Written by: Tim Copeland, The Block
Translated by: Felix, PANews
The hiring momentum remained stable in July, with crypto companies continuing to recruit experienced operational personnel from traditional finance and the broader tech sector. Multiple teams made strategic executive additions in trading, revenue, legal, and growth areas, reflecting efforts to normalize operations and prepare for a more regulated market environment. Hiring activities covered DeFi, stablecoins, on-chain infrastructure, and RWA platforms.
There was a notable hiring surge around stablecoins and tokenized asset initiatives. Bastion hired two senior executives for financial and revenue functions while building its infrastructure regulated by the New York Financial Services Authority. As vaults and tokenized products gain popularity in fintech and asset management companies, Veda and Stellar Development Foundation also recruited new executives to lead legal, growth, and marketing departments. Chainlink, NEAR, and ReserveOne continued this trend, with new hires focusing on ecosystem expansion and institutional positioning.
In the regulatory sphere, personnel changes were more pronounced this month. The SEC requested PCAOB Chair Erica Williams to resign, while simultaneously appointing a new Comptroller of the Currency. Meanwhile, some prominent crypto operators transitioned to advisory roles or departed to pursue other opportunities, indicating a slow but continuous personnel "shuffle" as the industry adapts to changing compliance requirements, market structures, and capital needs.
New Appointments
Bastion: Vince Tejada joined as Finance and Strategic Finance Director. Previously at Ripple, he helped lead global payment and stablecoin projects, including RLUSD launch. Early in his career, he worked at JPMorgan Chase and IBM.
Bastion: Jared Klee joined as Revenue Director. He previously served as Sales Director at Vouch and launched the company's Web3 business. He co-founded Triple Point Liquidity and earlier held multiple roles at IBM, including leading digital asset business for IBM Blockchain.
Blockdaemon: Alex Zinder joined as Chief Product Officer, previously holding the same role at Reya Labs.
CEA Industries: David Namdar joined as CEO, previously a co-founder of Galaxy Digital.
Chainlink Labs: Jordan Calinoff joined as Stablecoin and RWA Department Head, previously serving as VP of Strategy and Revenue at Horizen Labs.
Coinbase: Acquired Opyn through talent acquisition, bringing in CEO Andrew Leone and Research Director Joe Clark. The Opyn team is known for pioneering DeFi options, inventing Power Perpetuals, and launching Squeeth. This is Coinbase's sixth acquisition this year.
Coinbase: Alex joined Coinbase as the company's first "CT Leader". Previously Binance's social media and community head, he claims to have added 20 million followers across multiple platforms. He will work closely with Coinbase's executive team to lead crypto-native marketing.
dYdX: Eddie Zhang joined as President after Pocket Protector's acquisition, previously serving as its CEO and co-founder. Kaiser Kinbote also joined dYdX as Growth Director, previously handling strategy and growth at Pocket Protector.
Ethereum Foundation: David Wals joined as Enterprise Lead, previously Ecosystem Lead at Alluvial.
G-Knot: Wes Kaplan joined as CEO, previously Cointelegraph's CEO.
GSR: Frank Chaparro joined as Content and Special Projects Director, previously a contributing editor and The Scoop host at The Block.
M0: Thomas Scott joined as General Counsel, previously Chief Legal Officer at Tools for Humanity.
M11 Fund: Thomas Rep joined as Portfolio Manager, previously leading trading and business development at a Dutch crypto platform.
Multicoin Capital: Brian Strugats joined as Chief Trader, previously Trading Director at FalconX and holding senior positions at Glenhill Capital, XN, Balantrove, and Fortress.
NEAR Protocol: George Xian Zeng joined as Chief Growth Officer, previously COO at dYdX.
Paxos: Linnea Perelli-Minetti joined as Global Dollar Network Lead, previously Product and Artist Lead at TIDAL (Block).
ReserveOne: Sebastian Bea joined as President and Investment Director, previously President of Coinbase Asset Management.
Robot Ventures: Anirudh Pai joined as Investment Partner, previously a partner at Dragonfly.
RWA Summit: Foster Wright joined as CEO, previously President at CoinDesk.
SharpLink: Joseph Chalom became Co-CEO starting July 24. Previously a senior executive at BlackRock, he led digital finance projects, including launching the iShares Ethereum Trust (ETHA).
Stellar Development Foundation: Jose Fernandez da Ponte joined as President and Chief Growth Officer, previously heading blockchain, crypto, and digital assets at PayPal. Jason Karsh also joined as Chief Marketing Officer, previously a business lead at Block and having worked at Blockchain.com.
Veda: TuongVy Le joined as General Counsel, bringing extensive legal and policy experience from the SEC, Anchorage Digital, and Bain Capital's crypto division. She will lead Veda's legal, compliance, and policy work as the company expands its vault infrastructure platform.
Promotions
PayPal: Frank Keller's responsibilities expanded to lead blockchain, cryptocurrency, and digital currency business.
SharpLink: Rob Phythian will transition from CEO to President, remaining on the company's board of directors.
Uniswap Labs: Mary-Catherine Lader transitioned from President and COO to advisor, preparing for new business development.
Departures
Variant: Derek Walkush left after three years, moving to an operational role at a portfolio company.
Comptroller of the Currency: Jonathan Gould was appointed as Comptroller, previously a partner at Jones Day law firm.
PCAOB: At SEC Chairman Paul Atkins' request, Erica Williams will step down as Chair on July 22.
