Fireblocks poaches Bank of England fintech lead
The head of the Bank of England’s fintech hub has walked out after just over a year in the role to join crypto platform Fireblocks.
Varun Paul, who began working for the UK’s central bank in 2008, will take up an unspecified role at Fireblocks, a digital asset custodian valued at $8bn.
“Today was an emotional day! 16 years after starting my first internship and more than 13 years after starting as a graduate, today I’ve parted ways with the Bank of England,” wrote Paul in a Linkedin post.
“I have loved my time here – because of the great people and the varied and incredibly rewarding work. And because I’ve been given the space to drive forward the agenda on the things I’m passionate about,” he continued. “Now onto my next chapter at Fireblocks!”
Paul joins a growing list of senior figures who have turned their backs on the world of traditional finance in favour of crypto.
In January the head of the London Metal Exchange, Matthew Chamberlain quit to join crypto start up Komainu. Revolut’s chief revenue officer exited just last month to start a new digital asset venture while the co-head of digital assets at Citi Group, also walked out to launch his own crypto company.
Since launching in 2018, Fireblocks has amassed $45bn of customer assets under custody, capturing the attention of venture capital heavyweights. In January the company raised $550m in a round which drew participation from CapitalG, a venture capital firm owned by Google’s parent company Alphabet.
Read more: Own boss: Citi suffers blow as crypto lead walks out