Digital Asset Taps Former JP Morgan Exec for ASX Project
Digital Asset has hired Stewart Cowan to work on its clearing and settlement blockchain system for the Australian Securities Exchange.
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Fintech startup Digital Asset has hired a former JP Morgan Chase executive to work on a blockchain-based clearing and settlement system it is developing for the Australian Securities Exchange (ASX).
Stewart Cowan, formerly the bank's Asia-Pacific regional head of trading services, will join the firm as a senior product manager, Global Capital reported on Thursday. The startup, which is headed by former JPMorgan executive Blythe Masters, struck a deal with ASX in late 2017 to rebuild its CHESS post-trade settlement system.
ASX came to the decision after building proofs-of-concept and conducting trials over the course of two years, as previously reported.
The securities exchange has also previously invested in Digital Asset, which has long been considered a leader in the enterprise blockchain space.
More broadly, Cowan is the former JPMorgan executive to leave for a blockchain venture.
Amber Baldet, who led the development of the company's permissioned blockchain platform Quorum, announced her plans to depart and start a new project of her own earlier this month. Details about this venture are scarce.