The Centre Consortium, the Coinbase- and Circle-founded project that oversees the USDC stablecoin, has hired Wall Street veteran David Puth as its first CEO.
Puth has held senior executive roles at JPMorgan and State Street, and most recently was the CEO of CLS, the foreign exchange settlement provider made up of over 70 big banks and financial institutions.
Puth also has direct experience of blockchain technology in a regulated financial environment, having been appointed as a strategic advisor to enterprise blockchain builders R3, back in January 2019.
“I could not be more enthused about joining Centre at this critical time in the industry,” Puth said in a statement. “The growth of USDC over the course of 2020 is indicative of what I expect will be the path for Centre business activities and that of future Centre-supported stablecoins.”
USDC is the second-largest stablecoin by market cap at $2.98 billion. Having expanded to additional blockchains in recent months, some list USDC’s market cap even higher.
Centre was co-founded in 2018 by crypto exchange Coinbase and digital asset firm Circle, the latter having navigated a remarkable series of pivots.
“As Centre scales to add new members, currencies and stakeholders, we are blessed to have an industry leader who has the understanding and experience to help build this new international monetary system,” Circle CEO Jeremy Allaire said in a statement.
