The Block: Wall Street charity bike ride draws a bigger crypto crowd this year

“There’s some up hill, some wonderful down hill, but at the end of it you feel very satisfied and fulfilled.”

Brad Vopni’s description of the crypto market’s cycles sounds very similar to a bike ride he’ll be participating in the fall: Wall Street Rides Far, a yearly charity event that draws market participants from across the trading world to raise money for the Autism Science Foundation. The event has several trails ranging from beginner tracks to a 60-mile long ride for expert bikers.

Vopni—an executive at Hudson River Trading—said this year, the crypto industry has a bigger presence at the event than ever before, with firms like crypto exchange FTX, lending firm BlockFi, trading platform Talos, and Fireblocks all sending riders for the first time.

Founded in 2015 by Cboe executive Bryan Harkins, the event has drawn fierce rivals from exchanges like New York Stock Exchange and Nasdaq to trading firms like GTS and Virtu to the rolling hills of Westchester County in New York.