Fireblocks Chooses Ex-SEC Commissioner as New Policy Chief

Blockchain infrastructure platform Fireblocks has named a new chief regulatory/policy officer and general counsel.

Elad Roisman, a former commissioner and acting chair of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), will take over the new role effective immediately and serve as Fireblocks’ main liaison to regulators and standards groups, the company announced Monday (Aug. 17).

“Elad has both been a regulator and a legal advisor to many of the world’s most prominent financial institutions,” Fireblocks Co-Founder and CEO Michael Shaulov said in a news release. “As our customers move deeper into regulated finance, that experience will enable our infrastructure to adapt and lead in a dynamic regulatory environment.”

The release notes that as stablecoins become a greater part of institutional finance, regulators are beginning to catch up. The U.S. has its own federal stablecoin law and is working on market structure legislation, the European Union is instituting its MiCA rules, and groups across Asia and the Middle East are establishing their own standards.

“For the hundreds of banks, payment companies, and asset managers that operate on Fireblocks, those rules decide how fast they can build and grow onchain-based revenues,” the news release added.

In his time with the SEC, Roisman voted on 100-plus rulemakings and more than 1,000 enforcement actions, and represented the commission before Congress and several international bodies.

He has also served as chief counsel to both the U.S. Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs, and NYSE Euronext. His most recent role was at law firm Cravath, Swaine & Moore, where he advised financial institutions and FinTechs on digital asset regulation and testified about market structure legislation before Congress.

Roisman said in the release there has never been this much interest and work being done by regulators and lawmakers to promote digital asset innovation.

“The work now is engaging with these policymakers on the rapidly evolving digital asset environment and supporting institutions as they build and grow the next phase of the financial system under the new regulations and laws,” he added. “I’m energized to embark on that work with the industry leading team at Fireblocks.”

In other digital asset news, recent PYMNTS Intelligence research shows consumers are increasingly interested in using cryptocurrency and stablecoins for purchases, although their choices remain limited by acceptance, trust and uneven payment experiences.

The ability to use familiar apps could help change things, as 77% of consumers said they would open a crypto or stablecoin wallet through a banking or FinTech app.

“That figure suggests banks and FinTechs don’t need to persuade customers to enter an unfamiliar financial world,” the report added. “They can add digital asset capabilities to relationships that already carry trust.”