On The Block with Christine Sandler: Meet the former NYSE exec who made the leap to Coinbase

When a recruiter approached Christine Sandler in late-2017 about coming out of retirement for an opening at Coinbase, he warned her it was “a little out there.” To be sure, after an extended career in the traditional financial world, which included time at the NYSE and Barclays, switching camps to crypto isn’t a move for the faint-hearted. But Sandler’s decision to become head of sales (US) at Coinbase - the US's biggest exchange - was not a difficult one, she tells The Block. 

"When I think about the impact on the underlying technology on any number of businesses - not just supply chains but also how we think about predictive technology - it’s absolutely incredible. And it’s almost limitless. Once you cross into it and realise what the applications of the technology are, there’s no turning back. You’re seduced."

In just under 12 months at Coinbase, Sandler has undoubtedly become a crypto convert. But she’s careful not to fetishize crypto; she is not so blinded as to forgive its shortcomings, its "total scams," and uneasy price fluctuations.

“This is an incredible market but it’s somewhat dysfunctional…It really does need to be a lot more diverse to be a really healthy and less volatile market."

Her job at Coinbase aims to do exactly that - to convince fellow Wall Streeters of crypto’s benefits and to stabilise it. Nurture it. "Diversify" it. Trust it. Her day-to-day consists of interacting with potential clients about trading and investing in cryptocurrencies while discussing the infrastructure Coinbase is developing. She’s also involved in predicting what their needs and demands might be; recently overseeing Coinbase’s over the counter (OTC) desk.

“We found that a lot of institutions were choosing to execute OTC transactions as their first foray into crypto, as opposed to on exchanges,” she explains, noting how OTC can offer better trade-execution quality.

Still, The Block reported last week that the company was reining in its institutional ambitions amid hampered spirits. But for Sandler, such immediate shifts and internal changes are short-term, inconsequential perhaps. "It’s really not what we’re doing now, it’s about what’s happening in two years-time as the utility phase is being created."

Indeed, unexpectedly for an exchange-employee, she echoes diehard-developers with her emphasis on building crypto-infrastructure and blockchain 2.0. In fact, she said the hardest thing for a company like Coinbase is that there’s so much to build, that knowing what to focus on and do first is the hardest thing.

She's balanced when it comes to regulating the space too, having entered a space where the subject of rules is still very much under construction.

“Do those [existing regulations] even apply to this, or are we talking about an entirely different regulatory construct?” she ponders. "I would advise regulators to really engage with the folks that are building out products and to think clearly about how they can leverage the principles of regulation in a way that doesn’t diminish the innovation that’s happening. Strike that balance. Learn about the underlying product and ecosystem.”

Sandler is also not messing around when it comes to her own responsibilities, espousing the same values she said originally drew her to Coinbase; methodology, trust, drive, quality-first. There’s no doubt she makes the transition from traditional equities to crypto sound inherently exciting.

“[Crypto] is attracting really smart people but also intellectually curious people. People that really want to learn.”

But there’s clearly an ideological factor that drove Sandler into crypto, beyond the buzz and bucks that cynics feel former Wall Streeters are often drawn by. And she believes there is virtue in others following in her footsteps. “We believe what we’re doing is fostering an open, global financial system. That’s what drives all of us. This is our calling.”

It’s telling that among her own crypto role models, Sandler lists those who share her desire “to bridge traditional finance and new finance”; Ariana Simpson at Autonomous; Chris Burniske at Placeholder. Her collection of inspirees goes on; Ari Paul, Kyle Samani from Multicoin; “folks that are active in crypto, and are committed to crypto, but are really helping to foster adoption.”

As for her final words of wisdom for getting to the top? Control the narrative in your head; make it positive. Oh, and avoid crypto-twitter…if you can.