On Monday, New York Governor Kathy Hochul announced Harris’s departure, effective in October, ending a four-year tenure for the former Obama administration official. In a press release, Hochul touted Harris’s role in “rebuilding the Department into a regulator fit for the financial capital of the world.”
But after Donald Trump embraced crypto on the campaign trail, his return to office in January diminished Harris’s national profile, especially as he upended the federal government’s approach to blockchain regulation. The DFS continued to issue new guidance around blockchain, as well as other frontier technologies including artificial intelligence, though its incremental approach paled in comparison to the Trump administration’s blitz of new initiatives.
Hochul announced that Kaitlin Asrow, who spent the past four years as the executive deputy superintendent of the research & innovation division at the DFS, will serve as the interim superintendent after Harris departs. In her role, Asrow oversaw the department’s regulation of blockchain companies, whose staff grew by 60 over the past four years. In a statement, Asrow said she would prioritize consumer protection while ensuring that New York remained a hub for “responsible financial innovation.”
