Martinho Lucas Pires PH.D

Of Counsel
Lisbon
About
Martinho Lucas Pires practices in the area of financial law, with particular focus on fintech, digital assets, banking and securities, in both national and international settings. He advises companies in different sectors, from payments to energy, as well as funds and capital markets.
Areas of FocusFinanceFinancial ServicesTechnologyCorporateInvestment Management and FundsRegulatory and Government Affairs

EXPERIENCE

  • Assisting clients with financial regulatory matters related to digital assets, such as issuing and provision of services with crypto-assets, incorporation and acquisition of Decentralized Autonomous Organizations, and payment services.
  • Assisting international clients with financial regulatory matters and liaison with supervising authorities in Portugal, Europe and Brazil.
  • Assisting international clients in large-scale acquisition transactions in diversified areas such as commercial banks; travel and tourism; carbon credits and securities.
  • Assisting clients with matters related to banking resolution.
Languages
  • Portuguese
  • English
  • French
  • Italian
  • Spanish
Education
  • Nova School of Law, PHD in European Law, Summa Cum Laude, 2024
  • University of Michigan School of Law, Grotius Research Scholar, 2012 and 2018
  • Católica Global School of Law, Master in EU and International Law, 2013

Publications and media

  • Portugal and the banking union: searching for the spirit of supervision and resolution’ in Diane Fromage (Ed), EU financial integration since the Great Financial Crisis: Consequences for EU and national institutions – Special Edition Quaderni di Ricerca Giuridica della Consulenza Legale (Banca d’Italia, Outubro de 2024)

  • Blockchain and the Law - Dogmatics and Dynamics (co-editor) – Asser Press / Springer, 2023

  • MiCA - Estudos sobre a Nova Regulação Europeia de Criptoativos (co-coordenador) – Almedina, 2023

  • Co-author (with Anat Keller and Clara Martins Pereira) of ‘The European Union’s Approach to Artificial Intelligence and the Challenge of Systemic Risk’ in Henrique Sousa Antunes, Pedro Freitas, Arlindo Oliveira, Clara Martins Pereira, Elsa Vaz Sequeira, and Luís Barreto Xavier (Eds) Artificial Intelligence, Law and Beyond (Springer, 2023)

  • O princípio da igualdade dos Estados Membros da União Europeia’ in Mário de Aroso de Almeida, Pedro Machete, Filipa Urbano Calvão, António Cortês, Raquel Carvalho, Luís Fábrica, Marta Portocarrero, Jorge Pereira da Silva, Maria Oliveira Martins e Armando Rocha (Coordination) Estudos em homenagem a Maria da Glória Garcia (UCP Editora, 2023)

Seminars

  • Participates regularly in seminars, courses, and public audiences with members of parliament and regulatory bodies on the topic of fintech and digital asset regulation, in Portugal, the EU and LATAM.

Prior Experience

  • 2025-present, Of Counsel, DLA Piper Lisbon

  • 2023-2024, Senior Consultant, BlockReg Advisors Ltd, London)

  • 2022-2023, Of Counsel, DLA Piper Lisbon

  • 2020-2022, Consultant, DLA Piper Lisbon

  • 2019, Associate Lawyer, DLA Piper Lisbon

  • 2014-2016, Lawyer DLA Piper Lisbon (Former ABBC Advogados)

Additional News

  • Guest Assistant Professor of Law at Nova Law School in Lisbon (since 2022)
  • Guest Assistant Professor of Law at Católica Law School (since 2017)

Memberships and Affiliations

  • Member of the Portuguese Bar Association since 2016
  • Member of the board of PFA – Portugal Fintech Association

My latest insights

Publication

Portugal to implement MiCA

30 October 2025

Publication

Blockchain and Digital Assets News and Trends – June 2025

24 June 2025 .29 minute read

Publication

What is an asset-reference token? Lessons from the Ethena case

24 June 2025 .4 minute read

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Phone

+351 213 583 681
(Work, Lisbon)