Ex-State Street Digital Head To Lead RegTech Blockchain Startup

Former State Street Digital lead Nadine Chakar says financial services are at “a critical tipping point” when it comes to blockchain

article-image

Exclusive art by Axel Rangel modified by Blockworks

share

Former State Street head of digital finance Nadine Chakar is now set to lead blockchain startup Securrency as its CEO.  

Chakar is expected to assume the role on Jan. 9. The firm’s founder Dan Doney, who was previously working as the company’s CEO, will continue as chief technology officer.

Securrency is a blockchain-based financial and regulatory technology developer. The firm has worked with asset manager WisdomTree on its push to launch what it calls blockchain-enabled funds. Securrency says it serves as a transfer agent by maintaining a secondary record of share ownership on the Stellar or Ethereum blockchains.

WisdomTree Investments, alongside State Street, participated in Securrency’s $30 million Series B raise in Apr. 2021.

State Street Digital launched in Jun. 2021 as a way for the custody bank to expand its capabilities in the crypto, central bank digital currency, blockchain and tokenization segments. 

Before leading its crypto-related efforts, Chakar became State Street’s head of global markets in 2019 after working for several years as global head of operations and data at Manulife Investment Management.

The Securrency move comes after a State Street spokesperson told Blockworks in October that Chakar was set to leave the company at the end of 2022. 

The spokesperson added that Martine Bond — who led global markets for Europe, the Middle East and Africa, and was head of GlobalLink, had assumed Chakar’s role at State Street on an interim basis and is still in that role.

“The financial services industry is at a critical tipping point as it tokenizes regulated real-world assets and automates legacy financial processes using the power of blockchain technology,” Chakar said in a statement.

“As the new CEO, my priority is to accelerate the commercialization of what is in essence the digital asset intelligence and interoperability foundation for major financial institutions and the global ecosystem.”


Get the news in your inbox. Explore Blockworks newsletters:

Tags

Upcoming Events

Old Billingsgate

Mon - Wed, October 13 - 15, 2025

Blockworks’ Digital Asset Summit (DAS) will feature conversations between the builders, allocators, and legislators who will shape the trajectory of the digital asset ecosystem in the US and abroad.

Industry City | Brooklyn, NY

TUES - THURS, JUNE 24 - 26, 2025

Permissionless IV serves as the definitive gathering for crypto’s technical founders, developers, and builders to come together and create the future.If you’re ready to shape the future of crypto, Permissionless IV is where it happens.

Brooklyn, NY

SUN - MON, JUN. 22 - 23, 2025

Blockworks and Cracked Labs are teaming up for the third installment of the Permissionless Hackathon, happening June 22–23, 2025 in Brooklyn, NY. This is a 36-hour IRL builder sprint where developers, designers, and creatives ship real projects solving real problems across […]

recent research

Featured.png

Research

Helium stands at a pivotal moment in its evolution as a decentralized wireless network, balancing rapid growth, economic restructuring, and global expansion. With accelerated growth in domestic DAUs and Hotspots supporting its network, Helium is leveraging strategic partnerships and innovative proposals to scale internationally. The recent implementation of HIP 138, “Return to HNT,” has unified its token economy under HNT, simplifying participation and strengthening liquidity, while HIP 139’s phase-out of CBRS refocuses efforts on scalable Wi-Fi offload. Meanwhile, governance shifts under HIP 141 raise questions about centralization as Nova Labs consolidates control over the roadmap.

article-image

In 2011, WikiLeaks faced a financial blockade imposed by the US government. It was Bitcoin’s first major test.

article-image

Kado’s founder Emery Andrew spoke to Blockworks about the acquisition and what’s next for the team

article-image

LayerZero’s Bryan Pellegrino chatted with Blockworks about the firm’s next steps and its 10-year runway

article-image

Colosseum co-founder Matty Taylor is seeing “high-performance [Solana] founders showing a lot of interest in private trading technology”

article-image

Executives weigh the growth potential they see in the public stock and private credit/equities arenas

article-image

Players can stake ME, trade tokens and link wallets to climb the leaderboard