Latest in Crypto Hiring: Longtime Music Exec Migrates to Web3

Web3 company OneOf appointed Stephen Cooper, the former CEO of Warner Music Group and Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM), as its newest board member.

Cooper held the top spot at Warner from August 2011 until January 2023, leading the record label’s global expansion and digital transformation — and steering it through its initial public offerings in June 2020. 

Warner partnered with Web3 protocol POAP Inc. last April to make NFTs available to fans. It then collaborated with NFT marketplace OpenSea in September to expand Web3 opportunities for artists. 

OneOf’s consumer-facing Web3 marketplace launched in 2021 and houses digital collectibles from artists, athletes and brands. 

“I am excited about how technology can reshape the future of music, entertainment and business models for many industries,” Cooper said in a statement.

Cooper has also served as Hawaiian Telcom’s CEO and as executive chairman of Blue Bird Corporation, as well as Collins & Aikman Corporation’s executive chairman. 

Crypto startup MoonPay has hired Lindsey Haswell as its chief legal officer, Reuters first reported Thursday. 

A spokesperson for the company confirmed the hire but declined to comment further.  

Haswell had been chief legal officer at Blockchain.com since May 2021, according to her LinkedIn, and also previously worked in leadership roles at Uber and Lime.  

She is looking to build a legal team comprising between seven and 20 lawyers, she told Reuters, adding that the industry’s spate of layoffs could present hiring opportunities. 

Blockchain.com is among the companies that have slashed workforces over the past year, saying last July it was set to cut about a quarter of its staff.

The Cardano Foundation appointed Andreas Pletscher as its chief operating officer and Nicolas Jacquemart as chief legal officer.

The non-profit organization encourages people to use the Cardano blockchain in business and mission-critical applications.

Pletscher has worked as technological director at PWC and IBM. His most recent project involved leading a transformation for a crypto services provider in Switzerland. 

Jacquemart joins from FINMA, the Swiss financial market supervisory authority, and previously held roles at various law firms in Switzerland.

Unpaired, a collective focused on the creator economy, has hired Kimberly Knoller as chief marketing officer and Yoav Tchelet as chief growth and innovation officer.

Knoller — who most recently led marketing for music metaverse project Pixelynx — previously built the first direct-to-fan team at Warner Records and has worked directly with artists such as My Chemical Romance, Green Day and Josh Groban. 

Tchelet formerly guided marketing and growth at crypto art market SuperRare Labs. He has also worked with Ford, Unilever, Diageo and Nestle to craft marketing initiatives.

Blockchain company Toposware continued growing its board by adding executives with experience in gaming, technology and engineering. 

• Paul Roma, a senior adviser to investment firm Francisco Partners, has also held leadership roles at IBM, Deloitte and CIOX Health.
• Martin Wischhusen, vice president of game development and infrastructure services at Electronic Arts, is also an advisor to venture capital firms Osage Venture Partners and Insight Partners. 
• Sriram Vishwanath is a professor in electrical and computer engineering at the University of Texas at Austin. 

Toposware is the lead developer of Topos, which is expected to launch its testnet later this year. The startup is aiming to give developers the means to securely deploy natively interoperable sovereign execution layers and decentralized applications

New York-based Blockchain-based payments solutions provider Tassat Group named Zain Saidin as its chief operating officer.

TassatPay, which launched in 2019, recently eclipsed $1 trillion in real-time business-to-business payments after processing more than $150 billion in transactions in January alone. 

Its partners include Western Alliance Bank, Signature Bank, Customers Bank, Axos Bank, Byline Bank and Cogent Bank. 

Saidin, who spent nearly three decades with semiconductor manufacturing company KLA, is set to lead operations and business development as Tassat looks to ink deals with new banking partners.

His appointment comes several months after Tassat hired a handful of executives.

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