Fintech leaders’ summer reading spans Dickens to AI

This summer, leaders across digital finance shared reading lists that include fiction, histories of financial crises, books on artificial intelligence and titles on leadership and focus. The recommendations came from executives at exchanges, banks and crypto firms.

Arjun Sethi, co‑CEO of Kraken, recommended Adam Tooze’s Crashed: How a Decade of Financial Crises Changed the World. He described Tooze’s account as an examination of how risk built up before 2008 and said markets work better when participants face the same rules. Anthony Scaramucci, founder of SkyBridge Capital, selected Liaquat Ahamed’s 1873: The Rothschilds, the First Great Depression, and the Making of the Modern World, pointing to parallels between the panic of 1873 and recent economic cycles.

Michael Saylor, founder and executive chairman of Strategy, picked Murray Rothbard’s An Austrian Perspective on the History of Economic Thought, which traces ideas about money, property and state power across centuries and was recommended as context for understanding Bitcoin beyond its technical aspects. Vlad Tenev, CEO of Robinhood, chose A Joseph Campbell Companion: Reflections on the Art of Living for reflection during a busy season.

Anne Boden, founder of Starling Bank, recommended Sebastian Mallaby’s The Infinity Machine as an accessible account of the science and engineering behind DeepMind and modern AI work. Arthur Hayes, co‑founder of BitMEX, selected William Gibson’s Neuromancer for readers interested in AI fiction. Pascal Gauthier, CEO of Ledger, returned to Isaac Asimov’s Foundation for its long‑running influence on ideas about systems and scale.

On leadership and organisational culture, Keith Grossman, president of MoonPay, recommended Nelson Mandela’s A Long Walk to Freedom as a study in leadership shaped by humility and resilience. Brandon Lutnick, chairman and CEO of Cantor Fitzgerald, picked Trillion Dollar Coach for lessons on building trust and developing people. Mike Belshe, co‑founder and CEO of BitGo, recommended Bradley Tusk’s The Fixer to highlight the need to address regulation and public trust alongside technology.

Practical habit and productivity titles also appeared on lists. Lukas Enzersdorfer‑Konrad, CEO of Bitpanda, recommended Gary Keller’s The ONE Thing for its focus on prioritisation. Yi He, co‑CEO of Binance, suggested Carol Dweck’s Mindset to emphasise learning and resilience in a new industry.

The selections reported here cover specific books and the reasons their readers from the digital finance sector chose them. The list includes novels, technical and historical accounts, and management guides offered as summer reading by those working in exchanges, banks and crypto companies.