The Swiss crypto tech provider hired IBM’s Peter DeMeo as head of product, as well as former IBM lead architect, Angel Nunez Mencias.

Metaco, a provider of crypto custody technology, has hired former-IBM digital asset specialist Peter DeMeo and made several other key appointments as the company shrugs off tough market conditions and prepares to drive the next phase of big-business crypto adoption.

Reliable safekeeping of crypto assets is where the rubber has met the road for banks and institutions over the past couple of years. Custody has shot to prominence again in the wake of the FTX crypto exchange collapse and the failures of crypto lending platforms Celsius Network and CoinDesk sister company Genesis, among others.

DeMeo’s appointment as chief product officer matters because IBM, where he was head of digital assets infrastructure, has been quietly building out bank-grade digital assets custody and key management. (Big Blue was previously best known in the industry for its forays into supply chain applications of permissioned blockchains and the like)

However, Metaco’s gain isn’t necessarily IBM’s loss, as DeMeo explains, because the move cements an existing working relationship between the two companies.

“It’s really a win-win because IBM’s strongest partner in digital assets over the last several years has been Metaco, and now we have a real opportunity to collaborate and take things to the next level,” DeMeo said in an interview. “Metaco is agnostic and of course will be working with other cloud and hardware providers as well. So, it’s a mutually beneficial relationship, but not necessarily an exclusive relationship.”

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