LONDON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--GSR (the “Company”), a global leader in digital asset trading, has appointed John MacDonald as Chief Technology Officer (CTO). He joins GSR after serving for over five years as Managing Director and CTO, Europe, at Citadel Securities. Alongside the executive team, Mr. MacDonald will be responsible for driving the firm’s technology strategy, working across teams to improve existing infrastructure, and continuing to create new solutions.
MacDonald held various technology leadership roles within Citadel Securities prior to his role as CTO, Europe, including Global Head of Derivatives Technology and Global Head of Fixed Income Technology. Prior to Citadel Securities, he was Managing Director at JP Morgan running the Global Electronic Market Making Technology group. He started his career at Goldman Sachs, before joining Citadel to build out an Options trading business.
Mr. MacDonald will work closely with newly appointed CEO Jakob Palmstierna, as well as Rich Rosenblum, Co-Founder and President. Cris Gil, Co-Founder, will continue to serve as Executive Chairman of the Board to support the firm’s vision in increasing its global presence in digital asset markets.
"I am delighted to join the accomplished team at GSR as Chief Technology Officer," said Mr. MacDonald. "After 20 years developing new trading systems and technology in traditional finance, I look forward to working with my new colleagues in combining the best of traditional trading and investment solutions with the very creative and rapidly evolving digital assets space."
"As we continue to expand into new areas within the digital asset landscape, it’s critical that our systems and technology remain best-in-class to continue meeting the needs of our clients,” said Mr. Palmstierna. “We are thrilled to welcome John to the GSR team to ensure innovation remains at the forefront of our business."
“GSR has always prioritized being a people-first business, building strong relationships with clients, partners, and within our own company,” said Mr. Gil. “We’ve had a remarkable year in 2021 and are looking forward to even greater success this year.”
GSR started 2021 with a headcount of 60 and finished the year with 200 people in 10 countries across the globe.
About GSR
GSR, founded in 2013, is a global crypto market maker with 200 employees in 10 countries. We specialize in providing liquidity, risk management strategies and structured products for blockchain projects and sophisticated investors in the digital assets industry. GSR is integrated with over 60 crypto trading venues and trades over $4 billion a day. Our leadership team of veteran finance and technology executives from Goldman Sachs, Citadel, J.P. Morgan, Tower Research, and Two Sigma, among others, has created one of the world’s fastest and most robust digital asset trading systems.
