The Block: NYDIG’s CEO and President to step down as crypto changing-of-the-guard continues

Bitcoin investment firm NYDIG announced the promotion of company executives Tejas Shah and Nate Conrad to the roles of CEO and president, respectively.

The promotions mean that both NYDIG’s current CEO Robert Gutmann and President Yan Zhao will be stepping down.

The pair will, however, remain at Stone Ridge Holdings Group, NYDIG’s parent company, working across the portfolio of Stone Ridge business, according to a company release. Gutmann will also continue to serve on the NYDIG board.

“I'm proud of everything we've accomplished so far, and I cannot wait to see what the incredible NYDIG team will achieve in the coming years and decades," said Gutmann in the release. "As leaders of our biggest businesses, Tejas and Nate have been driving forces in NYDIG's success. They are ready to lead NYDIG in its next phase of growth."

NYDIG offers a full-stack Bitcoin platform to businesses across a range of industries to make Bitcoin and Lightning network more accessible, alongside a number of bitcoin investment services.

Both Shah and Conrad previously worked at Goldman Sachs and were most recently in the positions of NYDIG's global head of institutional finance and global head of payments, respectively.

Shah and Conrad will be focused on accelerating NYDIG's investment in mining solutions and in its platform technology business, which help enterprises use the Lightning Network.

"Even during the height of the crypto frenzy in H2 2021, our risk management discipline kept us entirely away from DeFi, centralized lending platforms, and the uncollateralized lending market,” said Ross Stevens, founder and executive chairman of NYDIG in the release.

“The firm's balance sheet is the strongest it's ever been, and we're now investing aggressively into a capital-starved market. Robby and Yan are delivering the business to Tejas and Nate in phenomenal shape,” he added.

The shake-up at NYDIG comes at a time when a changing-of-the-guard is occurring across many crypto companies.

In September, Brett Harrison stepped down as president of FTX.US and will be moving into an advisory role at the company. Kraken's CEO Jesse Powell also stepped away from his role at the crypto exchange but will stay on as chairman of the firm's board of directors.

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