(Jeff Carter) – Out on the campaign trail, I emphasize to voters that the next ten years of finance are going to be radically different than the last ten.
Without someone in the driver’s seat who has gotten their hands dirty and actually invested and done diligence on this innovation, Nevada will be left behind.
I have invested in financial innovation for the last 25 years. I started buying memberships at the Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME) in 1992. I helped $CME transform from a $100MM member-run exchange into a worldwide financial exchange powerhouse, worth $120 billion.
Today, one of the leading cryptocurrency companies, Kraken, bought one of my portfolio companies, Bitnomial. Bitnomial is an incredibly innovative cryptocurrency futures exchange. It turns out, I mentored David Ripley, the co-CEO of Kraken, when he was in the TechStars program building a crypto company, Glidera.
Most people don’t understand how all of this happens, so I will tell the story.
In 2014, Luke Hoersten and I met at a co-working place. Luke had been a trader for a high-frequency trading firm. I was a known early-stage investor who, when I said I would write a check, I would write a check. I wasn’t a flake.
Luke had an idea. He wanted to build a cryptocurrency futures exchange that physically delivered cryptocurrency. Anyone familiar with futures or derivatives knows this is a huge problem to solve. No one in the world was doing it.
Luke had a front end for trading. But frankly, both he and I knew you could download a front-end from GitHub.
Matching trades is simple. Clearing them and settling them is not.
I had seen many pitches for cryptocurrency exchanges. Luke was the only person who understood what a clearinghouse did. He was also the only one who knew how to build one. That was a huge differentiator for me.
After doing some diligence on the opportunity and on Luke himself, I wrote a check. The company’s initial valuation was somewhere around $7 million.
In startup businesses, you set a valuation and investors know their ownership percentage. Founders know theirs. The valuation is meaningless on an accounting basis, but you have to start somewhere.
Today, Kraken bought Bitnomial for $550 million.
“The shape of the market is determined by its clearing infrastructure, not its front end,” said Payward co-CEO Arjun Sethi. Twelve years later, the conversation Luke and I had turned out to be a key differentiator and paid off. We were right.
I could not be happier for Luke and his team. If you look back at the last 12 years and the challenges they faced, most people would have quit. Not them. They utilized the mental toughness they acquired in the Chicago trading pits and persevered.
Another crypto CEO I invested in, Leo Mindyk of ML Tech, sent me a note this morning, “Very impressive of them.” He is correct.
They persevered when Biden’s SEC head, Gary Gensler, tried to put the entire cryptocurrency industry out of business. They did things the right way, taking years to go through a CFTC process to become a regulated futures exchange on par with $ICE and CME. They didn’t cut corners.
The Nevada treasurer is defined in the Nevada Constitution this way:
Nevada Revised Statutes (primarily Chapter 226) define the Treasurer as the chief banker and investment officer for state government. Key duties under NRS 226.110 include:
- Receive and safely keep all state money not required by law to go to someone else.
- Issue receipts to the State Controller for all money received.
- Establish investment policies for state funds (subject to review/approval by the State Board of Finance, which the Treasurer chairs).
- Disburse public money only upon warrants drawn by the State Controller (paid in registry order).
- Maintain accurate accounts of all receipts and disbursements.
- Serve as the primary representative for state bond credit ratings and handle issuance of authorized state debt obligations.
- Administer unclaimed property laws (as Administrator of Unclaimed Property).
- Oversee or participate in tax-advantaged savings programs (e.g., 529 college savings plans), the Permanent School Fund, and related financial programs.
- Provide reports to the Legislature and Governor; deliver all records to a successor.
The Nevada State Treasurer’s role is a technical position. It’s not a public policy position.
As the state’s banker, I am the only one in the entire Nevada State Treasurer’s race with any professional financial experience. I have invested in cutting-edge innovation and know how to apply it to create better returns for Nevada taxpayers while cutting overhead costs.
Donald Trump has a professional markets guy as his Treasury Secretary, Scott Bessent. Shouldn’t Governor Lombardo have a professional markets guy as Treasurer?
I am the only one in the race with that resume and experience.
The opinions expressed by contributors are their own and do not necessarily represent the views of Nevada News & Views. This article was originally published via JeffreyCarter.substack.com on 4/17/26.
