Cryptocurrency asset-service provider Zodia Custody appointed Julian Sawyer as its new CEO, the company said in a statement Tuesday. He replaces Maxime de Guillebon, who had been in post since the company was founded in December 2020.

Previously, Sawyer was CEO of cryptocurrency exchange Bitstamp. He also co-founded U.K. lender Starling Bank in 2015 and served as its chief operating officer for four years.

“I am excited to begin working with Zodia Custody,” Sawyer said, and “look forward to taking the business to the next level and scaling Zodia Custody to become the default choice for institutions.”

Zodia has developed its own "proof-of-ownership" technology and was one of the first crypto-asset custodians to be registered in Ireland. It is now looking to scale up its operations in 2023. The custodian sees long-term interest from institutional investors in
digital assets. The company is a joint venture between Standard Chartered and Northern Trust and is also registered with the U.K. regulator, the Financial Conduct Authority.

Following the collapse of crypto exchage FTX, Zodia announced in December a new service to protect clients’ digital assets in case an exchange becomes insolvent. The custodian will allow clients to keep assets on its platform while their holdings are mirrored and available on an exchange for trading.

Read more: Zodia Custody Introduces Service to Protect Against Crypto-Exchange Insolvency