Zodia Custody, a leading crypto asset service provider, today announced the appointment of Julian Sawyer as its Chief Executive Officer (“CEO”). Julian joins Zodia Custody’s leadership team as the company continues accelerating its growth plan into 2023 and beyond.

As the digital asset space sees continued interest from institutional investors, Zodia Custody is leveraging its foundations set in January 2020 to prioritise growth in the crypto asset world. As a subsidiary of Standard Chartered and in association with Northern Trust, Zodia Custody used these foundations to build a strong and innovative institution.

After developing and announcing its new ‘Proof-of-Ownership’ technology and becoming one of the first crypto asset custodians registered in Ireland, Zodia Custody is looking to scale up in 2023. As Zodia Custody enters its next stage of growth to meet client and market demand, Julian’s experience in scaling up financial services companies will be invaluable. The crypto asset custodian sees continued and sustainable long-term interest from institutional investors from the digital assets sector.

Julian joins Zodia Custody from his previous position as CEO at the cryptocurrency exchange, Bitstamp. Julian helped to scale Bitstamp using his unique expertise in the complexities of global finance. This led to expanding Bitstamp’s presence on a global scale, Julian building and leading the new executive team, and creating a high-performance company culture.

In 2015, Julian co-founded Starling Bank, acting as its Chief Operating Officer for four years as the start-up progressed to one of the UK’s most well-known challenger banks. Julian’s goal with Starling Bank was to revolutionise retail banking with a mobile-first approach.

Julian’s expertise in digital finance and scaling up businesses will be an asset to Zodia Custody as it continues to develop technologies and pursues global expansion. His crypto asset journey began as Gemini’s Managing Director for Europe – where he became familiar with and passionate about regulation and compliance in crypto assets. During his time at Gemini, Julian helped to develop and grow the platform into a place where customers could buy, sell, and store digital assets.

This announcement follows the news of Zodia Custody successfully creating a new ‘Proof-of-Ownership’ technology that will change crypto regulation as it is known.

Julian Sawyer, the new CEO of Zodia Custody, says: “I am excited to begin working with Zodia Custody. I look forward to taking the business to the next level and scaling Zodia Custody to become the default choice for institutions. As CEO, I am delighted to step into such a high calibre team and to work with them to ensure Zodia Custody continues to stay ahead of the competition.”