Ira Auerbach, former head of digital assets at Nasdaq, has joined Arbitrum developer Offchain Labs to lead Tandem, the venture capital and partnership division of the Ethereum scaling project.

Auerbach has extensive experience in traditional finance and cryptocurrencies, having previously served as Senior Vice President and Head of Digital Assets at Nasdaq.

Prior to that, he held leadership positions at Gemini, including Global President of Gemini Prime. Auerbach's previous career also includes roles at Palantir Technologies, BGC Partners, and BNP Paribas.

The appointment reveals how traditional finance talent is shifting to build on cryptocurrency paths while leveraging their past experiences from Wall Street.

Auerbach will oversee Tandem's operations as a partner studio and venture capital arm, providing select projects with technical expertise, research and financing support, and assistance with go-to-market strategy.

Projects within Tandem will work directly with the executive team and core developers at Offchain Labs, also known for developing Prysm, a consensus client for Ethereum.

“We will have extensive conversations with projects that we feel passionate about,” Auerbach said. DecryptionAdding that Tandem will provide its resources “on a case-by-case basis depending on the specific needs of the project.”

Having been involved in the industry since 2017, Auerbach said he feels lucky to have seen the ecosystem “from many different sides.”

The Princeton-based company has spent more than six years researching and developing the blockchain space, with a focus on scaling solutions through products like Arbitrum Orbit, Stylus, and Arbitrum Nitro.

These efforts across the Arbitrum ecosystem are driven by different needs, Auerbach noted. Their work through Tandem aims to identify where they “can add the most value and build the relationship from there,” he said, adding that they can support projects with “guidance on research, engineering, product roadmapping, strategic partnerships or capital.” input."

Nearly three years since its launch, Arbitrum and its surrounding protocols have maintained the lead among Ethereum Layer 2 solutions, capturing more than a quarter of the sector with a total value of $2.8 billion. Ranking data From CoinGecko offers.

Wall Street talent continues

Nearly 56% of Fortune 500 executives say their companies are involved in blockchain projects, according to Industry 2024 a report Published by Coinbase.

In comparison, 48% of executives surveyed believe cryptocurrencies have the “potential to increase access” to the financial system to create wealth.

But the transformation also occurs in the opposite direction.

Cryptocurrency projects are looking for traditional finance talent to expand their initiatives for institutional offerings, stablecoins, and ecosystem compliance.

Recent examples include Galaxy Digital appointing Tony Puckett as its new CFO. Paquette previously worked at Point72, a hedge fund, and the corporate investments group and treasury division of Bank of America.

Digital asset management company BitGo also hired Ben Reynolds in November last year. Reynolds was the former president of Silvergate Bank.

The former Reynolds Bank was involved in US banking crisis In 2023, Affect Major crypto companies that provide institutional services.

Modified by Sebastian Sinclair. Updated to add comments from Ira Auerbach.