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Hiring Momentum Holds Steady
Crypto builders spent July poaching seasoned operators from Wall Street and Big Tech, plugging gaps in trading, revenue, legal, and growth ahead of a more regulated market cycle.
Open roles clustered around stablecoins, tokenized assets, DeFi, and on-chain infrastructure—with RWA platforms and NYDFS-regulated fintechs leading the charge.
Stablecoins & Tokenized Assets: The Talent Magnet
Bastion bolstered its NYDFS-compliant stack with two heavyweights:
– Vince Tejada (ex-Ripple, JPM, IBM) as Head of Finance & Strategic Finance.
– Jared Klee (ex-Vouch, IBM Blockchain) as Head of Revenue.
Veda and Stellar Development Foundation each added legal, growth, and marketing chiefs to ride the treasury-tokenization wave.
Chainlink, NEAR, ReserveOne doubled down on ecosystem expansion and institutional messaging.
Regulatory Chairs in Motion
Washington’s revolving door spun just as fast:
SEC requested PCAOB Chair Erica Williams’ resignation.
Jonathan Gould (Jones Day) tapped as new Comptroller of the Currency.
Meanwhile, several crypto-native execs stepped back to advisory roles or quietly exited—signalling a slow but deliberate talent reshuffle as firms adapt to shifting compliance, market structure, and capital needs.
The Newest Names on the Door
Company | Name & New Title | Previous Stint |
|---|---|---|
Bastion | Vince Tejada – Head of Finance & Strategic Finance | Ripple, JPM, IBM |
Bastion | Jared Klee – Head of Revenue | Vouch, IBM Blockchain |
Blockdaemon | Alex Zinder – Chief Product Officer | Reya Labs CPO |
CEA Industries | David Namdar – CEO | Galaxy Digital Co-Founder |
Chainlink Labs | Jordan Calinoff – Head of Stablecoins & RWAs | Horizen Labs VP Strategy |
Coinbase | Andrew Leone – (acq. Opyn) | Opyn CEO |
Coinbase | Joe Clark – (acq. Opyn) |
Promotions & Sideways Moves
PayPal: Frank Keller expands remit to lead all blockchain, crypto, and digital-currency initiatives.
SharpLink: Rob Phythian transitions from CEO to President, remains on the board.
Uniswap Labs: Mary-Catherine Lader steps from President & COO to Advisor while prepping new business lines.
Exits & Appointments in Washington
Variant: Derek Walkush departs after three years to become COO at a portfolio company.
Office of the Comptroller of the Currency: Jonathan Gould (Jones Day) named new Comptroller.
PCAOB: Erica Williams steps down 22 July at SEC Chair Paul Atkins’ request.
Bottom Line
July’s talent map shows a sector professionalising at warp speed.
Traditional-finance operators are no longer dipping toes—they’re diving in, bringing compliance playbooks, treasury know-how, and institutional credibility.
For crypto natives, that means stiffer competition, but also a once-in-a-cycle chance to build the on-ramps that the next billion users will trust.
Opyn Head of Research
Coinbase | Alex – “CT Leader” | Binance Social Media Lead |
dYdX | Eddie Zhang – President (post-Pocket Protector acq.) | Pocket Protector CEO |
dYdX | Kaiser Kinbote – Head of Growth | Pocket Protector Strategy |
Ethereum Foundation | David Wals – Head of Enterprise | Alluvial Ecosystem Lead |
G-Knot | Wes Kaplan – CEO | Cointelegraph CEO |
GSR | Frank Chaparro – Head of Content & Special Projects | The Block Editor-at-Large |
M0 | Thomas Scott – General Counsel | Tools for Humanity CLO |
M11 Fund | Thomas Rep – Portfolio Manager | Dutch Crypto Exchange Trading Lead |
Multicoin Capital | Brian Strugats – Chief Trader | FalconX, Fortress |
NEAR Protocol | George Xian Zeng – Chief Growth Officer | dYdX COO |
Paxos | Linnea Perelli-Minetti – Global USD Network Head | TIDAL (Block) Product Lead |
ReserveOne | Sebastian Bea – President & Head of Investment | Coinbase Asset Mgmt President |
Robot Ventures | Anirudh Pai – Investment Partner | Dragonfly Partner |
RWA Summit | Foster Wright – CEO | CoinDesk President |
SharpLink | Joseph Chalom – Co-CEO (ex-BlackRock) | iShares ETHA Lead |
Stellar Foundation | Jose Fernandez da Ponte – President & CGO | PayPal Blockchain Head |
Stellar Foundation | Jason Karsh – Chief Marketing Officer | Block, Blockchain.com |
Veda | TuongVy Le – General Counsel | SEC, Anchorage, Bain Capital Crypto |
Hiring Momentum Holds Steady
Crypto builders spent July poaching seasoned operators from Wall Street and Big Tech, plugging gaps in trading, revenue, legal, and growth ahead of a more regulated market cycle.
