Meet the team
Global management team with over 200 years of combined experience at some of the most reputable financial institutions, technology companies, and startups.
Peter Smith
Chief Executive Officer and Co-Founder
Peter is CEO and co-founder of Blockchain.com, one
of the world's largest and most popular crypto
platforms, serving tens of millions of consumers and
thousands of institutions since 2011. Evolving from
early Bitcoiner to developer to CEO of a
multinational company, Peter has worked tirelessly
to accelerate crypto adoption and build a financial
system for the internet.
After
co-founding and advising the company in its early
days, Peter stepped into the role of CEO in 2014 and
immediately raised $40M - the largest venture
capital round for any crypto company at the time.
His vision of crypto wallets serving as gateways to
crypto - just as web browsers had for the internet -
encouraged tech veterans like GV and entrepreneurs
like Richard Branson to invest in the industry
early.
Under Peter's leadership,
Blockchain.com has evolved into a leading crypto
partner in both the retail and institutional domain.
Its retail operations include a global exchange with
more than $100M in daily trading volume and a robust
brokerage with over 85M crypto wallets across 200
countries. In 2019, Peter led the development of an
Institutional Markets arm that has since partnered
with thousands of clients to trade $15B+, provide
$8B+ of credit and structured debt, and create
bespoke solutions for active trading, lending,
mining, and DeFi.
What began as a small outfit in the center of York,
England, has now grown into a distributed,
office-based and remote hybrid team spanning more
than 23 countries across six continents. World-class
leaders formerly of Citadel, Deutsche Bank, Goldman
Sachs, Coinbase, Uber, and Ripple dot the company's
ranks, and the talent and experience of its board of
directors has no equal within crypto. Throughout
extreme volatility, Peter has been a steady hand and
a champion for transformation.
After a
modest upbringing in rural America, Peter developed
a global perspective living, studying, and working
in the US, Europe, MENA, East Africa, and Asia. A
World Economic Forum Technology Pioneer, he is
frequently cited as an authority on cryptocurrencies
and the potential impact they'll have across the
world.
Peter is passionate about crypto's
ability to provide access to financial freedom. With
a long-term mindset, he believes crypto represents a
multi-decade paradigm shift in how the world uses
money. A developer at heart, he remains focused on
providing truly useful products that people need,
not just trading tools that people want. His vision
is to build not just the largest crypto platform,
but the largest financial services company in the
world.
Nic Cary
Co-Founder, Board Member
Co-Founder and Vice Chairman at Blockchain.com, Nic
is responsible for bringing new adopters into the
crypto ecosystem. A fascination with tech, money and
politics led Nic to become deeply passionate about
helping people reinvent their relationship with
money.
After an international upbringing,
Nic worked as a teacher in India before becoming a
founding team member at SaaS company
PipelineCRM.com, where he focused on product
development and management.
A trilingual
communicator, Nic is the Founding Commissioner of
the Blockchain Commission for Sustainable
Development and co-author of The Future is
Decentralised. Deeply passionate about
entrepreneurship, Nic is also co-founder and
chairman of SkysTheLimit.org, the leading non-profit
digital business accelerator. Regularly cited in the
global press as one of the earliest crypto industry
experts, Nic was named the European Digital Leader
of the year in 2015 and honored with a Professional
Achievement Award in 2017 by his alma mater, the
University of Puget Sound.
A proven
leader, investor, public speaker, and brand
ambassador, Nic focuses on designing performant
cultures that persevere in adverse markets.
Tom Horton
Lead Independent Director
In addition to Blockchain.com, Tom Horton currently
serves as the Lead Independent Director of Walmart,
the world's largest company by revenue and
employees, and in the same role on the board of
General Electric. Horton is also a partner at Global
Infrastructure Partners, a leading independent
global infrastructure investor.
Horton's specialty is running and scaling complex
multinational companies. He began his career at
American Airlines, rising to become the Chief
Financial Officer in 2000. In 2002, he became the
CFO at AT&T, leading a strategic merger that
created AT&T as we currently know it. In 2006,
he returned to American Airlines as the CFO, where
he was promoted to Chairman and CEO to restructure
and grow the company — ultimately presiding over the
merger with US Airways, creating American Airlines
Group and becoming the world's largest airline. In
addition to his current board roles, he previously
served as Lead Independent Director for Qualcomm.
Horton holds an MBA degree from the Cox School of
Business at Southern Methodist University (SMU) and
a BBA degree, magna cum laude, from Baylor
University. He also serves on the Boards of the Cox
School of Business at SMU and the National Air and
Space Museum.
