Zodia Markets, a crypto exchange and brokerage backed by Standard Chartered, has announced a partnership with Fireblocks, a leading crypto custody technology provider. The collaboration aims to enhance cross-border payments by addressing banking challenges and improving efficiency through the utilization of digital assets.
Nick Philpott, co-founder of Zodia Markets, highlighted the current issues with cross-border payments, including slow transaction speeds, limited availability during business hours, high costs, and a lack of transparency. He emphasized that stablecoins offer a solution by enabling value transfer over the internet, granting corporate entities a competitive edge similar to other industries.
The partnership will involve integrating Zodia Markets’ multi-currency digital asset execution capabilities with Fireblocks Network, a platform for digital asset transactions that facilitates quick fund transfers for clients.
Fireblocks has noted a significant increase in stablecoin usage among its clients, with 30% of them already utilizing stablecoins for payments, a trend expected to continue growing. Richard Astle, VP Business Lead at Fireblocks Network, highlighted the rise in adoption of stablecoins and the increasing availability of non-USD on/off ramps. He emphasized that the collaboration with Zodia Markets not only offers a unique value proposition but also marks the beginning of bringing foreign exchange (FX) transactions onto the blockchain.
In preparation for the growing crypto market, Fireblocks has expanded its team with new executive hires. Michal Ferguson has been appointed as the company’s new Chief Marketing Officer, joined by Michael Levine as Chief Financial Officer and Madan Gadde as Chief Customer Officer.
Michael Shaulov, CEO of Fireblocks, expressed enthusiasm about the recent surge of innovation in the crypto space, describing it as a “crypto renaissance” spreading across financial and non-financial sectors. He highlighted the collective expertise of the leadership team in driving the company toward its goal of serving thousands of new businesses and providing secure tools for delivering on-chain applications, products, and services at scale.
