- For the first time in 175 years, a New York Life CEO joined an external board
- The appointment comes two days after NYDIG raised $200 million
Bitcoin investment services firm NYDIG has appointed New York Life Chairman and CEO Ted Mathas to its Board of Directors.
Mathas’ new role will focus on growing NYDIG’s investor and platform solutions businesses, “especially with respect to the development of a bitcoin-enabled marketplace for annuity and life insurance products,” NYDIG said in a press release Wednesday.
The appointment comes two days after NYDIG closed a $200 million round of funding, which was led by its parent, the $10 billion-asset Stone Ridge Asset Management, and included New York Life.
Mathas, who has been a director of New York Life since 2006, said now is a “pivotal” time for NYDIG and that it’s “critical” that it offer “financial services that enable safe and secure access to this emerging, open source monetary system for all.”
NYDIG provides bitcoin investment and technology solutions to insurers, banks, corporations, institutions and high net worth individuals. It facilitated MassMutual’s purchase of $100 million in bitcoin in December. (MassMutual also invested in NYDIG’s most recent fund raise.)
New York Life Insurance Company is the largest mutual life insurer in the US and manages more than $700 billion in assets.
Mathas’ appointment follows that of Jackie Reses, the former Square Capital executive, in January. That month NYDIG also acquired Digital Assets Data, one of the earlier deals of several it plans to make this year.
