Digital Asset Holdings, the blockchain-focused startup run by Blythe Masters, has announced it will open an office in London and hire two new executives.
Digital Asset Holdings, a blockchain company headed by the prominent Wall Street banker Blythe Masters, is in plans to expand into the European market by opening a new office in London.
Started in 2014, the New York-based company is committed to build a blockchain-based platform that will improve financial transactions settlement. The use of the distributed ledger technology will help financial organizations to significantly accelerate the trade of digital assets.
Before joining Digital Asset Holdings as a CEO in March 2015, Masters spent 27 years working for JPMorgan. Last month, she declined a proposal to join Barclays as a chairman of the bank’s investment unit to continue working at Digital Asset Holdings.
“London is a global center for finance and a leading hub for innovation. Opening an office in the UK is a natural extension of our commitment to wholesales financial markets around the world,” Masters said in an official statement.
In the meantime, Digital Asset Holdings announced that two new executives joined the startup. The company hired Justin Amos, who will head the office in the UK. Previously, Amos served as a chairman of client connectivity services at JPMorgan, where he worked for 14 years. Later, he was appointed as a managing director at NICE Actimize, the largest platform for financial crime prevention.
Edward Newman has joined Digital Asset Holdings as the deputy chief security officer and a senior software developer. He had worked at Merrill Lynch, one of the major investment banks in the US, within 10 years. Besides, he was a deputy chief at Goldman Sachs’ technology infrastructure organization.
“I am delighted to welcome Justin and Ed to our rapidly growing team, especially as technology risk management continues to be a top propriety for the financial services industry,” Masters stated.
In late December, it was unveiled that Digital Asset Holdings was having problems with closing its Series A investment round. Such banks, as Citigroup, Goldman Sachs and Bank of America refused to enter into agreement after they found out that JPMorgan was offered better terms. The company plans to raise $35 million during the round. If completed, the investment will bring the startup’s value to $100 million.
Digital Asset Holdings’s expansion demonstrates that Wall Street is starting to recognize the huge potential of digital currency and the technology behind it. More and more financial heavyweights, like Blythe Masters, are investing their money into blockchain startups.
The bitcoin technology is getting more popular among financial industry players, as it can significantly reduce processing time and thus lower operational costs.
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