After 30+ years of Wall St experience, I took the plunge into crypto last year to start CoinRoutes with my son (his idea & code) to automate crypto trading across exchanges and help investors navigate a fragmented market.  As we have progressed, I have been struck by the different perspectives of the crypto community vis … Continue reading Crypto Confusion, Wall Street Delusion

Earlier this week, Ian Weisberger, Co Founder of CoinRoutes, presented the following to the Alpha Kappa Psi chapter at UC Berkeley: [CoinRoutes] Alpha Kappa Psi (1) The presentation covers the basics of market structure and demonstrates, with data from CoinRoutes, how the market has evolved over the past several months.  

I was reminded, earlier this week, when reading about major crypto “exchange” proposing the creation of a crypto-asset SRO, of the famous proverb:  Be careful what you ask for, for if you are not, you shall receive it… I think there is a lot of merit in the idea of creating a new “Crypto” SRO, … Continue reading New Crypto SRO? Be Careful What You Ask For…

Today’s open letter from the SEC to investors and platforms “that refer to themselves as “exchanges”” is an important step for them to push the crypto markets towards maturation.  While stopping short of immediate enforcement actions, it is clear that the SEC is pushing hard towards a more regulated and stable secondary market for trading … Continue reading The SEC Weighs in on Secondary Crypto Markets

There was a lot of coverage of the SEC sweep on ICOs this morning, starting with the WSJ’s article:  “Cryptocurrency Firms Targeted in SEC Probe”.  This was followed by many others, including  crypto-community coverage from CoinDesk.   let’s try to separate fact from fiction. Most important, I do not believe that the SEC is taking issue … Continue reading SEC Sweep Might Herald Progress in the ICO Market

There has been a lot of media coverage and chatter in the crypto community over the concept of “decentralized” exchanges, but much of it is misplaced.  For example, after the recent hack of CoinCheck there were a series of articles, such as one from Bloomberg, that promotes “decentralized” exchanges as a solution to the security … Continue reading Is the term “Decentralized Exchange” an Oxymoron?

SEC Presentation on Crypto Market Structure This presentation was delivered to a combined audience of SEC staff from Trading & Markets, Corporation Finance, & Enforcement.   The discussion was wide ranging and covered many of the topics in the slides. My conclusion from the meeting is that the SEC is being thoughtful and measured in its … Continue reading Crypto Regulation: Discussion with SEC Staff, Feb 15, 2018