Meet the 15 financial executives who will shape the future of cryptocurrencies – DL News

“Institutions aren’t necessarily just looking at short-term news stories; they’re looking at the entire long-term cycle.”

Usman Ahmad, CEO, Zodia Markets, Standard Chartered. DL News He recently commented on how traditional financial giants are leaning into cryptocurrencies in 2023 despite industry scandals.

We introduce players who are taking a long-term view and are leading the way in digital asset initiatives.

Giovanni Vicioso, CME Group Executive Director, Equity and Alternative Products

When CME overtook Binance to become the largest exchange for Bitcoin futures contracts, DL News Naturally, we turned to our head of cryptocurrencies, Giovanni Vicioso, for some perspective.

He said crypto scandals have led investors to increasingly access regulated exchanges such as CME.

“There has been a crypto flight into regulated futures contracts,” Bisioso said. DL News.

Vicioso joined CME in 2012, according to his LinkedIn profile. He spent the past decade working at financial institutions including Deutsche Bank, RBC Capital Markets, and Marco Polo Network.

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Duncan Trenholm, Managing Director, Global Co-Head of Digital Assets, TP Icap

Duncan Trenholm watched CME’s rise of Binance with great interest.

“That was huge. I don’t think that’s talked about enough,” Trenholm said. DL News During December. “This signals more traditional financial companies, institutional investors, and wholesale companies getting into crypto.”

Trenholm has been co-head of digital assets at TP Icap since December 2018, according to his LinkedIn profile.

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Robert Mitchnick, Head of Digital Assets, BlackRock

Robert Mitchnick has been BlackRock’s head of digital assets since 2018, according to his LinkedIn profile.

After earning a degree in economics from Queen’s University in 2013, he earned a master’s degree from MIT and co-founded a beer company.

From 2013 to 2018, he gained experience working at CPP Investments, a professional investment management organization. According to , he also worked as an executive at Ripple. Ledger insights.

BlackRock did not respond to a request for comment.

Gowtham Sharma, Brevan Howard Digital CEO and CIO

With approximately $30 billion in assets under management, Brevan Howard is one of the most influential hedge funds in traditional investing. The company was an early adopter of cryptocurrencies through its Brevan Howard Digital division.

Gautam Sharma, the division’s CEO and CIO, predicted in September that digital assets would bring “disproportionate benefits” in the near future.

“We truly believe that this is a highly disruptive technology that can unlock value in many different ways,” Sharma said. bloomberg report.

Sharma is a chemical engineer by training and previously served as principal investment officer at Brevan Howard before assuming his current role in 2022, according to LinkedIn.

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Colleen Sullivan, Brevan Howard Digital Co-Venture Co-Head

When Brevan Howard announced its plans to enter digital assets in 2021, it named Colleen Sullivan as venture co-head of the new division. financial times It was reported at the time.

Prior to joining Bevan Howard, Sullivan was co-founder and CEO of cryptographic technology company CMT Digital. She had led the company since September 2017, according to her LinkedIn profile.

She received her bachelor’s degree from the University of Saint Francis and her J.D. from DePaul University School of Law.

Matthew McDermott, Global Head of Digital Assets, Goldman Sachs

Matthew McDermott is global head of digital assets at investment bank Goldman Sachs. Like many on this list, he has spent the past few months feeling bullish about the prospects for digital assets.

In December he said: Reuters He said he expects the volume of transactions in blockchain-based assets to increase “significantly” over the next two years.

McDermott joined Goldman Sachs in 2005, according to LinkedIn. He previously worked as an analyst at Morgan Stanley.

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Christine Moy, Head of Digital Assets, Apollo Global Management

Christine Moy is head of digital assets at private equity firm Apollo Global Management.

Since Moi joined the company in 2022, Apollo has purchased its first blockchain-tracked mortgage, started holding cryptocurrencies for its customers, and leveraged blockchain to enhance asset management. began cooperation with JP Morgan and the Monetary Authority of Singapore.

Prior to joining Apollo, he worked for 18 years at JPMorgan Chase. She spearheaded the investment bank’s cryptocurrency and Metaverse push.

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Aaron Iovine, Global Head of Digital Asset Regulatory Policy, JPMorgan Chase

Aaron Iovine joined JPMorgan Chase in October 2022 as global head of digital asset regulatory policy, according to his LinkedIn account.

Prior to that, he was the head of policy and regulation at Celsius, a bankrupt crypto financial company whose former CEO Alex Mashinsky is facing criminal charges of fraud.

Prior to joining Celsius in February 2022, Iovine worked as head of policy and regulatory affairs at digital asset-friendly Cross River Bank and as a senior regulatory analyst at law firm White & Case.

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Umar Farooq, CEO of Onyx by JPMorgan

In October 2020, Umar Farooq became CEO of Onyx by JPMorgan, the investment bank’s blockchain-based wholesale payments trading platform.

Prior to his promotion, Mr. Farooq worked at the bank for more than 10 years.

Since then, Farooq has been hard at work expanding the bank’s blockchain division. Three years ago he had only about 100 employees, and now he has 300 employees.

Jose Fernandez da Ponte, PayPal Blockchain, Senior Manager and General Manager of Crypto and Digital Assets

According to his LinkedIn profile, Jose Fernández da Ponte has been SVP General Manager of Blockchain, Cryptoassets, and Digital Assets at PayPal since January 2021.

A veteran of the financial industry, Da Ponte first joined PayPal in 2011 as Head of Emerging Markets Strategy after working at McKinsey & Co. and running his own private equity firm.

Da Ponte returned to PayPal in 2019 after a four-year hiatus from fintech, where he worked for Spanish financial services company BBVA.

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Raj Dhamodharan, Vice President, Blockchain/Digital Asset Products and Partnerships, Mastercard

Raj Damodaran joined payments giant Mastercard in 2010 after spending about 10 years at archrival Visa.

According to LinkedIn, he has been Mastercard’s vice president of blockchain/digital asset products and partnerships since December 2019.

Cuy Sheffield, Visa Head of Cryptocurrency

According to LinkedIn, Cuy Sheffield is Head of Cryptocurrency at Payments Goliath Visa, a position he has held since June 2019.

Since graduating from Pomona College with a bachelor’s degree in sociology in 2013, Mr. Sheffield has run his own technology startup and spent time at fintech ventures Hub and TrialPay before joining Visa in 2015. Spent.

Cynthia Lo Bessette, Head of Digital Asset Management, Fidelity

Cynthia Roe Bessette joined Fidelity as head of digital asset management in February, according to her LinkedIn profile.

Prior to that, he was Head of Asset Management Legal and Digital Asset Legal, a role he expanded into for a further 10 months after serving as Head of Asset Management Legal for approximately four years.

She joined Fidelity in 2019 from asset management firm Oppenheimer Funds.

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Manuel Nordeste, Vice President of Fidelity Digital Assets, Fidelity

Former Goldman Sachs director Manuel Nordeste joined Fidelity in 2020, where he rose through the ranks.

He has been vice president of Fidelity Digital Assets since October 2022, according to his LinkedIn page.

He has also worked at EY and Credit Suisse.

Johan Kerbat, General Manager of Robinhood Cryptocurrency

Johan Kerbat joined investment app Robinhood in 2021 to work on the cryptocurrency sector, and previously had experience at both Airbnb and Uber, according to his LinkedIn page.

He was promoted to general manager of cryptocurrencies at Robinhood in August 2022.

Eric Johansson is DL News” News editor based in London.Have a tip for this story or another? Email him eric@dlnews.com.