In a recent episode of the Horizon Series, BeInCrypto spoke with Chet about how his many years in traditional finance shaped his thinking, what lies ahead for Wirex Limited under his leadership, and how he’s approaching platform resilience, crypto regulation, and the company’s use of artificial intelligence.
What Traditional Banks Still Don’t Understand About Crypto
The conversation opened with a look back. Drawing on his deep experience in traditional finance, BeInCrypto asked Chet what legacy institutions often misunderstand about crypto. He described the gap as a long-standing system failure rooted in how banks are structured and their historically neglected priorities, and outdated systems.
“Traditional banks by their very nature are lending banks: they take deposits and they lend money and charge a fat margin for the privilege. And that’s how they make their money. When it comes to payments infrastructure, they are years behind—mainly because they enjoyed a monopoly and didn’t think to invest in cheaper and more effective infrastructures. As a result, they have legacy systems that are not integrated, are clunky, and were designed in the last century. And that’s why you see neo banks and fintechs such as Wirex Limited taking the drive to market to make payments infrastructure, for example, based on the needs of the customer rather than the provider.”
Crypto, in his view, has only widened this gap. Where fintech disrupted payment interfaces, crypto challenges the very rails those systems depend on. Yet despite its potential, many banks still view crypto as a threat rather than a tool.
However, he observed that lately, banks have begun exploring stablecoins due to settlement efficiencies and operational benefits. Still, this interest remains surface-level.
“That’s not the traditional banks innovating. They’re just copying what the fintechs are driving and,what the neobanks are doing. And that’s why you find even now traditional banks don’t fully understand the digital asset space. They don’t fully understand the desire for customers to have frictionless and cost effective payment rails. And this is why I think the problem that most fintechs have, most neo banks have and most crypto firms have with traditional banks is that lack of understanding.”
Chet also warned that this lack of understanding extends into policymaking. Many regulators continue to treat crypto with suspicion, leading to premature or overly restrictive rules that ignore practical use cases. He suggested such a stance could lead to real negative consequences for the very people they seek to protect.
“One could argue that they are now on drive to overregulate because of this lack of understanding.”
The Fine Line Between Oversight and Overreach in Crypto Regulation
Given Chet’s background as Wirex’s former Chief Risk and Compliance Officer, we continued the conversation by asking how he views the current state of crypto regulation globally. He believes regulation is essential, but only when it is informed, proportionate, and consistent across markets. Without that, the policy risks becoming a barrier rather than a safeguard.
He described the current regulatory landscape as fragmented. Some jurisdictions, like Dubai, have embraced measured oversight that encourages innovation while protecting customers. These environments, Chet noted, create conditions for legitimate firms to grow without fear of arbitrary enforcement.
In contrast, he cited the European Union’s Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation (MiCA) as an example of overcorrection. While the intent is clear, the complexity and volume of requirements disproportionately affect smaller players, limiting competition and, by extension, customer choice.
The situation in the United States reflects a different kind of challenge. Recent legislative moves, like the Genius Act for stablecoins, suggest forward motion.
“From a global perspective, it is very difficult for a firm to do business in multiple jurisdictions. But if we condense that down to what regulators are actually trying to seek to do, they’re trying to seek to protect the consumer, obviously, but also making sure that firms such as Binance, et cetera, they act in a way where one could argue they shouldn’t have acted in the past. You can understand the regulator’s desire to have that level of protection. But like I said, unfortunately, what I’m seeing is a knee-jerk reaction rather than a proportionate reaction.”
Balancing Clarity and Control in the UK’s Crypto Rules
After discussing the global picture, the conversation turned to the UK, where Wirex Limited is based and regulated. In 2023, the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) introduced strict requirements for crypto financial promotions, which have drawn mixed reactions across the industry.
Yet, Chet didn’t dispute the intent. In his view, the FCA’s current focus on ensuring that crypto marketing is fair, clear, and not misleading makes sense, particularly given the industry’s checkered past.
“Those rules make sense simply because you don’t want individuals promoting crypto or crypto services based upon untruths and speculation. Sometimes, we’ve seen in the past where firms do promote their services, they’re not very clear, they’re not fair, and they’re not transparent in their promotions. So, I fully support what the FCA is trying to do.”
However, what concerns him is what comes next. The broader UK crypto regime is still being shaped through consultation papers and discussion drafts, and much of the long-term regulatory direction remains undefined. Chet believes the FCA has struck a reasonable balance so far, but warns that the next phase could tip into overregulation if not carefully calibrated.
He also highlighted a practical reality facing foreign firms that want to market to UK customers without having a local presence. For Chet, the FCA’s scrutiny in these cases is both expected and justified. Jurisdictional integrity, he argued, can’t be optional.
Still, he emphasized that this is only the beginning. The key test, he said, will be whether the UK can develop a regulatory framework that protects consumers as well as enables innovation and growth over the long term.
Building Trust Through Resilience and Responsible Tech
Moving on from the regulatory discussion, BeInCrypto asked Chet about his vision for leading Wirex Limited. Throughout the conversation, platform resilience and strategic adaptation to regulation and technology emerged as recurring priorities.
For Chet, trust starts with behavior. While regulation is important, he believes customers rarely understand the protections they’re afforded on paper. Instead, companies must demonstrate fairness, transparency, and responsibility. These qualities are important, especially when onboarding customers who may be new to digital assets.
That principle extends to platform resilience. Chet emphasized that true resilience goes beyond uptime or compliance. It’s about building systems that withstand stress, adapt to market volatility, and continuously improve under pressure.
“We take resilience seriously in Wirex because our platform is the backbone of our business model. It’s incredibly important that not only do we comply with multiple regulations around resiliency, but we in-house do above that and beyond that to ensure that our customers can have faith in our platform and that obviously that the business can continue to grow without over stressing the platform.”
As AI adoption accelerates across the financial sector, BeInCrypto also asked whether a regulated crypto platform like Wirex Limited can apply it meaningfully in day-to-day operations. Chet addressed how AI already plays a role in fraud detection, onboarding, and internal process optimization for Wirex. However, he’s careful not to overstate its power.
“We also want to make sure that we treat AI with an element of caution as well. I’m a great fan of utilizing AI, but I want it tested first of all. I don’t want any hallucination built into our platform. I don’t want AI to drive our thinking. I want it to contribute to our thinking. Ultimately, our business as we touched on is heavily regulated, it will be more so regulated. And therefore, human intervention is absolutely key in certain areas.”