Fireblocks appoints ex-BoE Varun Paul as Director of CBDC and Market Infrastructure
“Financial innovation in CBDC, DeFi and tokenization is rapidly accelerating, and my new role at Fireblocks allows me the privilege and opportunity to work alongside some of the most forward-thinking organizations in the world as they prepare for one of the sector’s greatest transformations.”
Fireblocks has appointed Varun Paul as its new Director of Central Banking Digital Currency (CBDC) and Market Infrastructure in a role where he will serve on the digital asset and crypto technology provider’s Corporate Strategy team and report to Vice President and Head of Corporate Strategy, Adam Levine.
Varun Paul is a graduate of Cambridge University who earned a Master’s degree in Economics and then came to serve in multiple roles at the Bank of England for 14 years, ultimately spearheading its fintech hub and future of finance initiatives as Head of Fintech at the central bank.
Fireblocks eyes CBDC, DeFi, and tokenization
Adam Levine, Vice President and Head of Corporate Strategy at Fireblocks, commented: “Varun brings a wealth of insight and experience from his tenure at the Bank of England that will be invaluable to our team as we engage and partner with leading central banks around the world.
“From CBDC developments to the tokenization of traditional financial assets, bridging digital assets and blockchain technologies to traditional institutions at scale will require strong working relationships with the central bank community. We are excited about Varun’s ability to help support the digital asset strategy of central banks and market infrastructures.”
Varun Paul, Fireblocks’ new Director of CBDC and Market Infrastructure, said: “Fireblocks is the clear leader when it comes to providing secure, scalable technologies for digital asset and crypto-forward businesses. Financial innovation in CBDC, DeFi and tokenization is rapidly accelerating, and my new role at Fireblocks allows me the privilege and opportunity to work alongside some of the most forward-thinking organizations in the world as they prepare for one of the sector’s greatest transformations.”
Varun Paul will lead the company’s engagement with central banks and market infrastructures as they begin adopting digital asset and tokenization technologies.
As Director of CBDC and Market Infrastructure, he will play a key role in educating key decision-makers on secure and scalable solutions to support digital assets and exploring the potential benefits of participating in permissioned DeFi and the secondary economy it powers.
Fireblocks has recently announced plans to adopt central bank digital currencies following US President Joe Biden’s executive order that would direct federal agencies to look into the possible infrastructure needed to create a US CBDC due to the $3 trillion dollar in digital asset market cap as of November 2021.
Around 100 countries are exploring CBDC projects or initiatives, including the UK, US, India, Singapore, and Switzerland, according to the International Monetary Fund.
Fireblocks was founded in 2019 and since then has onboarded more than 1,300 institutional customers who use its platform to secure more than $210 billion in monthly digital asset transfers.
The firm is an enterprise-grade platform delivering a secure infrastructure for moving, storing, and issuing digital assets, enabling exchanges, lending desks, custodians, banks, trading desks, and hedge funds to securely scale digital asset operations.
