tl;dr
Adrienne Harris steps down as NYDFS superintendent after 4 years of reshaping financial regulation, with Kaitlin Asrow taking over as acting head during a critical moment for crypto oversight.
**Adrienne Harris to Step Down as NYDFS Superintendent in October, Kaitlin Asrow to Lead as Acting Head**
New York Department of Financial Services (NYDFS) Superintendent Adrienne Harris will leave her role next month, marking the end of a four-year tenure shaped by regulatory innovation and efforts to modernize financial oversight. Harris, who announced her departure on Monday, will step down on October 17, 2025, according to a statement from New York Governor Kathy Hochul. Kaitlin Asrow, NYDFS’s Executive Deputy Superintendent of Research and Innovation, will assume the role of acting head of the agency.
Harris, a former White House special assistant under President Barack Obama, took office as acting superintendent in August 2021 after being nominated by Hochul and confirmed by the New York State Senate in January 2022. During her tenure, she oversaw significant regulatory advancements, including the evolution of the NYDFS’s landmark BitLicense framework, the first state-level regulatory approach for cryptocurrency firms. The program, launched a decade ago, has become a model for crypto oversight nationwide.
In a statement, Governor Hochul praised Harris for transforming the department into a “regulator fit for the financial capital of the world,” highlighting her dedication to ensuring the financial system serves New Yorkers. Harris, reflecting on her time at NYDFS, described her four years in the role as “a lifetime ago and like yesterday all at the same time.” She emphasized the agency’s efforts to adapt to the rapidly changing crypto landscape, including the issuance of 11 regulatory guidance documents to strengthen the BitLicense framework.
“We started with the bones of the regulation and added meat to it,” Harris said during a recent appearance at the Digital Asset Compliance & Market Integrity Summit hosted by Solidus Labs. She pointed to guidance on stablecoins, blockchain analytics, and coin listings as critical updates to address industry shifts since the BitLicense’s 2015 inception.
Harris also noted the growing recognition of NYDFS’s expertise, citing bipartisan support from Congress members who sought the agency’s technical insights for federal legislation. While not all recommendations were incorporated into current bills, she called it a “testament to what we’ve done” at the department.
Under Harris’s leadership, NYDFS conducted high-profile investigations, including a multi-year probe into the Binance USD (BUSD) stablecoin issued by Paxos. The agency’s enforcement actions underscored its role in holding financial institutions accountable, even as it balanced innovation with consumer protection.
As Asrow steps into the acting superintendent role, the transition comes at a pivotal moment for crypto regulation in New York. With Harris’s departure, the agency will face the challenge of maintaining its regulatory momentum while navigating an evolving financial landscape.
Harris’s legacy at NYDFS includes cementing the department as a leader in financial innovation and oversight, leaving a blueprint for how regulators can adapt to the complexities of digital assets while safeguarding market integrity.