Arjun Sethi of Kraken, the crypto exchange that was a target of the SEC under Biden but got a reprieve from the Trump Administration, said he was delighted to have a seat at the table in Washington.
“The SEC has gone from worst enemy to best friend overnight,” he noted.
Kraken now aspires to transcend its category. “We think about the products that we deliver, we’re not thinking about crypto,” he said. “For a trader, we’re trying to make sure we have the best exchange. For someone who’s saving money, we want to make sure that they can save and have yield on it. For someone who wants to borrow and use that collateral to be able to lend, then how do we facilitate that.”
Sethi thinks of the company as “bridging the gap” between traditional finance and the kind of decentralized financial system that crypto boosters have always envisioned. He cited the company’s acquisition of commodities trading firm NinjaTrader as an example of that.
Special thanks to our sponsors Plaid, Oak HC/FT, BCV, Stifel, and EY.