Original Article Title: 30 Key Crypto Hires, Moves and Exits: July 2025

Original Article Author: Tim Copeland, The Block

Original Article Translation: Felix, PANews

The hiring momentum in July remained steady, with cryptocurrency companies continuing to onboard experienced operations personnel from traditional finance and the broader tech sector. Multiple teams made strategic executive hires in areas such as trading, revenue, legal, and growth, reflecting their efforts to streamline operations and prepare for a more regulated market environment. Hiring activities spanned the areas of DeFi, stablecoins, on-chain infrastructure, and RWA platforms.

A noticeable hiring trend emerged around stablecoins and tokenized asset projects. Bastion saw a surge in recruitment as it built out its infrastructure regulated by the New York Department of Financial Services, hiring two senior executives responsible for finance and revenue functions. With custody and tokenization products gaining popularity in fintech and asset management firms, Veda and the Stellar Development Foundation also brought on new executives to lead their legal, growth, and marketing departments. Chainlink, NEAR, and ReserveOne continued this trend, hiring personnel focused on ecosystem expansion and institutional positioning.

In terms of regulation, personnel changes this month were more pronounced. Erica Williams, Chair of the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (PCAOB) in the U.S., resigned at the request of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), which also appointed a new Acting Comptroller of the Currency. Meanwhile, some prominent cryptocurrency operators transitioned to advisory roles or exited to pursue other opportunities, indicating an ongoing slow but steady personnel "reshuffle" as the industry adapts to evolving compliance requirements, market structures, and capital needs.

New Hires

· Bastion: Vince Tejada joined as Chief Financial Officer and Strategic Finance Lead. He previously worked at Ripple, where he helped lead global payments and stablecoin projects, including involvement in the launch of RLUSD. Early in his career, he held positions at JPMorgan Chase and IBM.

· Bastion: Jared Klee joined as Revenue Lead. He served as Director of Sales at Vouch and launched the company's Web3 business at Vouch. He co-founded Triple Point Liquidity with others and previously held multiple roles at IBM, including leading IBM Blockchain's digital asset business.

· Blockdaemon: Alex Zinder has joined as Chief Product Officer. He previously served as Chief Product Officer at Reya Labs.

· CEA Industries: David Namdar has joined as Chief Executive Officer. He was previously a co-founder at Galaxy Digital.

· Chainlink Labs: Jordan Calinoff has joined as the Head of Stablecoins and RWAs. He previously served as Vice President of Strategy and Revenue at Horizen Labs.

· Coinbase: Acquired Opyn talent, bringing in CEO Andrew Leone and Research Director Joe Clark. The Opyn team is known for pioneering DeFi options, inventing Power Perpetuals, and launching Squeeth. This marks Coinbase's sixth acquisition this year.

· Coinbase: Alex has joined Coinbase as the company's first "CT Leader." Previously, he was Binance's Head of Social Media and Community, claiming to have added 20 million followers across multiple platforms for the company. He will work closely with Coinbase's executive team to lead native crypto marketing efforts.

· dYdX: Eddie Zhang has joined dYdX as President following the acquisition of Pocket Protector, where he previously served as CEO and co-founder. Kaiser Kinbote has also joined dYdX as Chief Growth Officer, having previously led strategy and growth at Pocket Protector.

· Ethereum Foundation: David Wals has joined as Head of Enterprise. He previously served as Ecosystem Lead at Alluvial.

· G-Knot: Wes Kaplan has joined as CEO. He previously served as CEO of Cointelegraph.

· GSR: Frank Chaparro has joined as Head of Content and Special Projects. He was previously a contributing editor at The Block and host of The Scoop.

· M0: Thomas Scott has joined as General Counsel. He previously served as Chief Legal Officer at Tools for Humanity.

· M11 Fund: Thomas Rep has joined and taken on the role of Portfolio Manager. Previously, he served as Head of Trading and Business Development at a cryptocurrency platform in the Netherlands.

· Multicoin Capital: Brian Strugats has joined and assumed the position of Chief Trader. He previously served as Head of Trading at FalconX and held senior positions at Glenhill Capital, XN, Balantrove, and Fortress.

· NEAR Protocol: George Xian Zeng has joined as Chief Growth Officer. He previously served as Chief Operating Officer at dYdX.

· Paxos: Linnea Perelli-Minetti has joined as Head of Global Dollar Network. She previously served as Director of Product and Artist at TIDAL (Block).

· ReserveOne: Sebastian Bea has joined as President and Chief Investment Officer. He previously served as President of Coinbase Asset Management.

· Robot Ventures: Anirudh Pai has joined as an Investment Partner. He was previously a Partner at Dragonfly.

· RWA Summit: Foster Wright has joined as CEO. He previously served as President of CoinDesk.

· SharpLink: Joseph Chalom has been appointed Co-CEO since July 24. Previously, he held senior positions at BlackRock, leading digital finance projects, including the launch of the iShares Ethereum Trust (ETHA).

· Stellar Development Foundation: Jose Fernandez da Ponte has joined the foundation as President and Chief Growth Officer. He previously served as Head of Blockchain, Crypto, and Digital Assets at PayPal. Jason Karsh has also joined as Chief Marketing Officer. He previously served as Head of Business at Block and held positions at Blockchain.com.

· Veda: TuongVy Le has joined as General Counsel. She has accumulated extensive legal and policy experience at the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, Anchorage Digital, and Bain Capital's Crypto division. As Veda expands its treasury infrastructure platform, she will lead Veda's legal, compliance, and policy efforts.

Promotions

· PayPal: Frank Keller's responsibilities have expanded to lead the blockchain, cryptocurrency, and digital currency business.

· SharpLink: Rob Phythian will transition from CEO to President and will continue to serve as a member of the company's board.

· Uniswap Labs: Mary-Catherine Lader has transitioned from President and COO to an advisor, preparing for new business developments.

Exits

· Variant: Derek Walkush has departed after three years with the company to take on an operational role at a portfolio company.

· Office of the Comptroller of the Currency: Jonathan Gould has been appointed as the Comptroller of the Currency. He was previously a partner at Jones Day law firm.

· Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (PCAOB): In response to the resignation request from SEC Chairman Paul Atkins, Erica Williams will step down as Chair on July 22nd.

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