BitGo Hires Former Silvergate President to Head Stablecoin Business

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Hassan Shittu

Journalist

Hassan Shittu

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Hassan, a Cryptonews.com journalist with 6+ years of experience in Web3 journalism, brings deep knowledge across Crypto, Web3 Gaming, NFTs, and Play-to-Earn sectors. His work has appeared in…

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Last updated:

November 1, 2024 18:25 EDT

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Global crypto custodian BitGo appointed Ben Reynolds, formerly president of Silvergate Bank, as managing director on November 1 to lead the development and expansion of its USD Standard stablecoin.

Reynolds, who has over 25 years of experience in fintech and banking, will focus on growing BitGo’s stablecoin presence worldwide.

Ben Reynolds to Lead BitGo’s USD Standard Stablecoin Expansion

Raynolds is expected to accelerate the global adoption of BitGo’s stablecoin following his tenure at Silvergate, a bank impacted by significant financial challenges after the FTX collapse in 2022.

While at Silvergate, Reynolds played a key role in scaling the bank to a public company. He helped launch the Silvergate Exchange Network (SEN), a real-time payment platform that improved transaction efficiency in web3. The SEN handled over $2 trillion in payments.

However, Silvergate Bank faced major challenges. It liquidated and closed its doors last year. In July, the SEC sued the bank for allegedly making false statements about its anti-money laundering procedures.

A BitGo spokesperson noted that Reynolds, president for just five months, built the SEN but was not involved in settlement processes. Silvergate suspended the SEN earlier last year.

Reynolds, a licensed CPA, brings additional experience from HSBC and KPMG and holds a B.S. in Accounting from San Diego State University and an MBA from Pepperdine University.

BitGo Strengthens Its Game: Can Reynolds Propel USD Standard to the Forefront of Stablecoins?

BitGo’s USD Standard was launched in September and is pegged 1:1 to the U.S. dollar, backed by highly liquid assets such as short-duration Treasury bills, overnight repos, and cash.

BitGo has integrated real-time proof-of-reserves to ensure transparency, targeting institutional players with incentives for providing liquidity within the ecosystem.

BitGo’s stablecoin push follows its success with Wrapped Bitcoin (wBTC), which commands a 96.6% market share.

On August 9, BitGo announced it would diversify its Wrapped Bitcoin (wBTC) custodial jurisdictions to locations like Singapore and Hong Kong, collaborating with BiT Global and Tron CEO Justin Sun.

However, concerns arose over Sun’s involvement, prompting risk management firm BA Labs to recommend pausing offboarding wBTC collateral. Their new proposal, citing BitGo’s commitments, will be voted on October 3.