JPMorgan Chase & Co. announced on Wednesday the appointment of former Celsius Network executive Aaron Iovine as its new head of digital asset regulatory policy, a newly created job position a JPMorgan spokeswoman confirmed.

Mr. Iovine, the former head of policy and regulation at bankrupt crypto lending platform Celsius Network Ltd., will help JPMorgan handle regulatory matters for digital asset trading matters.

Iovine will work with JPMorgan’s regulatory affairs group headed by Sharon Yang, who previously served as deputy assistant secretary for international financial markets at the Treasury Department.

Celsius hired Iovine in February of this year from Cross River Bank, a digital asset-friendly regional lender. Following Iovine’s departure, Celsius recently hired Benjamin Melnicki of Robinhood Markets Inc. as its head of crypto compliance and regulation.

Iovine, who is an experienced attorney, spent nearly three years at Cross River, where he managed policy and regulatory affairs, according to his LinkedIn profile. He left Celsius in September, two months after the crypto lending platform filed for bankruptcy in New York.

The announcement comes less than a month after JPMorgan Chase Chairman and CEO Jamie Dimon told lawmakers that cryptocurrencies are “decentralized Ponzi schemes.”

In his testimony before Congress on September 22, Dimon referred to himself as “a big skeptic” about cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin. Despite his hatred of cryptocurrencies, the CEO embraces DeFi and blockchain as real, new technologies that can be applied in both the public and private sectors.

The hire reflects the firm’s commitment to compliance, as well as its recognition that businesses require experienced teams to deal with cryptocurrency regulatory issues. Regulators are increasing their scrutiny of the digital asset sector following the growing popularity of cryptocurrency trading activities. This has led some companies in the industry to pay more attention to their compliance procedures.

Image source: Shutterstock