Former Bitcoin Exchange Executive Joins Blockchain Firm R3
Antony Lewis, the former director for business development at bitcoin exchange Paxos, has now joined private banking blockchain consortium led by New York-based R3.
A former executive who oversaw business development with a focus in Asian markets for bitcoin exchange Paxos (itBit at the time of tenure) has joined R3.
Antony Lewis revealed his new position at R3 as the Director of the firm’s Lab & Research Centre in Singapore. Lewis was formerly the director for business development in Asia at Singaporean bitcoin exchange itBit that recently rebranded itself under the Paxos brand.
A bitcoin enthusiast, Lewis quit his job at Swiss bank Credit Suisse in 2013, before spending two years at the bitcoin exchange. In 2015, Lewis left itBit to become an independent blockchain researcher and consultant, before assuming his new role as director at R3’s research lab in Singapore.
It was “a mild obsession” of bitcoin that led to him leaving his “nice stable job at a big bank” and join the bicoin industry, Lewis revealed in his bio .
Having previously opined that bitcoin as on online payment was one of the cryptocurrency’s most compelling use cases, a blog penned by Lewis previously read:
To be clear, online payments never existed before Bitcoin. Previously, instructions were made online for offline settlement later, and always through intermediaries.
Bitcoin is the first time consumers have truly been able to own a unique unforgeable digital asset without trust that is intermediary is keeping good books and records..
R3 has, in recent months, notably started to include Asian financial institutions among its member ranks. China’s second largest insurer, the Ping An Group joined R3 in May 2016 followed by R3’s second Chinese member in China Merchants Bank, last month. Hong Kong-based life insurance giant AIA also joined the blockchain consortium in mid-2016. The firm’s newest hire coincides with an increased focus on its operations and plans for expansion in the Asia, a continent that is home to a number of rapidly developing economies. Geographically, Asia is a significant hub for finance and trade, industries that are seen as the most attractive sectors for private blockchain enterprise.
Featured image from iStock and LinkedIn.
