Kyle Roche

Kyle Roche is an American attorney known for his work in cryptocurrency litigation.

Kyle Roche grew up in a working-class family in Buffalo, New York. He was the oldest of four siblings, sharing a bedroom with his intellectually disabled twin brothers. This upbringing instilled in him a determination to succeed and provide for his family. Roche attended Purdue University for his undergraduate studies and later worked as a management consultant before enrolling at Northwestern University Pritzker School of Law. During law school, he developed a strong interest in cryptocurrency, earning a significant profit from Bitcoin investments, which he used to pay his tuition.^[1]

In 2022, Roche filed a class action lawsuit against 17 universities, alleging price-fixing of college tuition. As of March 2025, the case has resulted in $284 million in settlements.^[2]

In 2023, Roche began serving as lead attorney in a lawsuit challenging TikTok’s dispute resolution terms, representing approximately 40,000 families.^[3]

In January 2025, Roche successfully represented security contractor Zachary Young in a defamation lawsuit against CNN. Young was awarded $5 million in damages after claiming that CNN had falsely accused him of operating in a 'black market' in 2021.^[4][5]

In January 2022, Roche's career took a dramatic turn. After a meeting in London with businessmen Mauricio Andres Villavicencio de Aguilar and Christen Ager-Hanssen, where the latter pressed his index finger to Mr. Roche's forehead, Roche found himself at the center of a scandal. In the summer of 2022, a Crypto Leaks website published secretly recorded videos, which depicted Roche making potentially compromising statements about his law firm's relationship with Ava Labs, the creators of Avalanche (blockchain platform). They suggested that he had used litigation to protect Ava Labs' interests and harm its competitors.

Roche claimed the videos were "illegally obtained" and "spliced out of context," but the damage was done. Several companies sued by Roche Freedman moved to disqualify the firm from their cases, leading to Roche's resignation from the firm he founded.^[6] Roche rejoined the firm in June 2024.^[7] Ager-Hanssen admitted to orchestrating the Cryptoleaks sting against Kyle Roche, which involved arranging a staged meeting in London under false pretenses, tampering with Roche's drink, and releasing covert recordings. Despite initial denials, he later acknowledged his role in creating a kompromat site aimed at undermining Roche and Ava Labs.^[1]

Roche faced significant criticism for his comments in the leaked videos, which many interpreted as evidence of unethical behavior and conflicts of interest. He was accused of using litigation to serve the interests of a single client, Ava Labs, at the expense of other clients and the broader legal system. This perception of impropriety severely tarnished his reputation and led to widespread disqualification motions against Roche Freedman.^[8]