Cryptocurrency exchange and derivative trading platform BitMEX has appointed Marc Robinson as head of custody representing an important step in delivering the exchange’s ‘beyond derivatives’ expansion strategy.
Robinson joins BitMEX with more than 20 years of experience, much of which was gained with traditional financial services firms in Japan.
He started his career in IT and moved to ‘front office’ electronic trading with Lehman Brothers, then Nomura and J.P. Morgan.
In 2014, Marc swapped financial services for a role with ThreatSTOP, a Silicon Valley-based cybersecurity startup, building out its Asia Pacific and Middle East operations.
This led to a role on the executive management board of SBI Japannext, a subsidiary of digital finance giant SBI Holdings.
BitMEX explains that his success in this role produced an opportunity to build a Virtual Currencies exchange for Japan and then the creation of SBI Digital Asset Holdings.
As chief operations officer, he was responsible for building the custody, prime brokerage and exchange ecosystem, as well as asset servicing including tokenisation.
In addition, Robinson drove the SBI Digital Asset Holdings Investment business, responsible for strategic investments into firms such as Börse Stuttgart, Sygnum Bank.
Robinson says: “BitMEX is at a really exciting point in its journey and I’m thrilled to be joining such a talented team under the leadership of Alex Höptner. Custody is an integral part of the ‘beyond derivatives’ ecosystem.”
According to Robinson, the digital asset landscape continues to gain momentum both for retail customers, as well as institutional clients, and so it’s important that BitMEX works towards providing them with a regulated, fully licensed, custody offering.
Alex Höptner, CEO of 100x Group, comments: “Marc Robinson is another high calibre recruit, joining us at a time of significant expansion. His background in traditional financial services combined with his experience in digital assets – particularly his knowledge of custody – are the perfect blend to help us deliver one of the big planks of our growth strategy.”
