Bitstamp appoints Starling co-Founder Julian Sawyer as the new CEO

By Megha Bhattacharya

Luxembourg-based Bitstamp announced the appointment of Julian Sawyer as its new CEO. Sawyer will be taking over from Nejc Kodrič, the founder who remains an integral part of the company but has transitioned to a non-executive role as a member of our Board of Directors, where he will continue to provide direction and play an important role in the future of the company.

Sawyer, in addition to becoming Bitstamp’s CEO is also an advisor to the board of the leading Australian challenger bank, Volt, and an Honorary Senior Visiting Fellow at CASS Business School’s Faculty of Management.

Previously, Sawyer was the Managing Director for Europe at Gemini. He was also the co-founder of Starling Bank where he served as Chief Operating Officer until 2019. He served as a consultant and advisor to other challenger banks and founded Bluerock Consulting, a financial management consulting firm which he successfully sold.

The company said in its press release, “We are excited to welcome Julian at a time when Bitstamp is already growing rapidly. This year has already seen us take large strides with developments like the introduction of a new matching engine built by Nasdaq, the listing of GBP and several additional digital assets, as well as major institutionally-focused partnerships like becoming the first exchange to go live on BCB Group’s BLINC network and the launch partner for Silvergate’s SEN Bitcoin leverage product. Now we look forward to starting a new chapter with Julian and building on the strong foundations we’ve set for Bitstamp.”