From Trading Floors to Blockchain: My Journey Through Financial Technology

Jeff Cooperstein joins Kadena with over 30 years of leadership experience in financial services. While at R3, Cooperstein collaborated with some of the world's most established financial institutions and enterprises deploying R3’s Corda Blockchain Platform. His career also includes leadership roles at State Street, Lehman Brothers, Wells Fargo, and Thomson Reuters. In this article, Cooperstein reflects on his career, which began in the early days of financial technology, and traces his journey to working in blockchain in 2016.

Throughout my career, I've always been the technical guy. As an engineer by training, I was drawn to Wall Street to scope, design, and build out technology while working closely with bankers, traders, and sales staff. I enjoyed translating the complex technical jargon of complex trading systems into a language those cohorts could understand. I aimed to show them the tangible benefits of financial technology and provide them with the right tools to do the job.

The Early Days of Financial Technology

When I started on Wall Street, the financial technology landscape looked very different. Twenty-five years ago, it wasn’t unusual for a fixed-income trader to have 8-10 monitors crowding their desk.

The move from analog to digital changed that.

Suddenly, those same traders could have just one or two monitors. All their various services were accessible through windows on their screens. This wasn’t just about cutting costs, though it was certainly a part of it. It was about making life easier for traders and marking the beginning of a digital age that would transform financial markets.

In those days, the trading floor was chaotic, and the technology was archaic compared to now. We went from using old telex machines, massive typewriter-like devices that were a step up from the Pony Express but not much more — to sending emails and using Bloomberg messaging. This shift was the start of true financial technology. The industry moved from discrete, centrally shared systems to more distributed, specialized services that could be tailored to the needs of each trader.

My Role in the Financial Technology Revolution

I identified these new financial technology systems in this transformation and worked with vendors to roll them out across trading floors. Back then, the cost of these systems was high — around $50,000 per trader — but they still saved money by reducing the need for additional hardware and streamlining the entire trading process. As traders’ lives improved, the infrastructure around them evolved as well. Data centers grew larger to accommodate the increasing number of services and servers needed to support these new tools.

Looking back, this was more than just an evolution; it was a revolution based on TCP/IP and networking. We moved from an analog world to a digital one.

And now, I see blockchain as the next great leap forward.

Although blockchain might be more evolutionary than revolutionary, I like to say it's "revolutionarily evolutionary." Blockchain will change things, but it will happen slowly, piece by piece, rather than in one big bang.

My Transition to Blockchain

I first became involved with blockchain when I joined R3 in 2016. At that time, blockchain was the new emerging technology, much like AI is today. What drew me in wasn’t just the technology itself but also the people behind it. The founders of R3 were successful entrepreneurs, and I wanted to be a part of that journey. Like many others at the time, my knowledge of blockchain was limited, but so was everyone else’s. We were all learning as we went.

While at R3, I saw blockchain’s potential progress from a shiny new concept to a viable solution for real-world problems. It started with proofs of concepts and simulations, then moved to pilot programs and minimum viable products (MVPs). Today, companies aren’t just testing blockchain — they’re using it because they believe it will deliver benefits like faster settlement times, lower costs, and greater transparency while operating in a 24/7 environment.

Blockchain’s Impact on the Financial Industry

I worked with a client who uniquely saw blockchain’s potential. While blockchain is often associated with decentralization and collaboration between multiple banks, this client realized they could apply it within their organization. They began moving value between branches without needing a third-party intermediary. This allowed them to take advantage of atomic transactions, meaning transactions happened instantly instead of waiting for end-of-day batch processing and reconciliation.

The result was a more efficient process that freed up capital, allowing it to be repurposed instead of sitting idle for 24 hours.

Why I Believe in Blockchain

So, why did I choose to work in blockchain? It was simple. I saw it as a new frontier — a technology with the potential to change the financial industry just as the move from analog to digital had done before. My background in financial markets and technology have given me a unique perspective. I knew the problems we were trying to solve and saw how blockchain could be the solution. It was an opportunity to build on my experience and apply it to something that could move the industry forward.

Ultimately, blockchain has the same promise as early financial technology — improving efficiency, cutting costs, and creating new revenue possibilities. It won’t replace everything overnight, but it will transform how we think about applying this exciting technology over time.

Moving Forward with Kadena

Embracing change is rarely simple or straightforward. However, I knew it was time for a shift and began exploring other companies in the blockchain space. A trusted industry friend and former colleague suggested I take a closer look at Kadena.

The more I researched, the more I realized that Kadena was exactly what I had been searching for. Traditional finance (TradFi) companies are gradually adopting blockchain technology due to its immense potential, even though full adoption will take time. Kadena’s technology is uniquely positioned to play a pivotal role in this groundbreaking evolution.

Kadena’s blockchain innovations — Chainweb, our public, Proof-of-Work blockchain, and Pact, our human-readable smart contract language — provide exactly what traditional finance needs to embrace blockchain sooner rather than later.

I’m thrilled to continue my journey in this dynamic industry as part of the Kadena team and excited to see where this "revolutionary evolution" will lead us next!