Fireblocks fills out its C-suite after layoffs

Elsewhere, Crypto.com has a new OTC trading head

article-image

Fireblocks CEO Michael Shaulov | Permissionless I by Blockworks

share

Fireblocks has tapped Michal Ferguson as its chief marketing officer, just weeks after it appointed Michael Levine as chief financial officer and Maden Gadde as chief customer officer.

Ferguson previously worked at cybersecurity platform Sync, holding the title of head of global demand. Her new role as chief marketing officer at Fireblocks will leave her in charge of ensuring the adoption of counterparty-risk-free infrastructure across retail and institutions.

In a press release reviewed by Blockworks, Ferguson noted that it is a “pivotal time” to be joining the Fireblocks team. 

Read more: Fireblocks debuts latest tool to combat crypto counterparty risk

Ferguson said “the platform’s versatility and commitment to addressing the evolving needs of digital assets’ growing customer base ha[s] enabled it to make massive strides across payments, tokenization and on-chain development.”

These latest C-suite hires come shortly after Fireblocks had cut 3% of its workforce. It did that earlier this year in an attempt to restructure its go-to-market strategy and customer support operations.

Read more: Fireblocks reduces headcount by 3% in the name of efficiency

Crypto.com bolsters OTC desk with ex-Kraken trading lead

Crypto.com has appointed Ryan Fennelly as the head of OTC trading. 

Fennelly was previously a quantitative trader, with experience primarily in capital markets and interest rate trading. He most recently held a position leading the OTC EMEA desk at the centralized exchange Kraken.

At Kraken, Fennelly will be responsible for spearheading its OTC service and improving trading services for the exchange’s clients.

Other notable hiring news

  • A Morgan Stanely alum joined Prometheum as chief financial officer ahead of the company’s trading launch.
  • Richard Teng shared his thoughts on his first 100 days as Binance’s new CEO.
  • Ethereum layer-2, Optimism, hired Amanda Tyler as head of marketing.

Get the news in your inbox. Explore Blockworks newsletters:

Tags

Decoding crypto and the markets. Daily, with Byron Gilliam.

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

Research Report Templates.png

Research

Maple Finance has successfully navigated significant market challenges through its strategic pivot to secured lending (Maple v2) and the launch of its Syrup product. Syrup has become a primary growth driver, delivering sustainable, outperforming stablecoin yields and rapidly increasing TVL. The upcoming custody-first Bitcoin staking product (istBTC) presents another significant avenue for expansion. Crucially, Maple has achieved operational profitability, a key inflection point that, combined with a fully vested token and active buyback mechanism, strengthens its investment case. While valuation metrics suggest potential undervaluation relative to peers and growth, the primary forward-looking risk identified is the long-term sustainability of its current high-take-rate collateral staking revenue model.

article-image

Funds disagree about which metrics matter, but agree fundamentals are key

article-image

PGP creator Phil Zimmermann’s connection with Bitcoin is complicated

article-image

Blockworks spoke with a dozen current and former employees about the problems that have plagued Bitget’s blockchain, Morph

article-image

Perpl, a perps DEX, plans to launch testnet by the end of this year

article-image

A recent Citi report predicted that stablecoin AUM could hit $3.7 trillion by 2030, largely because of institutional adoption

article-image

The startup hopes to reduce crypto’s reliance on AWS and Google Cloud