Binance hires former Huobi exec for European expansion

Crypto exchange Binance has hired former Huobi executive Josh Goodbody for leading growth in Europe and Latin America.

Goodbody joins Binance as director of European and Latin American growth and institutional business, according to an announcement Thursday. At Huobi, Goodbody was head of Europe and the Americas, leading over-the-counter and institutional business.

“Europe and Latin America are key growth markets for Binance,” said Yi He, co-founder of Binance. “Josh will further establish our local footprint in these markets.”

Goodbody helped bring “more than a thousand institutions” at Huobi, per the announcement. Before joining Huobi, Goodbody worked with financial institutions including JPMorgan and State Street.

Crypto firms appear to be focused on serving European institutional investors. Just yesterday, Coinbase Custody launched a new unit in Ireland to better meet the needs of clients based in Europe. Last month, Fidelity Digital Assets opened a branch in the U.K. to provide custody and trade execution services to Europe-based funds and family offices.