Crypto Firm Sponsoring Messi’s Team Hires Ex-Goldman Executive as CCO

Javier Rodriguez-Alarcon, a former Goldman Sachs executive, is joining XBTO, a crypto investment firm that sponsors football superstar Lionel Messi’s new team, Inter Miami, a Bloomberg report reveals. According to the post, he is expected to join fully by the end of next month.

Rodriguez-Alarcon, who spent more than a decade at Goldman Sachs, will now serve as chief commercial officer at XBTO. Per the post, his role includes overseeing the company’s expansion into new products and asset management strategies.

Prior to the move, Rodriguez-Alarcon served as Goldman’s London-based global head of client portfolio management for equities at its asset management unit. He also held previous high posts, such as serving as the group’s head of quantitative investment for Europe, the Middle East, and Africa.

XBTO, launched eight years ago by Philippe Bekhazi, started as a proprietary crypto trading outfit. However, since the start of the year, the company has expanded into areas like asset management.

Recently, the company doubled down on its operations at a time when the crypto market is in a sour mood. Earlier in August, the company acquired Stablehouse, a firm that offers custody and other services for digital assets.

Meanwhile, the prevailing bearish conditions have not deterred the influx of traditional financial institutions into the crypto ecosystem. Major companies like BlackRock and Fidelity have applied to launch exchange-traded funds to give investors outside the crypto space investment exposure to Bitcoin.

The sour market condition which started last year resulted in multiple institutional collapses and bankruptcies. Consequently, several regulatory scrutinies have emerged in several countries directed towards crypto entities.

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