The policy expert, who previously served as chief of staff to Biden-era SEC chair Gary Gensler, pointed to comments made by Robinhood CEO Vlad Tenev over the last year that running a crypto business is “an order of magnitude” less expensive than operating a traditional securities brokerage. Robinhood has signaled interest in moving much of its core business onto blockchain networks by tokenizing assets. “He doesn't have to pay for customer protection, SEC exams, or SIPC insurance,” Fischer said, referencing the Securities Investor Protection Corporation, a federally mandated program for insuring customer deposits at securities brokerages in the case of a firm’s failure. “Of course it’s cheaper.”