Sydney consultant Chloe White is helping design the rules for crypto, advising venture-backed start-ups and global private equity firms
White was forced to sell her stock portfolio at a loss when she picked up an internship at PwC. Every week the number of empty desks grew as staff were laid off in the GFC aftermath. She went to the Netherlands to study a master’s degree in public policy and in classrooms filled with students from across the globe she got more and more enthused about the potentials when major economic policies are well-crafted.
At the time, then-prime minister Kevin Rudd was creating Australia’s first carbon market, and she joined the public service. She helped design the mechanism used to price carbon by developing a formula that connected offshore carbon prices with Australia’s nascent market. Her work was directly written into legislation, and then she watched it get repealed as Tony Abbott’s government dismantled the carbon framework.
By then it was 2017 and bitcoin began one of its biggest-ever rallies. Her success in helping design a carbon market led to her being put in charge of Treasury’s investigation into ICOs, or initial coin offerings. Until then, she’d never delved into crypto. “I went down the rabbit hole from there,” she says.
Crypto often dominates headlines for its scams and hacks. Coming into her seventh year working in the sector, White acknowledges the raft of “get rich quick” type businesses that are seeking her advice. “You have to be cynical, this is not a good industry for naive people,” she says. But nor will it die. The approval in January of a spot-bitcoin ETF in the United States has put it back into the headlines.
White, who has watched several boom-and-bust cycles, sees blockchain technology upending the way finance operates around the world. “It’s complicated and tough to understand, but there are some amazing innovations going on here,” she says. “We might not see them for a little while, but it’s energising.”
Small in stature, White has a habit of sitting ramrod straight. She notes her commitment to discipline. “I work all the time,” she says. “I probably don’t socialise as much as I should. But everyone in Dubai is like that. Everyone is an absolute workhorse.”
Like many Australians who’ve moved to Dubai, White laments its gauche reputation. She thinks the city-state is misunderstood. “People are bound to the image that Dubai is this very materialistic, consumerist society,” she says. “And sure, there’s a lot of luxury on display. But it’s a place where you can choose your own adventure. I like that, very much.”
The March issue of AFR Magazine – featuring the launch issue of Highflyer magazine – is out on Friday, February 23 inside The Australian Financial Review. Follow AFR Mag on Instagram.
