Kyle Roche

Kyle Roche
Born
Kyle William Roche

October 1987 (age 37)
Amherst, New York, U.S.
Alma materPurdue University (BS)
Northwestern University (JD)
Occupation(s)attorney, real estate developer
Spouse
Kaylin Marcotte
​
(m. 2024)​
Children2
Websiterochedevelopment.co

Kyle Roche (born October 1987) is an American attorney and real estate developer from Amherst, New York.

He is best known for having targeted lawsuits against competitors of the cryptocurrency platform Avalanche in order to profiteer from shares he held in the company. The ensuing scandal led to his resignation from the law firm he co-founded with Devin Freedman. Roche Freedman rebranded to Freedman Normand Friedland, and has since rehired Roche.

Early life and education

Kyle Roche grew up in Amherst, New York, son of Kari (née Meyers) and vending mogul William Roche.[1] His paternal grandfather was Commodore of the Buffalo Yacht Club.[2] He is the oldest of four siblings, and graduated from Canisius High School.[3][4] The Evans Scholars Foundation awarded Roche a college scholarship in recognition of his work caddying at the Country Club of Buffalo.[4][5]

Roche attended Purdue University and earned a bachelor's degree in chemical engineering, later earning his Juris Doctor from the Northwestern University Pritzker School of Law.[4] While attending law school in 2013, he began investing in cryptocurrency.[3] He co-authored a 2017 op-ed in The Wall Street Journal with John McGinnis, where they argued the strength of Bitcoin against fiat currency.[6]

Career

Emin Gün Sirer, creator of Avalanche

While an associate at Boies Schiller Flexner LLP, Roche took on a client who was suing Craig Steven Wright.[3] Wright had publicly claimed to be Satoshi Nakamoto, the anonymous inventor of Bitcoin.[7] Roche and co-worker Devin Freedman hoped to verify Wright's claim through discovery, and they left to start their own law firm.[3] Emin Gün Sirer commissioned Roche to work for him in 2019, and paid Roche in cryptocurrency from his startup platform Avalanche.[3]

In 2020, Roche Cyrulnik Freedman began filing class action lawsuits against cryptocurrency exchanges and token issuers for selling unregistered securities.[8] Jason Cyrulnik sued Roche and Freedman in 2021 after being fired from the firm, claiming he was owed $60 million of their Avalanche shares.[9] As part of the discovery process, Roche and Freedman's shares in Avalanche were publicly disclosed.[3]

Roche resigned from Roche Freedman in 2022 after video leaked of him admitting that he had targeted rival currencies of Avalanche with lawsuits in order to drive up Avalanche's value and profiteer.[10] The firm rebranded that same year as Freedman Normand Friedland, and later rehired Roche in 2024.[4][9]

He represented Zachary Young in his successful defamation lawsuit against CNN, winning a $5 million judgement in 2025.[11] That same year, Roche won his father a $10 million judgment against PSE Archery after one of their compound bows malfunctioned and left him blind in one eye.[1]

Personal life

Roche married Kaylin Marcotte in 2024, founder of jigsaw puzzle company Jiggy.[4][12] Marcotte famously won funding for Jiggy during her appearance in the 12th season of Shark Tank.[13] They have two children and reside in Miami Beach, Florida.[4]

He and his wife run Roche Development, a real estate development company.[14] The company also holds venture capital investments in Cerebras, Gopuff, and Palantir Technologies.[15] Roche Development intends to open a Buffalo, New York office within an Allentown district building they acquired for $765,000 in 2022.[4][16]

Roche and his wife purchased a Buffalo mansion within the city's Elmwood Village district for $3.5 million in 2025.[4] The real estate transaction was the highest ever recorded for a city residence, and they plan on using the mansion as a summer home before a permanent move to Buffalo in 2028.[4]

References

  1. ^ a b Lakamp, Patrick (May 30, 2025). "$10 million awarded to injured target archer whose son helped argue the court case". The Buffalo News. Retrieved July 25, 2025.
  2. ^ "WILLIAM J. ROCHE". The Buffalo News. November 29, 1998. Retrieved July 26, 2025.
  3. ^ a b c d e f Carreyrou, John (June 18, 2023). "He Went After Crypto Companies. Then Someone Came After Him". The New York Times. Retrieved July 25, 2025.
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h i Watson, Stephen T. (July 20, 2025). "Kyle Roche just bought Buffalo's most expensive mansion. And that's not even the most interesting thing about him". The Buffalo News. Retrieved July 25, 2025.
  5. ^ Nason, Geoff (August 4, 2004). "WNY CADDIES LEFT HOLDING THE BAG PROFITS FROM CARTS, COSTS DRIVE PROGRAMS FROM ALL PUBLIC, MOST PRIVATE CLUBS". The Buffalo News. Retrieved July 27, 2025.
  6. ^ McGinnis, John O.; Roche, Kyle W. (July 9, 2017). "Why Bitcoin Is Booming". The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved July 25, 2025.
  7. ^ Tidy, Joe (December 19, 2024). "IT expert convicted for repeatedly lying about inventing Bitcoin". BBC. Retrieved July 25, 2025.
  8. ^ LaCroix, Kevin (April 7, 2020). "Plaintiffs File a Slew of Cryptocurrency-Related Securities Suits". The D&O Diary. Retrieved July 26, 2025.
  9. ^ a b Thomas, David (June 28, 2024). "Crypto law firm, ex-founder Cyrulnik settle lawsuit before trial". Reuters. Retrieved July 25, 2025.
  10. ^ Merken, Sara (October 19, 2022). "Crypto law firm Roche Freedman parts ways with founder after video leak". Reuters. Retrieved July 25, 2025.
  11. ^ Maddaus, Gene (January 17, 2025). "CNN Ordered to Pay $5 Million for Defaming Contractor in Afghan Refugee Story". Variety. Retrieved July 25, 2025.
  12. ^ "Kaylin Marcotte and Kyle Roche's Wedding Website". Zola. September 28, 2024. Retrieved July 25, 2025.
  13. ^ Barkho, Gabriela (November 3, 2022). "How pandemic darling Jiggy Puzzles is plotting its next growth phase". Modern Retail. Retrieved July 27, 2025.
  14. ^ "About – Roche Development". Roche Development. Retrieved July 25, 2025.
  15. ^ "Portfolio – Roche Development". Roche Development. Retrieved July 27, 2025.
  16. ^ Paulson Meehan, Sara (July 21, 2022). "June 2022: A new month, a new high for Erie County's high-end deals". Buffalo Business First. Retrieved July 27, 2025.
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