This week, JP Morgan bank saw the departure of three of its executives in favor of various blockchain projects. Among these projects, we find the investment fund Pantera Capital, the Algorand foundation as well as the parent company of Grayscale.
From JP Morgan to blockchain
It’s not uncommon to see talent from the traditional world migrate to blockchain, but this week we learn that three JP Morgan executives have resigned to join our ecosystem.
Let’s start with Puja Samuel. After 3 years designing new products and solutions for the famous bank, she is joining Digital Currency Group. This is actually the parent company of asset manager Grayscale and crypto media CoinDesk. There, Puja Samuel will be in charge of the division in charge of developing new partnerships with companies.
For his part, Samir Shah, former head of asset management sales, becomes the chief operating officer of Pantera Capital. This investment fund, founded by Dan Morehead, has a wide range of investments in our ecosystem. Examples include Polkadot (DOT), StarkWare, FTX and Cosmos (ATOM). Samir Shah will have spent over 12 years at JP Morgan.
The Algorand Foundation is hiring again at JP Morgan
Back in February, the Aglorand Foundation, which is developing the blockchain of the same name, appointed Staci Warden, an ex-JP Morgan executive, as CEO. After 20 years at the American bank, it is now Eric Wragge’s turn, to join the project as global head of business development and capital markets.
Staci Warden, his former colleague and new boss, praised his professional qualities:
“Eric Wragge has the vision, deep experience and technical skills to deliver meaningful opportunities for Algorand in capital markets of all kinds. He will transform our ability to provide innovative and disruptive solutions to many of the problems plaguing traditional finance today, and I couldn’t be more excited to have him on board.”
For its part, JP Morgan also has a blockchain division through Onyx. On the other hand, it is a private network, aimed more at financial institutions, particularly through its dollar-backed stablecoin, the JPM Coin. On the other hand, none of the three people mentioned in this article worked at Onyx.
