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
Elle Aon/Shutterstock modified by Blockworks
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.
Get the news in your inbox. Explore Blockworks newsletters:
- Blockworks Daily: Unpacking crypto and the markets.
- Empire: Crypto news and analysis to start your day.
- Forward Guidance: The intersection of crypto, macro and policy.
- 0xResearch: Alpha directly in your inbox.
- Lightspeed: All things Solana.
- The Drop: Apps, games, memes and more.
- Supply Shock: Bitcoin, bitcoin, bitcoin.
