The Latest in Cryptocurrency Hiring: Blockchain.com and Crypto.com Add Talent

Marissa Brooks has been hired by Blockchain.com to develop an innovative approach for the crypto company’s sports and entertainment partnerships.

Brooks founded 4WRD, a company devoted to brand alliances and events for the top luxury companies and customers. She started her career with the Miami Heat of the NBA, where she spent a decade managing corporate partnerships.

She will try to develop partnerships with teams, leagues, players, and celebrities in order to aid in the expansion of the cryptocurrency platform. Blockchain.com just completed a fundraising round of $14 billion.

Duncan DeVille has been appointed executive vice president of compliance in the Americas and global head of financial crimes compliance at Crypto.com,  DeVille joins the crypto company from Western Union, where he previously served as the company’s head of financial crimes compliance. Prior to that, he directed the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network’s Office of Compliance and Enforcement at the US Department of the Treasury.

The new Crypto.com Executive will oversee for the company’s anti-money laundering, sanctions, counter-terrorism funding, consumer protection, and anti-corruption actions on a global scale.

Varun Paul, who most recently directed the Bank of England’s fintech hub, announced his upcoming move to crypto custodian Fireblocks in a LinkedIn post,  Paul worked for the bank for over 14 years. Prior to his most recent position there, he directed a project on the Bank of England’s role in the financial system’s future.

Didier Lavallée has been qualified CEO of Canada’s first certified custodian for digital assets,  The new chief executive, who was most recently the head of product and custody at the Royal Bank of Canada, joins Tetra Trust Company as it seeks its crypto custody solutions.

Eric Richmond, the founding CEO of Tetra, “has other business commitments that demand his attention at the moment,” Tetra Board Chair Jenna Kaye stated in a statement.

Matthew Smith has been named chief financial officer of Stronghold Digital Mining, starting April 18. He will succeed Ricardo Larroudé, who is resigning from the firm to pursue other interests,  Smith was most recently the managing partner of Deep Basin Capital, a January 2017-founded energy-focused hedge fund.

He presently serves on the board of directors of Stronghold and chairperson the company’s audit and compensation committees. Smith will resign from the committees but will continue to serve on the board,  Eva Oberholzer, a former Cardano executive, has joined The DFINITY Foundation, a contributor to the Internet Computer blockchain and Web3 platform.

Oberholzer was formerly the Cardano Foundation’s chief growth officer and a member of the management board. She made her debut in the blockchain business as a chief marketing officer of SEBA Bank in Switzerland, where she was a member of the team that gained the first banking license for crypto banking services.

The Centre, a consortium created by Circle and Coinbase to act as the network’s regulatory and standard-setting authority for blockchain financial services, has added additional expertise,  Linda Jeng has been appointed as the Center’s chief policy and regulatory officer, while Danielle Harold has been hired as the Center’s chief operations officer.

Jeng has worked for the Federal Reserve, the Financial Stability Board, the United States Treasury, the United States Senate, the Securities and Exchange Commission, and the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC),  Harold joins from Diem Association, a stablecoin payment system, where she served as head of business and payments operations.

Elwood Technologies, which provides digital assets trading infrastructure for customers, named Brian Pomraning as worldwide head of business development.

Pomraning formerly served as chief revenue officer at technology services provider Pico and as worldwide head of product management, technology, and quantitative research at Investment Technology Group. He has held high post at JPMorgan, Lehman Brothers, and Barclays Capital.

Mark Spelker joins Digital Prime Technologies as chief financial officer. The company provides prime brokerage technology solutions for institutions looking to enter the crypto space.

Spelker previously held the same position at technology business Innodata Inc., where he now works. He also spent two decades as an audit partner and national director of SEC Services at the accounting firm CohnReznick LLP,  The hiring comes on the addition of Robert Sherry’s appointment as a chief operating officer and Glen Garofalo’s appointment as head of margin and risk solutions.

Copper, the digital asset custodian, announced Monday the hiring of five former Bank of America Merrill Lynch workers to drive the company’s growth of its prime infrastructure offering.

Also Read: The Russian Finance Ministry is currently working on a final crypto regulatory law