Komainu Appoints Co-CEOs
Posted by Colin Lambert. Last updated: May 6, 2024
Digital assets custody provider Komainu has appointed co-CEOs, following the sudden departure of previous CEO Nicolas Bertrand, who stepped down unexpectedly in mid-February.
Paul Frost Smith is joining the firm as co-CEO, and will work alongside Robert Johnson who stepped up from CTO at Komainu to act as interim CEO. He has now been appointed as co-CEO on a permanent basis.
Komainu says it made the strategic decision to create a co-CEO role due to the highly complementary nature of each candidate’s skill set, adding with dedicated areas of ownership, the structure will provide the breadth and focus required to capture the opportunity presented by the rapid growth in the digital assets market.
Frost Smith has been providing expert witness services for the past 18 months, in addition to his most recent role as co-founder and CEO of Corinthian, a digital asset investment management and advisory firm. Before that, he spent almost six years as CEO of Argentium Digital Asset Management, having joined from an 18-month spell at Haitong Securities, where he was CEO and head of international markets. He has also worked for 18 month spells at Credit Suisse, as head of “longevity markets’, and Swiss Re, in global asset management strategy. Before that Frost Smith founded multi-strategy hedge fund Castlegrove, which was acquired by Millennium Management in 2008.
Johnson joined Komainu as CTO in October 2023 and has been interim CEO since February. He previously served as CTO and partner at Coremont, and also 18 years on the trading floor at MUFG Securities. In his role the firm says he will continue to spearhead the development of Komainu’s digital asset infrastructure and drive innovation across the full tech offering.
“The digital assets market is poised for continuing and sustained growth as institutional investors continue to scope-out and dip their toes in the market,” says Frost Smith. “We have to remember this is still only at a very early stage. Providing regulated and transparent solutions that allow institutions to navigate this new ecosystem is a critical step in supporting wider adoption. From an asset manager’s perspective, Komainu is truly leading the way in digital assets custody, with the best solutions out there, and I’m excited to be joining now to spearhead the next phase of growth.”
Johnson adds, “Paul brings a unique combination of digital assets expertise as well as experience of scaling high-growth businesses. His knowledge and skillset is a perfect complement to my technical background.”