Former top US consumer regulator joins crypto risk monitoring firm

Cryptocurrency startup Solidus Labs has hired the former director of the US Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) as its top regulatory official, she told Reuters.

Kathy Kraninger is the latest former Trump administration official to land in the booming digital currency industry as it beefs up on legal expertise and Washington connections amid increasing regulatory scrutiny.

Founded in 2017 by former Goldman Sachs employees, New York-based Solidus Labs provides cryptocurrency trading surveillance and risk monitoring tools. Its backers include private equity firms Evolution Equity Partners and Hanaco Ventures.

Kraninger will lead and build out Solidus Labs’ regulatory team, spending most of her time working with regulators, US lawmakers and traditional institutions to explain how digital markets can be effectively policed, she said in an interview.