BlockFi Taps Defense Department, Microsoft Alum as Security Chief

Cryptocurrency lending platform BlockFi has hired a veteran of the U.S. Department of Defense and Microsoft to take charge of the firm’s security.

The New York-based company announced Monday that Adam Healy will be coming aboard as chief security officer, charged with fortifying the firm’s defenses to protect client data, digital assets and proprietary information. Healy will oversee areas including information security, cybersecurity and physical security at the crypto startup.

“While the past couple of years have yielded tremendous progress to legitimize cryptocurrency, there remains significant opportunity to standardize and normalize security approaches industrywide, which I look forward to continuing to contribute to as part of the BlockFi team,” Healy said in a press release.

The new hire brings 15 years of security experience built on prior roles within the U.S. intelligence community and the Department of Defense (DoD). During his tenure at the DoD, Healy was charged with designing and implementing the department’s cybersecurity programs. He’s also managed security systems for Fortune 100 companies including Microsoft and Palantir Technologies.

Most recently, Healy was the chief information security officer at Bakkt, the bitcoin warehouse subsidiary of Intercontinental Exchange (ICE), where he secured the digital assets of institutional clients, as well as the firm’s cloud technology.

“Adam will be instrumental in helping bolster BlockFi’s security-first approach, not only technically speaking for our retail and institutional products, but also across our employees and company culture,” said BlockFi CEO Zac Prince.

BlockFi’s latest addition to its executive lineup comes at a time when the firm has been ramping up efforts to acquire professionals with impressive resumes.

Last month, BlockFi added two traditional finance executives to help the firm roll out new products and expand into new markets. Those two hires offered 20 years experience in finance at big-name companies including Credit Suisse, American Express, Prudential Financial, Bank of America and Merrill Lynch.