Zodia Custody, an institution-first digital asset custodian whose shareholders include Standard Chartered, SBI Holdings and Northern Trust, is appointing Drew Bradford as non-executive Chairman of its Australian operation, Zodia Custody Australia.
Bradford will join the business “from National Australia Bank (NAB), where he was the Executive General Manager, Markets. Prior to this, he held executive positions at Deutsche Bank in London, Tokyo, Sydney and Auckland, and has managed teams across Europe, Asia and the Americas.”
He will continue his role “as Director of Special Projects for digital asset investment manager JellyC.”
As part of his role, Bradford will be responsible “for overseeing the bank-owned custodian’s launch and growth in the Australian market.”
His role will also cover “enforcing Zodia Custody’s global expansion within the region and to roll out the company’s recently announced SAF3 platform, the simplest, safest, and most secure real-time digital asset custody platform in Australia, designed for institutions.”
Bradford said:
“Zodia Custody stands out in a crypto native digital asset world, as a fintech built by institutions, for institutions, combining the technology and agility of a start-up with the dependability and assurance of global Tier-1 financial institutions. I look forward to bringing my own financial markets experience to a new challenge, ensuring Australian institutions are well-prepared to survive and thrive in a digital asset future.”
Zodia Custody Australia will also “appoint David Ball to the role of Head of Business Development for the region.”
Ball will join from BitGo, “where he was Director of the digital asset company’s APAC operations.”
Ball is a Founding Board Member of Fintech Australia and has “worked in finance and fintech since 2011.”
He will collaborate with corporate and institutional customers “to adopt digital asset custody services as the custodian rolls out the SAF3 platform, as well as an enhanced suite of services in 2024, to allow institutions to manage their digital assets activities all in one safe, secure platform.”
Julian Sawyer, CEO of Zodia Custody, said:
“The Australian market is integral to our global ambitions. Both Drew and David are high calibre additions to our growing team in the region, who will undoubtedly make that vision become a reality through their wealth of leadership and expertise in the worlds of fintech and digital assets. They will be joining the team at an incredibly exciting moment for Zodia Custody. Following a successful launch event, we are moving at speed to innovate the digital asset ecosystem locally and globally to enable financial institutions to maxmise the opportunities it presents.”
Bradford and Ball’s appointments follow Zodia Custody’s announcement of entry into the Australian market in October. The firm has also recently expanded to Singapore and Hong Kong.
As covered, Zodia Custody is registered “with regulatory bodies globally including the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), Central Bank of Ireland (CBI) and Commission de Surveillance du Secteur Financier (CSSF) across the UK, Ireland & Luxembourg.”
