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The CEO of Standard Chartered’s Zodia Custody, Maxime de Guillebon, has stepped down as a director of the digital asset custody firm. Julian Sawyer has been appointed as director, potentially the new CEO, but the news based on corporate directorship filings has yet to be confirmed in time for publication.
For a year and a half, Sawyer was CEO of cryptocurrency exchange BitStamp until May 9, 2022. That followed a brief stint at Gemini Europe and a four-year term at UK challenger bank Starling where he was Chief Operating Officer.
UK-based Zodia Custody has Northern Trust as a minority partner that owns 5%. To date, the two owners have funded the startup to the tune of $60 million. It received approval from the UK regulator, the FCA, in mid-2021.
In a December announcement, Zodia Custody launched Interchange, which offers an alternative to pre-funding and margin models on exchanges. Zodia Custody enables clients to keep assets using Interchange, which can be mirrored on a cryptocurrency exchange but are protected in the case of an exchange bankruptcy.
There are two Zodia brands, one for custody and the other is a crypto brokerage Zodia Markets, through a partnership with Hong Kong exchange OSL.
In July, Standard Chartered announced a partnership with Japan’s SBI to build a digital asset ecosystem involving SC Ventures. At the time, SBI mentioned a digital asset custody joint venture between a ‘global UK enterprise’ and two SBI subsidiaries, SBI Digital Assets Holdings and crypto exchange SBI VC Trade.
