“One of the things that attracted me to Bitcoin was that I saw this was a means by which we could get back to an honest ledger that can’t be manipulated by nefarious players or even by accident.”

Biography:

Caitlin Long is one of the most popular personalities in Bitcoin and blockchain thanks to her longstanding interest in the industry, her work for reforms and the adoption of digital assets, especially in her native state of Wyoming. She’s an American entrepreneur, Wall Street veteran, a Bitcoin evangelist since 2012 and a public speaker participating in numerous cryptocurrency events and conferences. 

She obtained a Bachelor of Arts in political economy in 1990 from the University of Wyoming, a Master of Public Policy from Harvard Kennedy School of Government and a Juris Doctor from Harvard Law School. 

During her Wall Street career, she was the managing director for Credit Suisse and Morgan Stanley until 2016, when her profession in finance started being liaised with blockchain technology. She was chairman of the board and president of the smart contract platform Symbiont.io for a couple of years. Currently, she’s the chairman of WyoHackaton, and in 2020, she founded and became CEO of Custodia Bank, previously known as Avanti Financial Group.

Custodia is a Wyoming payment system provider and a custodian of digital assets required to fully comply with Know Your Customer, Anti-Money Laundering, and related laws and regulations. However, Custodia’s process for becoming a full-service bank hasn’t been smooth, as highlighted below.

Long’s 2022:

Long’s commitment in 2022 pivoted around the management and growth of her Wyoming-based crypto bank Custodia in the hope of finally becoming a Federal Reserve Member and Federal and Deposit Insurance Corporation bank, after applying for both memberships in late 2021. These applications mean that Long wants to drastically reduce the gap between Bitcoin and the U.S. dollar, and she declared that Custodia Bank was formed to bridge compliance between the U.S. dollar payments system and the digital asset industry. 

Her crypto bank wants the same approach as traditional banking by accepting the same regulatory standards. Such standards should pave the way for other services to be offered within the platform, including SWIFT issuance of a tokenized U.S. dollar and the management and custody of Bitcoin and other digital assets.

However, the Federal Reserve’s decision on Long’s bank application was remarkably delayed, and she had to file a complaint against the U.S. central bank for what she considered to be an “unlawful delay.” Custodia Bank’s eagerness to become a full-service master account bank was further delayed in December when its motion for a default judgment was denied.

Long’s 2023:

Long remains very optimistic about the future of Bitcoin and cryptocurrencies, despite the industry’s dramatic events of 2022, with the collapse of significant market players. She is expected to continue her hard work as an industry ambassador. She keeps enjoying her role as one of the most prominent blockchain spokeswomen in the space, educating both institutions and individuals via podcasts and conferences.

By Feb. 9, the Federal Reserve is expected to submit an administrative record with a detailed step-by-step breakdown of its decision-making process in the case of Custodia Bank’s master account application. The Wall Street veteran hopes to put an end to the long-awaited judgment and finally get approval to operate within the realms of the law with no further delay.