LLC, 1:20‑CV‑00154, W.D. Pa.  
• SEC v. Durmaz, 10-CV‑01659, C.D. Cal.
• SEC v. ABS Manager, LLC, et. al., 13-CV-0319, C.D. Cal.
• SEC v. Earthly Mineral Solutions, Inc., 2:07-CV-01057, D. Nev.
• In the Matter of Anheuser-Busch InBev, SA/NV, SEC Admin. Pro. File No. 3-17586.
• In the Matter of Zhang, SEC Admin. Pro. File No. 3-17535.
• In the Matter of XBT Corp Sarl d/b/a First Global Credit, SEC Admin. Pro. File No. 3-19592.
• U.S. v. Certified Slings, Inc., 07-CR-723, E.D.N.Y.

Education

• Ph.D., Human Development & Social Policy, Northwestern University (2002) – Dissertation: Making War on the Poor? empirical analysis of families involved in welfare, child protection, and juvenile‑justice systems.
• J.D., cum laude, Northwestern University School of Law (2001).
• M.S., Justice Studies, Arizona State University (1996).
• B.A., Psychology, Emory University (1993). 

Technology, Software & Coding Proficiencies

Bash, Python, Git, SQL, AI copilots & APIs, Jira Kanban boards, cloud platform DevOps, crypto‑tracing suites.

Awards & Honors

• SEC Chair’s Award for Investor Protection (2024)
• SEC Paul R. Carey Agency Award (2024)
• SEC Chair’s Award for Excellence (2021)
• SEC Enforcement Co‑Directors’ Award (2020)
• SEC Agency Award for Excellence in Information Technology (2016)
• SEC Enforcement Director’s Award (2007 – 2015)
• Fellowships: Northwestern/Chicago Joint Center for Poverty Research (2002); Northwestern Institute for Policy Research (2001); American Bar Foundation (2000); multiple merit scholarships and writing awards.