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Six Digital Exchange – a Swiss digital asset exchange that offers trading, settlement and custody of crypto assets – has hired industry stalwart Alexandre Kech, the latest big crypto hire from the banking world.
Kech is a name familiar to the crypto community in Singapore – before his role at Citi, he founded Onchain Custodian, which was launched in 2018 in the city-state to provide institutional and accredited investors with custody services for cryptocurrencies, stablecoins and other digital assets.
He previously spent 17 years, including more than six in Singapore at Swift, where as regional head of standards, then head of securities and FX for Asia Pacific, he had the opportunity to participate directly in blockchain POC and projects and was one of the company’s blockchain champions.
He leaves Citi only 13 months after joining the US bank as director of blockchain and digital assets at its ventures arm in September 2021. Kech’s move from Wall Street to crypto is not uncommon despite the ongoing crypto winter: In June, three executives at JP Morgan left the bank to join digital asset firms, followed by Danielle Johnston’s appointment as global head of distribution of Galaxy Digital, following a stint at Credit Suisse.
“This week is my last at #CitiVentures, more than a year after launching the Blockchain & Digital Asset Studio practice. This may seem like a short tenure, and it is. But sometimes, an exceptional opportunity comes along,” Kech posted on LinkedIn earlier this week, before revealing his new role at SIX
More widely known as the Swiss stock exchange operator, the SIX group also has a large post trading and financial information business, which has more than 20 offices globally, including in Singapore, Hong Kong and Tokyo, and a large data-collection hub in India.
SIX has previously said that it wants to launch a crypto exchange in Asia as part of a triple-digit revenue goal with digital assets.
