Fireblocks Hires BoE Man for CBDC Role

Crypto technology provider Fireblocks has named Varun Paul, formerly head of fintech at the Bank of England to the role of central bank digital currency and market infrastructure director.

In what is a new role, Paul will serve on Fireblocks’ corporate strategy team and report to the firm’s vice president and head of corporate strategy, Adam Levine. He will lead the company’s engagement with central banks and market infrastructures as they begin adopting digital asset and tokenisation technologies. In this capacity, Fireblocks says Paul will play a key role in educating key decision-makers on secure and scalable solutions to support digital assets and exploring the potential benefits of participating in permissioned DeFi and the secondary economy it powers.

“Varun brings a wealth of insight and experience from his tenure at the Bank of England that will be invaluable to our team as we engage and partner with leading central banks around the world,” says Levine. “From CBDC developments to the tokenization of traditional financial assets, bridging digital assets and blockchain technologies to traditional institutions at scale will require strong working relationships with the central bank community. We are excited about Varun’s ability to help support the digital asset strategy of central banks and market infrastructures.”

Paul adds, “Financial innovation in CBDC, DeFi and tokenisation is rapidly accelerating, and my new role at Fireblocks allows me the privilege and opportunity to work alongside some of the most forward-thinking organisations in the world as they prepare for one of the sector’s greatest transformations.”