Komainu, the digital asset custody firm, announced a new CEO, Nicolas Bertrand, who was previously Head of Derivatives and Commodities Markets at Borsa Italiana. Before that, he spent nearly ten years as Head of Equities and Derivatives at the London Stock Exchange. Bertrand is also the ambassador for Italy of the Global Blockchain Business Council.

The institutional custody startup is a joint venture between Nomura, the Ledger custody technology firm, and Coinshares, the digital asset fund manager.

“While the digital asset ecosystem has been affected by the global macro environment, institutional adoption continues to accelerate, presenting significant opportunities for Komainu,” said Jezri Mohideen, CEO of Laser Digital, the newly formed digital asset company from Komainu. Name.

He commented on Bertrand’s appointment: “As CEO, he will capitalize on emerging opportunities and guide the entity through its next phase of growth. Nicolas has a strong professional background in financial market infrastructure as well as digital assets, and his experience will be key in bringing additional value to Komainu and its global client base.”

Komainu launched in Jersey, UK in June 2020 and received $25 million Series A funding in mid-2021, led by Alan Howard of Elwood Asset Management and includes Galaxy Digital, NOIA Capital and Nomura Research Institute. (NRI). This July, it received preliminary regulatory approval in Dubai.

The startup pioneered the institutional digital asset custody space and was followed by Zodia, the Standard Chartered initiative. Last year, big players BNY Mellon and State Street said they would also offer custody services. More recently, several securities services companies have announced offers, such as BNP Paribas Securities Servies and SocGen Securities Services.

Meanwhile, yesterday Nomura announced that it will be joining Fnality, the interbank settlement solution for DLT transactions.