Former Nasdaq exec joins Arbitrum developer to head its venture studio Tandem

Offchain Labs, the team behind the Ethereum Layer 2 network Arbitrum, has appointed Ira Auerbach as head of Tandem, its partner studio and venture capital arm. Auerbach previously served as Nasdaq's head of digital assets and held leadership roles at crypto exchange Gemini, including global head of its prime business.

In his new role, Auerbach will lead Tandem, which supports select blockchain projects. Tandem, launched last August, was created to back initiatives addressing "the hardest technical problems" preventing crypto's widespread adoption.

The division operates two lines of business: a partner studio and a venture capital arm.

"For the partner studio initiatives, I will be working with the team to provide tailored guidance to each project in areas including research, product development, engineering and strategic partnerships," Auerbach told The Block. "On the venture side, we will focus on actively fueling growth by participating in funding rounds or leading investments in projects shaping the future of blockchain infrastructure and applications."

The role of Tandem

Tandem supports projects beyond the Arbitrum ecosystem, Auerbach said.

"There is no required connection to the Arbitrum ecosystem so it wouldn't act as a dedicated fund for that community," he clarified.

Auerbach declined to disclose the size of Tandem's fund, the amount invested in projects so far, or whether investments are made in cash or Arbitrum's native ARB token.

Tandem is currently working with two projects as part of its partner studio: Espresso Systems, which is developing decentralized sequencing infrastructure, and Ex Populus, the developer of the gaming-focused XAI blockchain.

Auerbach said Tandem is constantly in talks with more early-stage projects but will partner with only a handful each year.

On the venture capital side, Auerbach said Tandem is ramping up its investment fund and hopes to make several announcements in the coming months.

Auerbach acknowledged that Tandem's venture side is "very similar to traditional VC shops," but the partner studio side differentiates the offering by providing tailored guidance to each project.

Steven Goldfeder, co-founder and CEO of Offchain Labs, said in a statement that Auerbach's background in growing both traditional finance and crypto-native companies will help Tandem support the next wave of blockchain innovation.