Aaron Brown, Columnist

The Battle to Rewire Stock Trading the Crypto Way Is On

October 6, 2025 at 10:00 AM UTC

Aaron Brown is a former head of financial market research at AQR Capital Management. He is also an active crypto investor, and has venture capital investments and advisory ties with crypto firms.

Change is coming.
Photographer: Michael Nagle/Bloomberg via Getty Images

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The stock market as we know it is on the brink of a transformation. The crypto industry has long touted the potential for the underlying blockchain technology to make trading more efficient, more liquid and 24X7. Now, firms including Robinhood Markets Inc. and Coinbase Global Inc. are pushing for “a speedy regulatory pathway” to begin that experiment, according to The Information. But at what cost?

There’s strong opposition to the idea from traditional financial firms such as Ken Griffin’s Citadel Securities, one of the top US market makers. Whoever wins this round, expect many more turf wars as the 20th-century financial system struggles to co-exist with 21st-century technology.