Bringing Blockchain Operators and Regulators Together for a Constructive Future
In recent years, the blockchain industry has developed a much greater appreciation for regulation, operational excellence and risk management, as compared to the Wild West of its earlier years. Many of the serious players want to find ways to operate their businesses to serve their customers while also protecting them - arguably, the main goal of their regulators. Yet, in the past year, a few bad actors have set the relationship between industry participants, customers and regulators backward. Customers have lost trust in the industry, regulators are taking an enforcement-first approach and companies are trying to navigate the uncertainty. Unfortunately the dialogue between all these stakeholders have been dominated by the loudest voices, with each side talking past each other, not with each other.
Crypto is here to stay because of the fundamental value and efficiencies that the industry has the potential to create for the financial system, and no amount of enforcement will truly be able to completely wipe it out. As has happened in every other regulated industry, harsh regulation in one jurisdiction simply results in its players escaping to other jurisdictions with far fewer protections. But when we’re talking about a completely digital and therefore global economy with trillions of dollars at stake, this is a huge risk for the very consumers that regulators are supposed to protect.
What we need to do is create more opportunities for all sides to engage in good faith and communicate with each other, and Axial Studio is here to help with that mission.
The two of us have collectively spent 15 years in crypto & fintech industry focused on this mission:
Matt was the first-ever Executive Deputy Superintendent of Research & Innovation at New York Department of Financial Services where he oversaw crypto licensing and supervision, and Andrew was the COO of Paxos and co-founded Liberty City Ventures. We are both now focused on advising and investing to support the responsible growth of this industry.
Through Axial Studio we are collaborating on different concepts to help the ecosystem to mature, as individual players and as a whole. It is a place for us to work with others in the space who have a similar focus on the growth and maturity of the industry with a long term focus. Reach out to us if you want to work together.
To start opening up the dialogue and shed light into various players’ perspectives, we are today launching The Axial Studio substack, a weekly newsletter with a mix of commentary, interviews and perspective. Our first series, The Mindset Series, delves into the point of view of both regulators and operators who have grappled with innovation and disruption in their industries. Our hope is that by bringing to light the mindset and experiences of different people in the ecosystem, we can demystify both sides and enable greater conversation between stakeholders including regulators and industry participants.