Bitcoin Startup Blockchain Adds Uber, UBS Execs to Leadership Team

Bitcoin wallet and data company Blockchain has expanded its leadership team with two new executive hires.

Perhaps most notably is the addition of Sarah Maxwell, a former communications lead at Uber, who left the ridesharing giant in 2016 to join the staff of Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign. Maxwell has been appointed to lead Blockchain's global communications team.

Before joining Uber in May 2014, Maxwell had been working as a White House staffer since 2010, and, prior to that, served as a senior account executive at the San Francisco-based BergDavis Public Affairs, according to her LinkedIn bio.

Blockchain’s second new exec is Xen Baynham-Herd, who has been brought on to become the company's lead economist, focusing on new initiatives for the brand. Baynham-Herd previously worked as a director at the London office of Swiss investment bank UBS.

The new appointments demonstrate Blockchain's continued interest in tapping premier executive talent for its operations, following the addition of former Barclays Bank group chief executive Antony Jenkins to its board of directors last December.

Founded in 2011, Blockchain is the largest provider of software wallets for the bitcoin network. Headquartered in Luxembourg, the startup has so far raised $30m from backers including Lightspeed Venture Partners and FuturePerfect Ventures.

Peter Smith, Blockchain CEO, image via YouTube