Crypto hiring: Galaxy Digital doubles down on Europe with new C-suite hire

There were a fair number of high-profile departures this week, with exits at BCB Group, Square and the NEAR Foundation

article-image

Elle Aon/Shutterstock modified by Blockworks

share

There’s a lot to catch up on from this week when it comes to professional moves across the industry. 

Galaxy Digital appointed Leon Marshall CEO of Europe about five months after the crypto investment firm announced a plan to bring ETPs to Europe. 

In addition to his new role as a regional chief executive, Marshall will continue serving as global head of sales, a position he was hired for in June, according to a company release.

Galaxy CEO Mike Novogratz called Europe “a region that is critically important to our growth strategy.”

Before making the jump over to Galaxy in June, Marshall was global head of sales at Genesis for over four years. Prior to his stint at the bankrupt crypto lender, he was in strategy and business development at Gnosis.

Read more: Galaxy links up With $821B asset manager as part of Europe ETP push

Elsewhere, ex-Signature Bank chief information officer John Trainor found a new gig at Abelian Partners where he’ll lead the financial services firm’s technology consulting practices. 

Trainor was at Signature when it joined Silicon Valley bank in failure during March 2023. Silvergate was the first major American bank to falter among the three, and First Republic closed its doors on May 1, 2023.

While at Signature, Trainor led the bank’s blockchain payments initiative.

Notable departures

Another crypto banking firm, BCB Group, is losing a key executive. 

Chief banking officer Ian Moore will exit by the end of the month, leaving the firm after just over a year. 

Moore’s CV lists him at four different companies throughout his career, with crypto experience from BCB Group and Paysafe. 

But for most of his time in the workforce, Moore was firmly rooted in traditional finance. He started out at Citi in 1998, staying there for over eight years before moving to Deutsche Bank for over 13 years. 

Separately, Jack Dorsey’s Block announced that Square CEO Alyssa Henry will step down on Oct. 2, per an SEC filing

Henry has held the top job at Square, a business commerce platform under Block, for only about eight months, but has been employed at Block for over nine years.

Dorsey will take over as head of Square for the time being. 

Finally, Linda Xie, the co-founder and managing director of Scalar Capital, said she would be transitioning out of her investor role at the crypto venture capital firm. 

Additionally, Scalar won’t be deploying new capital “going forward”, Xie wrote in a post on X, formerly Twitter.

More notable hires

  • Digital Currency Group appointed Tonya Evans, a law professor at Penn State’s Dickinson School, to its board of directors.
  • Obligate, a Zurich-based on-chain bond issuance platform, appointed Thomas Zeeb, former global head of exchanges, at SIX Swiss Exchange to its board.
  • Marieke Flament stepped down as the NEAR Foundation’s CEO and will be replaced by General Counsel Chris Donovan. Flament will remain in a “council-only” position.
  • Outlier Ventures selected Stephan Apel as CEO. Apel will replace Jamie Burke, who will move into a chairman role after ten years as chief executive at the crypto VC.

Start your day with top crypto insights from David Canellis and Katherine Ross. Subscribe to the Empire newsletter.

Tags

Upcoming Events

Salt Lake City, UT

WED - FRI, OCTOBER 9 - 11, 2024

Pack your bags, anon — we’re heading west! Join us in the beautiful Salt Lake City for the third installment of Permissionless. Come for the alpha, stay for the fresh air. Permissionless III promises unforgettable panels, killer networking opportunities, and mountains […]

recent research

Screen Shot 2024-05-16 at 14.53.45.png

Research

Loss-versus-rebalancing (LVR) is arguably Ethereum DeFi’s biggest problem, and thus reducing LVR is fundamental to the success of Ethereum. This report dives into the world of LVR. We uncover its importance for AMM designers, discuss the two major mechanism design categories and various projects developing solutions, and offer a higher level perspective on the importance of AMMs in general.

article-image

Yesterday saw Congress’ upper chamber side with the House on a measure aimed at overturning SAB 121

article-image

Oklahoma’s new crypto bill will go into effect in November of this year

article-image

The deposits hit a $20 million cap in just 45 minutes

article-image

Twelve Democratic Senators voted in favor to pass the resolution Thursday

article-image

Pump.fun is “aware” that bonding curve contracts on Pump.fun were exploited, and has since paused trading

article-image

Some investment pros are mulling crypto allocations between 1% and 10% and seeking ex-BTC exposure for interested clients