#30 - Blair Halliday – Head of UK at Gemini (Crypto Special)

The Tech Leaders Podcast

English - June 07, 2021 21:00 - 1 hour - 46.3 MB
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Previous Episode: #29 - Didem Un Ates – GM, of Data & AI at Microsoft and Women-in-Tech Advocate

Next Episode: #31 - Charles Ewen – CIO at the Met Office

Today’s guest joined the digital assets firm Gemini in 2020, when they expanded to the UK. As the Head of UK, and former Chief Compliance Officer for Europe, I’m excited to hear what Blair has learnt from the expansion, and how the digital assets market has changed over the past year. Gemini builds crypto products for both individuals and institutions to help buy, sell and store cryptocurrency. It was founded in 2014, by brothers Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss, to build a bridge to the future of money.

Tune in to this conversation as we explore the role of compliance, the power of perseverance, investing in digital assets, the energy consumption of mining crypto, how Gemini are developing their work culture – and what we can learn from the All Blacks.

Talking Points

Blair’s career at RBS (10:55)The compliance mindset within an entrepreneurial organisation (15:18)Cultural differences between large financial institutions and small startups (19:00)Working with Tyler and Cameron Winklevoss (27:38)Getting institutions to invest in crypto (31:13)Why the crypto market exploded in 2020 (35:29)The corporate interest in bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies (39:46)Energy consumption and the future of green mining (40:53)The impact of remote-first work (55:37)

Links

Insights Discovery Peter McCormack, Podcaster and Journalist - Bitcoin Special Cameron & Tyler Winklevoss on What Bitcoin Did MicroStrategy ‘Legacy’ by James Kerr Nifty Gateway