Introducing Marco Santori: The New Director at WalletConnect Foundation
Former Chief Legal Officer at Kraken, Marco Santori, has now taken on the role of Director at the WalletConnect Foundation. In an interview with Decrypt, Santori expressed his excitement about returning to his roots and focusing on self-custody in the crypto industry.
Reflecting on the growth of the industry driven by speculation, Santori emphasized the importance of showcasing the power of self-custody for both philosophical and practical purposes. This led him to join WalletConnect, a platform known for its cutting-edge technology and developer-friendly approach to building self-custody solutions.
With the recent listing of its WCT token, WalletConnect is poised for further growth, having facilitated over 255 million secure connections for more than 45 million users globally.
Regulatory Landscape in Crypto
Santori’s expertise in legal and regulatory compliance is crucial as WalletConnect navigates the evolving regulatory landscape in different regions. In Europe, the introduction of MiCA framework is shaping the future of crypto regulation, while the US is also making progress with stablecoin laws and market structure regulations.
Despite challenges in the UK’s regulatory efforts, Santori believes that regulators need to catch up with the advancements in self-custody technology and its implications for financial transactions.
Privacy vs. Compliance
The debate between privacy and compliance is a complex issue in the crypto space. Santori acknowledges the need to balance privacy concerns with regulatory requirements, highlighting the significance of developments like zero-knowledge proofs in addressing this challenge.
He also emphasizes the importance of providing users with the choice to self-custody their assets while acknowledging that not everyone may need to self-custody under all circumstances.
The Future of DeFi
As the crypto community continues to advocate for self-custody, Santori envisions a future where greater functionality and seamless interaction with blockchain technologies are available to users. He believes that WalletConnect plays a crucial role in enabling users to engage with DeFi and other decentralized applications.
While DeFi currently appeals to experienced users, Santori underscores the need to drive adoption among mainstream users to realize the full potential of self-custody. WalletConnect’s focus on enhancing user experience and expanding functionality is key to achieving this goal.
Sponsored post by WalletConnect
Learn More about partnering with Decrypt.