Open roles clustered around stablecoins, tokenized assets, DeFi, and on-chain infrastructure—with RWA platforms and NYDFS-regulated fintechs leading the charge.
Stablecoins & Tokenized Assets: The Talent Magnet
Bastion bolstered its NYDFS-compliant stack with two heavyweights:
– Vince Tejada (ex-Ripple, JPM, IBM) as Head of Finance & Strategic Finance.
– Jared Klee (ex-Vouch, IBM Blockchain) as Head of Revenue.
Veda and Stellar Development Foundation each added legal, growth, and marketing chiefs to ride the treasury-tokenization wave.
Chainlink, NEAR, ReserveOne doubled down on ecosystem expansion and institutional messaging.
Regulatory Chairs in Motion
Washington’s revolving door spun just as fast:
SEC requested PCAOB Chair Erica Williams’ resignation.
Jonathan Gould (Jones Day) tapped as new Comptroller of the Currency.
Meanwhile, several crypto-native execs stepped back to advisory roles or quietly exited—signalling a slow but deliberate talent reshuffle as firms adapt to shifting compliance, market structure, and capital needs.
The Newest Names on the Door
Company | Name & New Title | Previous Stint |
|---|---|---|
Bastion | Vince Tejada – Head of Finance & Strategic Finance | Ripple, JPM, IBM |
Bastion | Jared Klee – Head of Revenue | Vouch, IBM Blockchain |
Blockdaemon | Alex Zinder – Chief Product Officer | Reya Labs CPO |
CEA Industries | David Namdar – CEO | Galaxy Digital Co-Founder |
Chainlink Labs | Jordan Calinoff – Head of Stablecoins & RWAs | Horizen Labs VP Strategy |
Coinbase | Andrew Leone – (acq. Opyn) | Opyn CEO |
Coinbase | Joe Clark – (acq. Opyn) | Opyn Head of Research |
Coinbase | Alex – “CT Leader” | Binance Social Media Lead |
dYdX | Eddie Zhang – President (post-Pocket Protector acq.) | Pocket Protector CEO |
dYdX | Kaiser Kinbote – Head of Growth | Pocket Protector Strategy |
Ethereum Foundation | David Wals – Head of Enterprise | Alluvial Ecosystem Lead |
G-Knot | Wes Kaplan – CEO | Cointelegraph CEO |
GSR | Frank Chaparro – Head of Content & Special Projects | The Block Editor-at-Large |
M0 | Thomas Scott – General Counsel | Tools for Humanity CLO |
M11 Fund | Thomas Rep – Portfolio Manager | Dutch Crypto Exchange Trading Lead |
Multicoin Capital | Brian Strugats – Chief Trader | FalconX, Fortress |
NEAR Protocol | George Xian Zeng – Chief Growth Officer | dYdX COO |
Paxos | Linnea Perelli-Minetti – Global USD Network Head | TIDAL (Block) Product Lead |
ReserveOne | Sebastian Bea – President & Head of Investment | Coinbase Asset Mgmt President |
Robot Ventures | Anirudh Pai – Investment Partner | Dragonfly Partner |
RWA Summit | Foster Wright – CEO | CoinDesk President |
SharpLink | Joseph Chalom – Co-CEO (ex-BlackRock) | iShares ETHA Lead |
Stellar Foundation | Jose Fernandez da Ponte – President & CGO | PayPal Blockchain Head |
Stellar Foundation | Jason Karsh – Chief Marketing Officer | Block, Blockchain.com |
Veda | TuongVy Le – General Counsel | SEC, Anchorage, Bain Capital Crypto |
Promotions & Sideways Moves
PayPal: Frank Keller expands remit to lead all blockchain, crypto, and digital-currency initiatives.
SharpLink: Rob Phythian transitions from CEO to President, remains on the board.
Uniswap Labs: Mary-Catherine Lader steps from President & COO to Advisor while prepping new business lines.
Exits & Appointments in Washington
Variant: Derek Walkush departs after three years to become COO at a portfolio company.
Office of the Comptroller of the Currency: Jonathan Gould (Jones Day) named new Comptroller.
PCAOB: Erica Williams steps down 22 July at SEC Chair Paul Atkins’ request.
Bottom Line
July’s talent map shows a sector professionalising at warp speed.
Traditional-finance operators are no longer dipping toes—they’re diving in, bringing compliance playbooks, treasury know-how, and institutional credibility.
For crypto natives, that means stiffer competition, but also a once-in-a-cycle chance to build the on-ramps that the next billion users will trust.
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