4 ms·

A license should be required to prove you understand your ethical obligations to handle anyone else's money. It's sad that the entire crypto industry happened

A license should be required to prove you understand your ethical obligations to handle anyone else's money. It's sad that the entire crypto industry happened too fast for the regulations to keep up, with the unsurprising result that vast amounts of customer money have been lost and stolen - the precise reason for regulation. I would not be surprised if many people have taken their own lives as a result of crypto losses arising directly from lack of integrity of the companies managing the customer money.

totalZero 4y ago
I totally agree. Licenses/certifications do exist. SBF had the FINRA Series 7 and 55. https://brokercheck.finra.org/individual/summary/6204362 https://brokercheck.finra.org/individual/summary/6204362 The loophole is that employees at hedge funds and investment advisers don't face the same licensing requirements as employees at banks and brokerages who deal directly with customers. There are people who trade billions of dollars of customer funds a week without any required regulatory exam or license.
- Animats 4y ago
  He had a series 7? Did not know that. But, right, he was a trader with Jane Street, so he had to have a Series 55 and probably the Series 7, which is for brokers. (Everybody in finance takes the SIE, the "securities industry essentials" exam. That should be required for programmers in finance.) So he knew what he was supposed to be doing.
  - mlrtime 4y ago
    There are a few trading firms that require all SWE/Traders/Quants to get the Series 7. I have a Series 7 and have never handled client money, but I wrote software and had had access to these systems. Not all fintechs are evil.
fallingknife 4y ago
No one is breaking the rules because they don't know them and nobody knows the rules better than those breaking them.
spookthesunset 4y ago
The only reason bitcoin and friends are “worth” anything at all is precisely because there are no regulations. If crypto companies had to play by the same rules as real fintech firms the whole thing would collapse. Why? Because the entire crypto space is nothing but hot air. If exchanges and stuff had to play by any rules, they’d go out of business because there is no other reason for crypto’s existence but to run scams. (Okay maybe it won’t entirely collapse but crypto certainly wouldn’t be valued anywhere near what it is now)

totalZero 4y ago

I totally agree. Licenses/certifications do exist. SBF had the FINRA Series 7 and 55. https://brokercheck.finra.org/individual/summary/6204362 https://brokercheck.finra.org/individual/summary/6204362 The loophole is that employees at hedge funds and investment advisers don't face the same licensing requirements as employees at banks and brokerages who deal directly with customers. There are people who trade billions of dollars of customer funds a week without any required regulatory exam or license.

Animats 4y ago
He had a series 7? Did not know that. But, right, he was a trader with Jane Street, so he had to have a Series 55 and probably the Series 7, which is for brokers. (Everybody in finance takes the SIE, the "securities industry essentials" exam. That should be required for programmers in finance.) So he knew what he was supposed to be doing.
- mlrtime 4y ago
  There are a few trading firms that require all SWE/Traders/Quants to get the Series 7. I have a Series 7 and have never handled client money, but I wrote software and had had access to these systems. Not all fintechs are evil.

fallingknife 4y ago

No one is breaking the rules because they don't know them and nobody knows the rules better than those breaking them.

spookthesunset 4y ago

The only reason bitcoin and friends are “worth” anything at all is precisely because there are no regulations. If crypto companies had to play by the same rules as real fintech firms the whole thing would collapse. Why? Because the entire crypto space is nothing but hot air. If exchanges and stuff had to play by any rules, they’d go out of business because there is no other reason for crypto’s existence but to run scams. (Okay maybe it won’t entirely collapse but crypto certainly wouldn’t be valued anywhere near what it is now)