Banking is ‘slowly dying’ Former TradFi execs on reasons for joining crypto
Despite plenty of regulatory action in the United States and an ongoing crypto winter, former TradFi executives, now in crypto, said there’s no desire to return to their old banking lives.
Instead, several former traditional bankers told Cointelegraph they remain bullish about the industry's future and love the fact they can actualize real innovation.
Lisa Wade, CEO of DigitalX, is one such executive, having pivoted to crypto in December 2021. She was once the head of innovation and sustainability at National Australia Bank (NAB), one of Australia’s Big Four banks.
Wade told Cointelegraph that the crypto industry provides her with greater freedom to take innovative risks compared to the banking sector.
“It is becoming very obvious Web3 financial rails are the future — it is hard to innovate internally so those of us with a fire in our bellies are jumping ship.”
Wade holds the belief that crypto will witness widespread adoption in the coming years, stating that “like ESG, this will be mainstream in 10 years or sooner.”
She added that she moved over to the crypto industry to “build something great in a way that a bank couldn’t.”
Similarly, Guy Dickinson, the CEO of carbon trading platform BetaCarbon, moved away from a lucrative executive banking role in 2022 as the former treasurer of HSBC Australia.
“I moved into the Web3 space as the carbon credit and environmental markets space was not easily accessible and Web3 provided access to the market,” he said.
For Dickinson, the motivation behind the move wasn’t driven by money, but rather by a quest for personal fulfillment.
“It is not more lucrative; it is however far more satisfying,” he said, adding that jobs in traditional finance are not as safe as they once were:
“The banking industry is slowly dying. Constant layoffs and technological efficiencies render many professional service roles at risk. A senior banking official always has a target on his back in the current landscape.”
Simon Dixon, CEO of investment platform BnkToTheFuture, told Cointelegraph he actually attempted to create a traditional bank in 2011 before building a “regulated crypto securities business.”
Dixon said when he did his research into creating a traditional bank, he found out it was actually a massive risk
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