Former Wall Street trader seeks to make sense of crypto world

Hunter Merghart comes from a traditional finance background, having spent over a decade on equity trading desks in New York at investment banks including Credit Suisse Group AG and Barclays Plc. But, like many of his peers, he became interested in the crypto market and made the transition to that world in 2018.

“I really saw it — even then — as a new emerging asset class and market to develop,” says Merghart, 36. He joined Luxembourg-based Bitstamp, one of the oldest cryptocurrency exchanges, as head of U.S. operations in April 2019, helping to open its New York office.

The coronavirus has forced his New York team to work from home — but, he says they’re keeping up with the ever-evolving trends within the cryptosphere. What follows is a condensed interview on key themes Merghart and his team have been clued into: