Crypto Startup TrueDigital Hires CEO from World's Largest Hedge Fund

A blockchain upstart is getting a new CEO from the world's largest hedge fund.

New York's trueDigital, which was founded last March, has hired Thomas Kim away from Bridgewater Associates to be its chief executive.

Notably, trueDigital is the firm that built a blockchain payments system for Signature Bank.

Kim told CoinDesk his focus will be on expanding the work done for Signature Bank to other clients.

"I personally believe the market is signaling tremendous opportunities to bring traditional and digital markets together, and trueDigital is on the forefront of this trend with its payment platform and crypto derivatives," Kim said.

Sunil Hirani, trueDigital's founder and now-former CEO, told CoinDesk that the partnership with Signature Bank has been going well.

Kim worked for the Connecticut-based Bridgewater, known for its unique and at-times-troubled company culture, as a manager within the firm's investment engine department for the past seven years.

Kim will also supervise the upcoming launch of trueDigital's exchange for bitcoin swaps, which is expected later this year.

Derivatives based on other cryptocurrencies will be added later on, Kim said.

"I see many market movements by the institutions trying to figure out how they can include crypto derivatives in their portfolios. I expect adoption to get broader, and trueDigital actually has products for that."