Weekly Roundup

SEC Regulation: U.S. SEC chief Gary Gensler proposed rule changes to transform how Wall Street handles retail stock trades, requiring trading firms to directly compete to execute trades from retail investors. Kirsten Wegner, CEO of Modern Markets Initiative remarked, “switching to an auction system seems ill-timed, unneeded and a step in the wrong direction,” in a Wall Street Journal article.

Citadel Crypto Trading Marketplace: It was reported that Citadel Securities is building a crypto trading marketplace with Virtu Financial and Citadel’s recent VC backers, Sequoia and Paradigm, with more trading firms to come. The work on a “cryptocurrency trading ecosystem” is aimed at creating more efficient access to deep pools of liquidity for digital assets.

FinTech 50: Forbes released their annual FinTech 50 list recognizing the year’s most innovative startups in personal finance, investing, payments and crypto. Newcomers to the list included Ava Labs, FTX, OpenSea, Novo, among others.

Women in FinTech: It was reported that the UK’s fintech industry must attract more women to its workforce and create a more inclusive environment in the fight for talent, after a report from EY and trade body Innovate Finance revealed male workers currently outnumber females 2-to-1 in the UK fintech industry.

PayPal Crypto: PayPal announced it will now allow users to transfer cryptocurrencies including bitcoin to external wallets, nearly two

In the Mix: This Week’s Top FinTech Thought Leader

U.S. Senators Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY), and Cynthia Lummis (R-WY), introduced the Responsible Financial Innovation Act, legislation aimed at creating a complete regulatory framework for digital assets that encourages responsible financial innovation, flexibility, transparency and robust consumer protections while integrating digital assets into existing law.

Cromwell Coulson, President and CEO, OTC Markets Group Inc., former Chair, FINRA Market Regulation Advisory Committee, wrote an op-ed on how the SEC can reduce stock fraud and boost capital formation.

Jon Stone, Founder and CEO, TradeAlgo.com, wrote an op-ed entitled “Can Web3 Make Investing More Accessible?“