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A crypto wonk is running the SEC

Hello and welcome to Protocol | Fintech! This Friday: Gary Gensler is confirmed as new SEC head, a new chip targets high-frequency trading, and Goldman rakes in investment banking fees.
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The confirmation of Gary Gensler as the new head of the Securities and Exchange Commission is mixed news for financial startups.
Gensler knows fintech and Wall Street. He's a former Goldman Sachs executive who went on to work in the Clinton and Obama administrations. Most recently, as a professor at the MIT Sloan School of Management, he closely studied how new technologies, including blockchain and cryptocurrency, were dramatically changing finance.
He's also known for strong views on how to make sure those changes aren't hurting consumers and the financial system.
"Warning shot to the Street and fintech." That's how Bill Pearce, professor and chief marketing officer of the University of California, Berkeley's Haas School of Business, described Gensler's appointment. It signals "a new day at the SEC," he said.
Crypto is getting a savvy watchdog at a critical moment. It's worth noting that Gensler was confirmed as SEC boss the day Coinbase went public, considered a big deal in blockchain and crypto.
Gensler is the rare creature who speaks the same language as Wall Street, Silicon Valley and D.C. Gensler's deep expertise when it comes to big technological trends in finance will be his key strength, said Michele Alt, another Klaros Group partner. Yes, fintechs and Wall Street should brace for more regulation. But when it comes to the coming deliberations and debates over complex issues such as blockchain and crypto, the new SEC boss can "ensure that both regulator and regulated entities are speaking the same language."
— Ben Pimentel
The future is positively digital. Ready? Consumers, investors and shareholders are savvier than ever. Everyone needs to create more engaging experiences that keep pace with today's new expectations. See how you can stay ahead with next-gen technologies that deliver on what matters most.
Must read: Coinbase COO Emilie Choi on the crypto company's future after its impressive trading debut.
Riding the wave: Investors see the Coinbase direct listing as a turning point for the crypto industry.
What fintech trend are you most excited about?
What I'm most excited about is seeing how all the challenger banks can continue to evolve and seeing who is ultimately going to be, not the winner, but like maybe the top two or three. I think there's a lot of great companies out there, a lot of great products. But at the end of the day, you have to get to scale to be able to keep going.
What fintech trend do you most worry about?
I have to admit that I've struggled in the past to understand cryptocurrencies' fundamental value drivers, so I'm curious to see how this evolves now that they're beginning to live up to the hype.
What was your biggest professional blunder and what did you learn from it?
It was at my prior role at a food company, a super-small, early-stage farmers' market delivery service serving the New York and Long Island area. I think the business model made a lot of sense. The product was great. But we didn't invest enough early on in customer acquisition. We really thought that we could just rely purely on organic growth from word-of-mouth praise from our customers. Unfortunately, that meant we didn't really pursue channels to acquire customers. Then we missed our window of opportunity. Amazon bought Whole Foods and it's really hard to compete. You have to really strike while the iron is hot.
Investment banking fees brought in by Goldman Sachs in the first quarter of 2021, up 73%. The WSJ says it's a sign of a continued "divergence between Wall Street and Main Street."
The future is positively digital. Ready? Consumers, investors and shareholders are savvier than ever. Everyone needs to create more engaging experiences that keep pace with today's new expectations. See how you can stay ahead with next-gen technologies that deliver on what matters most.
Thanks for reading — see you Tuesday.
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