Christopher Perkins

Prior to joining Franklin Crypto to lead the newly formed Franklin Crypto division, Chris Perkins served as Managing Partner and President of CoinFund, where he focused on projects operating at the intersection of decentralized and traditional finance. During his time with Coinfund, Chris was also the founder of Quatrefoil Data Services and co-inventor of the Composite Ether Staking Rate (CESR), the first-interest rate benchmark of its kind in the crypto industry.

Chris is a staunch advocate for the interests of the crypto ecosystem through his appointment to the CFTC’s Global Markets Advisory Committee and its Digital Asset Markets Subcommittee. He has also testified before Congress on crypto market structure design.

Prior to joining CoinFund, Chris served as Global Co-Head of Futures, Clearing and Foreign Exchange Prime Brokerage (FXPB) businesses at Citi. In this capacity, he was responsible for delivering leading listed derivative electronic and voice execution, comprehensive central clearing and #1 ranked OTC Clearing (a business he founded) and FXPB services to top institutional clients. Prior to joining Citi in 2008, Chris served as the U.S. Head of Derivatives Intermediation at Lehman Brothers.

An Iraq war veteran, Chris served in the U.S. Marine Corps for nine years achieving the rank of Captain. Chris is the co-founder of Veterans in Digital Assets (VIDA) and Veterans on Wall Street (VOWS), two international initiatives focused on veterans’ employment and empowerment. He has a Bachelor of Science degree from the U.S. Naval Academy, with distinction, and a Master of Arts degree in National Security Studies from Georgetown University. He is a member of the Economic Club of New York, serves on the Advisory Board of Academy Securities and co-chairs the Blockchain Association’s National Security Committee. He hosts Unchained’s “Bits and Bps” podcast, a weekly podcast that covers macroeconomic and cryptocurrency themes.