Suzanne Martindale, head of California’s Division of Consumer Financial Protection, had just joined the state’s financial regulatory body in early 2021 when crypto suddenly became a serious consumer concern.
Crypto’s explosive growth sparked heightened worries about consumers dabbling in a volatile market and getting ripped off in the process.
“I would say that 2021 really was the year that everything seemed to get turbocharged,” Martindale, a senior deputy commissioner at California’s Department of Financial Protection and Innovation as well as head of the financial protection division, told Protocol.
“We are getting complaints where people are just straight-up being defrauded,” she said.
The resulting push to regulate crypto has kept Martindale busy.
She began the week by studying a new bill — AB 2269, filed by Assemblymember Timothy Grayson — that would require crypto companies offering financial products in California to register with the DFPI.
Martindale described the proposal as “a massive new bill that would create a new kind of crypto native licensing program in California.” It would be a big change for a state that’s taken a mostly hands-off approach, even as San Francisco’s become a hub for the crypto industry and Sand Hill Road has raised billions to invest in startups.
In an interview with Protocol, Martindale discussed why regulating crypto has become critical and challenging, given the industry’s rapid expansion, and how California can…
