At Fireblocks, a strong commitment to regulatory compliance has always been at the core of our operations. That’s why we’re excited to announce that we’re building out our On-Chain Digital Identity and Programmable Compliance Team, with the strategic appointments of Peter Marton, Director of Digital Identity, and cryptography expert Chaitanya Reddy Konda, Senior Technical Product Manager, Digital Identity and Privacy.

About the digital identity team

Peter Marton joins Fireblocks as Director of Digital Identity, a new role for the company. Peter embarked on his professional journey in digital assets at Promontory Financial Group, a firm subsequently integrated into IBM in 2016. While his work didn’t initially encompass digital assets, by 2020, Peter became actively involved in aiding the Wyoming Development and Regulatory Framework with crypto projects. In 2021, leveraging his expertise in crypto regulations, Peter secured the position of Deputy Superintendent of Digital Currency at the New York Department of Financial Services (NYDFS). His responsibilities encompassed the scrutiny and approval of BitLicenses applications – one of the rare state-endorsed licenses for crypto enterprises in the United States. During his tenure, he cultivated the crypto division, provided critical guidance on stablecoins, and supervised the issuance of BitLicenses to prominent entities. 

Peter’s exceptional knowledge in developing and implementing digital asset regulatory frameworks is an invaluable addition to the Fireblocks team and will advance our on-chain identity and programmable compliance solutions – aimed at transforming financial markets and helping set the standards for safety, soundness, and consumer protection.

Chaitanya Reddy Konda joins Fireblocks as Senior Technical Product Manager, Digital Identity and Privacy. Chaitanya played a key role in designing and creating Nightfall, a groundbreaking privacy solution for EVM token transfers for EY.  Over the years, Chaitanya has dedicated her efforts to building private token transfer and private computation products, employing zero-knowledge (ZK) proofs. This extensive experience has enabled her to make substantial contributions to open-source ZK-proof libraries, establish collaborations with academics in the field, and engage in the creation of diverse products aimed at bolstering stability and privacy. 

Chaitanya Reddy Konda is an established authority in applied cryptography and an extraordinary addition to the Fireblocks team. She will leverage her deep technical acumen to bolster the security protocols of our company’s identity initiatives.

Securing the next wave of innovation

As part of our commitment to enable customers to safely and securely interact with the digital asset ecosystem, we saw the need for advanced development of on-chain identity and programmable compliance solutions. Fireblocks views the prevention of illicit financial activity and consumer protection as critical components in ensuring the broad adoption of digital assets and novel use cases surrounding blockchain technology. 

Fireblocks has incredible industry experience and customer community to glean challenges, needs and regulatory and compliance requirements. This information is imperative in providing an identity solution that aligns with solving the needs of customers and the industry. With the advancements in cutting edge ZK Proof technology, today it has become practical to provide a decentralised identity solution that satisfies the varying global compliance standards while preserving privacy and integrity.

Chaitanya Reddy Konda Senior Technical Product Manager, Digital Identity and Privacy

Smart contracts and on-chain identity are the most promising ways to apply traditional financial compliance standards to the blockchain context, and that, in turn, applies to thousands of businesses, from financial institutions to corporations and Web3 companies.

The combination of on-chain digital identity and usage of smart contracts is the most promising next step for the industry to move toward global compliance standards. We are focused on setting and driving these global compliance standards to make financial products safer and more accessible. Not only will we be building a stellar product, but we will also be utilizing it on the Fireblocks Network — the largest institutional digital asset transfer network.

Peter Marton Director of Digital Identity

In addition to providing a new path for the private sector, these solutions can be purpose-built by leveraging the latest in cryptographic technologies that align to evolving regulatory standards, with the goal of addressing longstanding concerns related to preventing financial crime, protecting consumers, and making financial products safer, more accessible, and cheaper for users. 

Interested to learn more about Fireblocks? Request a demo here.