Despite the plethora of regulatory measures in the United States and an ongoing crypto winter, Former TradFi executives, now mired in the crypto space, said they have no desire to return to their old banking lives.
Instead, Several former traditional bankers told Cointelegraph that they remain optimistic about the future of the industry and love the fact that they can update real innovation.
Lisa Wade, CEO of DigitalX, is one such executive: she entered the crypto space in December 2021. She was previously director of innovation and sustainability at National Australia Bank (NAB), one of Australia’s Big Four banks.
DigitalX Funds Limited (ASX:DCC) announced that it has recruited Lisa Wade (she/her) Wade as its new Chief Executive Officer.#executiveleadership #citi #natwest #nabhttps://t.co/lxORT3KDJp
— Finance Magnates (@financemagnates) December 23, 2021
DigitalX Funds Limited (ASX:DCC) announced that it has hired Lisa Wade as its new Chief Executive Officer.
Wade told Cointelegraph that the cryptocurrency industry gives him greater freedom to take innovative risks compared to the banking sector.
“It’s becoming very obvious that Web3 financial rails are the future: it’s hard to innovate internally, so the brave ones are jumping ship.”
Wade believes that cryptocurrencies will be widely adopted in the coming years, stating that “just like ESG, the general public will be using it in 10 years or sooner.”
He added that went into cryptocurrency to “build something big […] in a way that a bank couldn’t.
In the same way, Guy Dickinson, the CEO of carbon trading platform BetaCarbon, stepped away from a lucrative bank executive role in 2022 as the former treasurer of HSBC Australia.
“I moved into the Web3 space as the space for carbon credits and environmental markets was not easily accessible and Web3 provided market access,” he said.
I left my engineering job at a TradFi company in 2017 to professionally work in the crypto space. My colleague turned to me when I resigned and said “Remember, quitters never win and winners never quit.” No hard feelings, but I think about your stupid statement often, Steve
—Malcolm (@mxlcolm) February 3, 2022
I left my engineering job at a TradFi company in 2017 to pursue the cryptocurrency space professionally. My colleague turned to me when I quit and said, “Remember, quitters never win and winners never quit.” No hard feelings, but I think about your stupid statement often, Steve.
For Dickinson, the motivation that led him to take the step was not money, but the search for personal fulfillment.
“It’s not more lucrative, but it is much more satisfying,” he says, and adds that jobs in traditional finance are no longer as secure as they used to be:
“The banking sector is dying slowly. Ongoing layoffs and technology efficiencies jeopardize many professional services functions. A senior bank official always has a target on his back in the current scenario.”
simon dixon, CEO of the investment platform BnkToTheFuture, he told Cointelegraph that he actually tried to create a traditional bank in 2011 before building a “regulated cryptocurrency business.”
Dixon said that When he researched building a traditional bank, he discovered that it was actually a massive risk:
“When we applied for a license, we were told by regulators that we had to store our funds in another fractional reserve bank and that it is only profitable if we leverage customer funds like all banks do.”
That same year, Dixon discovered bitcoin (BTC) and was interested in the fact that “funds are held in self-custody, spent peer to peer, and are backed by math and full reserve code.”
Many TradFi executives have been switching to crypto for years.
According to a report Fortune published in July 2022, two JPMorgan executives, Eric Wragge and Puja Samuel, have quit to pursue careers in the crypto industry.
wraggeformerly managing director at JPMorgan, made the decision to join Algorand (SOMETHING) as its head of business development and capital markets.
Samuel, who held the position of head of ideation and digitization at JPMorgan, assumed the role of head of corporate development at Digital Currency Group.
Clarification: The information and/or opinions expressed in this article do not necessarily represent the views or editorial line of Cointelegraph. The information presented here should not be taken as financial advice or investment recommendation. All investment and commercial movement involve risks and it is the responsibility of each person to do their due research before making an investment decision.
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