Zane Tackett has seen some of the crypto space's biggest events — here's what he's learned

The Scoop

Zane Tackett has witnessed some of the crypto industry's biggest moments. And he recently took a post as a sales and business development executive at FTX, giving him a first-hand look at growth occurring in the derivatives market today.

It comes as a notable time for that particular corner of the crypto space, given that more that 100,000 bitcoin options contracts – a historic number totaling over $900 million – is slated to expire this Friday. Tackett will have a front row seat, and he talked about the growth factors for the derivatives market on this week's episode of The Scoop.

He also touched on his history in the space, stretching back to his role in helping found the international team at OKCoin, now OKEx, an early mover in crypto futures.

Tackett moved from OKEx to become director of community and product development at Bitfinex. He was at the forefront of the exchange's response to the 2016 hack in which 119,756 BTC were stolen.

"It was the worst period of my life," he said. "I think the initial 48 hours, I went 40 hours without sleeping, got two or three hours of sleep and was back at it. And you know, pretty much everyone on the team was the exact same way."

After his time at Bitfinex, Tackett became head of OTC sales at B2C2 before moving to FTX this year.

In this week's episode, Tackett discussed how each of these experiences informed his understanding of the market, as well as:

• How crypto businesses can cater to both retail and institutional traders
• Why a more standard user experience has been a key reason for growth in the space
• Why bitcoin resiliency is a sign of growing maturity for the crypto space despite concerns about volatility
• The firewalls in place between Alameda and FTX to mitigate concerns around conflicts of interest
• Why the prime brokerage space is heating up in the U.S. compared to other regions
• Tackett's experience working at Bitfinex during the exchange's biggest hack and what he learned.

Episode 25 of Season 2 of The Scoop was recorded remotely with The Block’s Frank Chaparro and Zane Tackett, a sales and business development executive at crypto derivatives exchange FTX.

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