Uphold, the digital money platform offering retail investors with single-wallet access to virtual and physical assets reveals that it has appointed technologists Stephen McNamara, as Chief Executive, and Kevin Sullivan, as CTO, at Uphold Labs.
The new recruits will be responsible for leading Uphold Labs, a crypto “skunkworks” to source new product ideas and “bring them to life.” Uphold is establishing the innovation lab to assist the firm with accelerating the growth of its users and transactions.
JP Thieriot, CEO at Uphold, stated:
“Via Uphold Labs, we’ll explore advancements in areas including staking, lightning support, Stacks (apps and smart contracts for bitcoin) and NFTs. The goal is to push the boundaries on what’s possible to enhance Uphold’s user experience. We’re thrilled to welcome Stephen and Kevin to the team. As high-caliber technologists, their blue-sky thinking will help us accelerate innovation and growth. We look forward to seeing Stephen and Kevin’s incredible work.”
Establishing Uphold’s presence in the Republic of Ireland, Stephen McNamara reportedly brings more than 30 years of professional experience in designing, implementing, and deploying “scalable” software — mainly in the blockchain or DLT payments and crypto space. His previous leadership roles include serving as the Co-founder and CTO for Bitnet Technologies, CTO for Rakuten Blockchain Lab, CTO for Visa’s Cybersource, and COO for OMG Network.
McNamara remarked:
“I’m delighted to join Uphold at this time of extraordinary growth for the company. With the impressive rise of both users and transaction volume, it’s a huge opportunity to help develop and extend the services we offer our customers.”
Working closely with McNamara, Kevin Sullivan has considerable experience serving as a senior engineer for leading firms, such as OMG Network, Rakuten, eNeo Labs, IONA technologies, among others.
Sullivan noted:
“The future of Uphold is inspiring, and I’m looking forward to helping shape the evolution of the company.”
Uphold has been at the “forefront” of innovation, with an extensive list of accomplishments.
The firm has introduced the Crypto-as-a-Service (CaaS) API platform for companies; Bitcoin as a ‘wrapped’ token on Ethereum; ‘anything-to-anything’ 24/7 trading “between stocks, cryptos, metals, FX and fractional equities; multi-asset, crypto-enabled debit card in the US; and a retail-accessible, tradable carbon credit token on the Ethereum network.”
These products aim to support wealth generation to “more investors, expand financial inclusion in underserved markets, and accelerate the worldwide transition to digital currency,” the announcement explained.
Uphold is now planning to work with international banks, digital wallets, and payment gateways to increase its “deposit activity by 16 times in the coming year, as well as expanding customer assets.”
As previously reported, Uphold is a digital money platform serving 7 million+ clients in over 150 countries. Uphold holds approximately $3.7 billion in client assets. The Silicon Valley company opens around 14,000 accounts daily “typically as consumers seek a more versatile and cost-effective home for their financial lives.”
Leveraging blockchain or DLT, the platform offers consumers and businesses with “easy access to 51 digital assets, 28 national currencies, four precious metals and 50 fractional U.S. equities.”
The company clarifies that “not all assets are available in all regions.” Uphold’s unique trading experience – ‘Anything-to-Anything’ – enables clients to “trade directly between asset classes, saving time and money.”
Uphold enables greater financial inclusion by supporting clients “virtually anywhere to open an account in less than 5 minutes and invest with no minimum amounts.” Clients may send funds to “virtually anyone with an email address free of charge.”