Komainu, the Nomura-backed custody provider for digital assets, has appointed Paul Frost Smith as co-CEO, working alongside Robert Johnson, who has been serving as interim CEO and has now been appointed as co-CEO on a permanent basis. In his most recent role, Frost Smith was co-founder and CEO of Corinthian, a digital asset investment management…

Fireblocks, an enterprise platform for building blockchain applications and managing digital asset operations, has hired Michal Ferguson as chief marketing officer. Prior to joining Fireblocks, Ferguson built and scaled the go-to-market functions at Snyk, a cybersecurity platform that integrates directly into development tools, workflows, and automation pipelines. BNY Mellon took a stake in Fireblocks in…

Hex Trust, the Asia-based institutional-grade digital asset custodian, has added Dr. Dimitrios Kavvathas and Marty Jetton to its advisory board. Kavvathas spent 12 years as a managing director and partner at Goldman Sachs in London, before relocating to Hong Kong in 2009 where he co-headed the Asia Pacific securities division distribution. Jetton transitions to the…

Nicolas Bertrand, chief executive of Komainu, the C.I.-based crypto asset custodian, has stepped down with immediate effect. Robert Johnson, who joined Komainu as CTO in 2023, has taken charge as interim CEO. Bertrand joined Komainu in September 2022, following a botched attempt to hire Matthew Chamberlain, then CEO of the London Metal Exchange.

Komainu, the C.I.-based digital asset custodian backed by Nomura, has hired Chad Walls as EMEA sales lead, based in London. He joins from Nickel Digital Asset Management.

Maxime de Guillebon has joined Ripple, the crypto payments service, after just six months at BNY Mellon. He is based in Switzerland, the home base of Metaco, which Ripple acquired in 2023. He was CEO of Zodia Custody before joining BNY Mellon as head of digital asset product.

Gemini has appointed Saad Ahmed as head of Asia Pacific. He joins from Grab, where he held executive leadership positions as the regional head of commercial and managing director, merchants.

Fireblocks, an enterprise platform to manage digital asset operations and build businesses on the blockchain, has hired Peter Marton, former deputy superintendent of virtual currency at the New York State Department of Financial Services (NYDFS), and Chaitanya Reddy Konda, who designed and built Nightfall, a pioneering privacy solution for Ethereum token transfers for EY. Marton,…

Komainu, the C.I.-based digital assets custodian, has appointed Robert Johnson as chief technology officer, based in London. He joins from Coremont, where he was CTO and partner. Komainu, which is backed in part by Nomura, recently received approval from the UK’s Financial Conduct Authority to register as a custodian wallet provider.

Zodia Custody, the UK-based digital assets custodian, has appointed Jonathan Hugh as chief financial officer. He joins from GSR, where he held the same role.