30 key crypto hires, moves and exits: July 2025

Hiring momentum remained steady in July, with crypto firms continuing to bring on seasoned operators from both traditional finance and the broader tech sector. Several teams made strategic executive additions in areas like trading, revenue, legal, and growth, reflecting a push to institutionalize operations and position for a more regulated market environment. Activity spanned across DeFi, stablecoins, onchain infrastructure, and RWA platforms.

There was a notable wave of hiring around stablecoin and tokenized asset initiatives. Bastion made two senior hires tied to treasury and revenue functions, as it builds out its NYDFS-regulated infrastructure. Veda and Stellar Development Foundation also brought on new executives to lead legal, growth, and marketing as vaults and tokenized products gain traction with fintechs and asset managers. Chainlink, NEAR, and ReserveOne continued the trend with hires focused on ecosystem expansion and institutional positioning.

On the regulatory side, turnover was more visible this month. The SEC requested the resignation of PCAOB Chair Erica Williams, while a new Comptroller of the Currency was appointed. At the same time, a number of high-profile crypto operators stepped into advisory roles or departed for new ventures, suggesting a slow but ongoing reshuffling as the industry adapts to evolving compliance, market structure, and capital demands.

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Hires

• Bastion: Vince Tejada joined as Head of Treasury and Strategic Finance. He was previously at Ripple, where he helped lead the global payments and stablecoin initiatives, including contributing to the launch of RLUSD. Earlier in his career, he held roles at J.P. Morgan and IBM.

• Bastion: Jared Klee joined as Head of Revenue. He was previously Head of Sales at Vouch, where he also launched the firm’s Web3 practice. He co-founded Triple Point Liquidity and earlier held multiple roles at IBM, including leading Digital Assets at IBM Blockchain.

• Blockdaemon: Alex Zinder joined as Chief Product Officer. He was previously CPO at Reya Labs.

• CEA Industries: David Namdar joined as CEO. He was previously a co-founder at Galaxy Digital.

• Chainlink Labs: Jordan Calinoff joined as Head of Stablecoins and RWAs. He was previously VP of Strategy and Revenue at Horizen Labs.

• Coinbase: Acquired Opyn in an acqui-hire, bringing on CEO Andrew Leone and Head of Research Joe Clark. The Opyn team is known for pioneering DeFi options, inventing Power Perpetuals, and launching Squeeth. This marks Coinbase’s sixth acquisition of the year.

• Coinbase: Alex (@AlexOnchain) joined as the firm's first "CT leader." He was previously Head of Social Media and Community at Binance, where he said he grew the company’s following by 20 million across platforms. He’ll work closely with Coinbase’s executive team to lead crypto-native marketing efforts.

• dYdX: Eddie Zhang joined as President following the acquisition of Pocket Protector, where he was CEO & co-founder. Kaiser Kinbote also joined as Head of Growth. He previously led strategy and growth at Pocket Protector.

• Ethereum Foundation: David Wals joined as Enterprise Lead. He was previously Head of Ecosystem at Alluvial.

• G-Knot: Wes Kaplan joined as CEO. He was previously CEO at Cointelegraph.

• GSR: Frank Chaparro joined as Head of Content and Special Projects. He was previously Editor-at-Large and host of The Scoop at The Block.

• M0: Thomas Scott joined as General Counsel. He was previously CLO at Tools for Humanity.

• M11 Fund: Thomas Rep joined as Portfolio Manager. He was previously Head of Trading and Business Development at a leading Dutch crypto platform.

• Multicoin Capital: Brian Strugats joined as Head Trader. He was previously Head of Trading at FalconX and has held senior roles at Glenhill Capital, XN, Balantrove, and Fortress.

• NEAR Protocol: George Xian Zeng joined as Chief Growth Officer. He was previously COO at dYdX.

• Paxos: Linnea Perelli-Minetti joined as Lead of the Global Dollar Network. She was previously Head of Product, Artists at TIDAL (Block).

• ReserveOne: Sebastian Bea joined as President and Head of Investments. He was previously President at Coinbase Asset Management.

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

• RWA Summit: Foster Wright joined as CEO. He was previously President at CoinDesk.

• SharpLink: Joseph Chalom joined as Co-CEO, effective July 24. He was previously a senior executive at BlackRock, where he led digital finance initiatives including the launch of the iShares Ethereum Trust (ETHA).

• Stellar Development Foundation: José Fernández da Ponte joined as President and Chief Growth Officer. He was previously Head of Blockchain, Crypto, and Digital Currencies at PayPal. Jason Karsh also joined as Chief Marketing Officer. He was previously a Business Lead at Block and held a role at Blockchain.com.

• Veda: TuongVy Le joined as General Counsel. She brings legal and policy experience across the SEC, Anchorage Digital, and Bain Capital Crypto. She’ll lead Veda’s legal, compliance, and policy efforts as the firm scales its vault infrastructure platform.

Promotions & Advisory

• PayPal: Frank Keller has expanded his role also to lead the Blockchain, Crypto, and Digital Currencies business.

• SharpLink: Rob Phythian will transition from CEO to President and remain on the company’s board.

• Uniswap Labs: Mary-Catherine Lader has transitioned from her role as President & COO to an advisory position while preparing for a new venture.

Exits

• Variant: Derek Walkush has left the firm after three years to take an operating role at a portfolio company.

• Office of the Comptroller of the Currency: Jonathan Gould was appointed Comptroller of the Currency. He was previously a Partner at Jones Day.

• PCAOB: Erica Williams will step down as Chair on July 22 following a resignation request from SEC Chair Paul Atkins.

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