Five years ago, Ari Kardasis’ main focus was a mobile app called Make It Rain: The Love of Money, an addictive mobile game that was earning $50,000 a day in advertising revenue. John Piotrowski was starting out at Goldman Sachs after a stint a McKinsey, while Andy Ross, alongside his day job working with Kardasis, was playing guitar for American rock band OK Go.

The idea that guys like these are attracted to cryptocurrencies in 2018 should surprise precisely no one. The New York-based trio are behind a new cryptocurrency exchange called The Ocean X, and on the face of it seem like a typical band of outsiders looking to disrupt finance’s fat cats. What is arguably more of a surprise is that according to Piotrowski, who left Goldman in February to jump into crypto full-time, their ultimate aim is to drag the sector into the mainstream.