Jim Messina
Director
Jim Messina is perhaps the world's most successful
political and corporate advisor — notably he was
President Obama's campaign manager in 2012 and then
served as the White House Deputy Chief of Staff,
where he was integral to the passage of the historic
health care bill, the economic stimulus act credited
with saving the US economy, and the landmark repeal
of “Don't Ask Don't Tell.” Jim gave truth to “The
Fixer” moniker as he worked closely with the
President and Congressional leaders on both sides of
the aisle to pass the Affordable Care Act.
In 2013, Messina launched The Messina Group.
In this role, Messina provides strategic consulting
to businesses around the world. The firm has been
involved in winning public policy campaigns on five
continents, advising heads of state and government
across the globe and business across industries. TMG
believes the most interesting problem in the coming
years is: “Does regulation stifle or assist
innovation?” Clients include Uber, Pillpack, Airbnb,
Google, Delta Air Lines, Hutchison Whampoa, and over
300 others. In this role, Jim continues to advise
Democratic organizations on domestic political
issues in the US.
For over twenty years, Jim served as Chief of
Staff for various Senate and House offices on
Capitol Hill where he worked to pass key legislation
such as multiple tax cut bills, the Medicare
prescription drug bill, and several trade
agreements. Jim's most formidable years on the Hill
were spent as a Senior Advisor and Chief of Staff to
former Senator and Ambassador to China Max Baucus
when he was chair of the powerful Senate Finance
Committee.
Messina continues to provide insight on news
outlets such as MSNBC, CNN, Bloomberg, Fox News, BBC
and others. Jim serves on the boards of
Blockchain.com, Fortera, Vectra.ai, LanzaTech, the
United States Soccer Foundation, and the Montana
Land Reliance.
Joseph Otting
Director
Joseph has served in the highest levels of the U.S.
government. From 2017 to 2020, he was chief officer
of the primary federal banking regulator,
Comptroller of the Currency (OCC), where he
supervised nearly 1,400 national banks, federal
savings associations, and federal branches and
agencies of foreign banks operating in the U.S.
While at the OCC, his remit was to ensure that
national banks and federal savings associations have
safe and sound operations, provide fair access to
financial services, treat customers fairly, and
comply with applicable laws and regulations.
Prior
to the OCC, Joseph was a seasoned executive in the
banking industry, serving as President of CIT Bank
and President, CEO and Board Member at OneWest Bank,
as well as in senior posts at U.S. Bancorp, Union
Bank of California, and Bank of America.
He
holds a bachelor of arts in management from the
University of Northern Iowa and is a graduate of the
School of Credit and Financial Management at
Dartmouth College.
Manuel Stotz
Director
“Manny” is the Founder of Kingsway Capital, an investment firm focusing on Frontier Emerging Markets. In Kingsway's venture capital strategy, Kingsway is focusing on the disruptive impact of crypto or “digital assets”, which have become an important tool for financial inclusion globally, but of particular importance across the firm's core markets. Manny has a degree in Economics from the London School of Economics (LSE) where he was awarded the “Stelios” Scholarship as well as a recipient of the German National Merit Award. He started his career at Goldman Sachs Investment Partners and was a Partner at London-based THS before starting Kingsway in 2013. Manny serves a on the Board of the Sohn Conference Foundation London and created the LSE “Pass The Torch” Scholarship programme for underprivileged students.
Nicolas Brand
Director
Nicolas Brand is a Partner at Lakestar Capital,
leveraging his 20 years of experience in the finance
industry to drive investments in European tech
companies. Prior to joining Lakestar in 2014,
Nicolas served as a Vice President at J.P. Morgan
London, where he led mergers and acquisitions for
technology and industrial companies, and played a
key role in securing debt and equity capital for
clients, raising over $25 billion throughout his
tenure. This blend of experience in traditional
finance and his current focus on European tech
positions Nicolas as a valuable asset in identifying
and supporting the next generation of European
technological innovation.
Nicolas`s
expertise goes beyond simply understanding the
financial side of tech companies. He is deeply
invested in the future of finance itself. Nicolas
focuses on investments at the intersection of
finance, blockchain, and technology, leading
Lakestar`s fintech coverage. He brings a unique
perspective, combining a deep understanding of
traditional finance - the macroeconomic, regulatory,
and geopolitical aspects - with a keen eye for the
emerging technologies that are shaping the future of
finance. This holistic view allows him to not only
identify promising fintech and blockchain startups
across Europe`s tech hubs, but also to actively
participate in building and nurturing these
businesses. By leveraging his experience and
forward-looking vision, Nicolas is a key player in
driving innovation at the forefront of European
finance.
