Ian De Bode joined real-world asset startup Ondo Finance, leaving a role as head of digital assets at blue-chip consulting firm McKinsey & Company. 

De Bode becomes Ondo’s chief strategy officer and the firm’s latest hire from a major traditional finance venue. Ondo founder and CEO Nathan Allman came from Goldman Sachs’ digital assets team. Ondo recently hired Goldman’s former head of digital asset compliance to be its chief risk and compliance officer. Its vice president of partnerships Kate Wheeler was a former vice president at BlackRock.

Read more: On-chain Treasurys, bonds new options for investors searching for safe havens

“I have now come to a point where my passion for digital assets has outgrown what I can do at [McKinsey],” De Bode said of his departure in a LinkedIn post. “I fundamentally believe digital assets will bring about an open and accessible financial system, and Ondo is the team to pull it off.”

Allman praised De Bode’s “outstanding track record” and “forward-thinking approach to onchain finance” in a statement Ondo shared on X. 

Ondo specializes in the tokenization of real-world assets. Its USDY stablecoin, for instance, pays out yield secured by US Treasurys. Ondo has also invested $95 million of the backing behind its OUSG US Treasury tokens in BlackRock’s on-chain money market fund, BUIDL.   

Read more: BlackRock clearly wants to take crypto seriously. Too bad it’s forever silly.

Bitfarms is looking for a CEO

The Canadian bitcoin mining company Bitfarms will be undergoing a CEO transition, the company announced Monday. 

Current Bitfarms president and CEO L. Geoffrey Morphy will depart the firm at the end of a CEO search being carried out by its board of directors. Morphy joined Bitfarms in August 2020 and became CEO in December 2022 following co-founder Emiliano Grodzki’s resignation from the top job.  

In a statement, Bitfarms Chairman Nicolas Bonta said Bitfarms is “evolving to meet the needs of rapidly increasing investor interest in Bitcoin and Bitcoin mining worldwide.”

Under Morphy’s leadership, Bitfarms’ stock price has risen more than 130% in the past year, though it’s fallen more than 20% in the past month amid a broader mining stock pullback. 

Read more: Why most bitcoin mining stocks are down amid a persistent crypto rally

Other notable hiring news

• Sami Kassab became a partner at OSS Capital focusing on decentralized AI network Bittensor. Kassab was previously a research analyst at Messari.
• Stablecoin issuer Tether created an AI division this week and is hiring an AI engineer and a head of AI research and development.
• Marco Manoppo joined Singapore-based Primative Ventures as an investor.

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