Fidelity's Blockchain R&D Lead Just Went Full Crypto

Hadley Stern, the executive who led Fidelity Investments' blockchain research and development for the last three years, is joining a well-known startup in the field.

Announced today, Stern has been named the first-ever chief operating officer at blockchain software startup Bloq.

Stern worked for 17 years at Fidelity, most recently as a senior vice president and the managing director of the blockchain incubator at Fidelity Labs.

Stern is leaving the financial services giant just as it launches a new digital asset trading and storage platform, Fidelity Digital Asset Services LLC, a major development in the institutionalization of cryptocurrency announced last week.

At Bloq, which provides blockchain solutions to enterprises, Stern is going to look into broad blockchain applications and delivering products to clients, he told CoinDesk.

"I've watched Bloq over the years from the outside - even worked together on a Fidelity project - and the vision of co-founders Jeff Garzik and Matthew Roszak resonated strongly, as did what they were building," Stern wrote.

Roszak said in a company press release that Stern will help Bloq take advantage of the growing convergence between the enterprise and crypto sides of the industry.

During Stern's time at Fidelity Labs, Fidelity secured new academic and business partnerships in blockchain space, and Fidelity Charitable, the company's philanthropic arm, started accepting bitcoin and ether donations.

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