Crypto wallet and Blockchain security firm BitGo has added a former Morgan Stanley FX sales executive to its leadership team. Andres Cifuentes, who also led FX sales at Bats Global Markets, has been appointed as Executive Director and Institutional Sales manager.
His hire represents one of the startup’s most senior appointments to date, following his career that spans over 15 years working in international finance with institutional investors.
After their long career across the foreign exchange markets, several FX veterans were enticed to join crypto firms by the appeal of working in a fast-growing nascent industry where a background in traditional finance can be a big advantage. Earlier this year, the US arm of Japanese cryptocurrency platform Liquid.com appointed CEO of US-based introducing broker Forest Park FX Justin Hertzberg as its first chief executive officer.
More on Cifuentes’s background
Andres has left his position as a director and head of FX sales at Cboe Global Markets in November 2019. He had been with the exchange operator (formerly Bats) for nearly four years, his Linkedin shows.
Prior to that, Cifuentes spent more than six years at Morgan Stanley, where he originally worked as vice president of its FX Prime Brokerage business unit from 2009 to 2013. The US bank promoted Cifuentes after three years to take on an executive role at its FX sales, a position he held until he left in 2016.
Other stops include working at JPMorgan Chase in its Prime Brokerage unit, and also as an analyst with Goldman Sachs, part of his career that dates back to 2005.
Founded in 2013, BitGo operated originally as a bitcoin wallet provider but then branched out into other Cryptocurrencies and now supports multiple altcoins. Last year, BitGo raised $15 million in new funding, led by Goldman Sachs and Galaxy Digital Ventures LLC, the venture capital firm founded by the billionaire Mike Novogratz.
BitGo’s custody offering allows its users to cover up to $100 million worth of their digital assets held in their accounts with the blockchain security firm. BitGo obtained its insurance coverage from the prestigious Lloyd’s of London, one of the oldest insurance agencies in the world, with centuries of experience in this industry.