LONDON: Valereum Plc (AQSE: VLRM) announced the appointment of Gary Cottle as its new Chief Executive Officer (CEO), with immediate effect.
Gary brings a wealth of leadership experience, spanning investment banking, digital infrastructure, and capital markets. His proven track record of strategic execution and innovation will be instrumental as Valereum accelerates its growth strategy and advances its vision of building a world-class tokenisation and digital asset ecosystem.
Gary Cottle, Valereum Group CEO, commented: “I’ve seen many cycles of development in 30 years of TradFi, from the ‘Big Bang’ of the 1980s through rapid changes and challenges at Barclays and Morgan Stanley – managing the bailouts of Bear Stearns, Lehman Brothers and RBS – to a decade of business optimisation at RBS and Nomura as advancing technologies were embraced.
I became involved in Valereum a few years ago as an advisor, and then on to the Board. I supported the transition as we pivoted towards a sustainable future, purchasing the GSX Group to lead innovation in DeFi. Following recent events this solidified our view that the way forward is to minimise dilution and partner with other technological innovators and category leaders. Likewise, VLRM Markets in El Salvador is giving us a granular view of the requirements of the digital economy.
Our strategic investments in the blockchain, tokenisation, crypto and data-driven AI space thus far have opened up an incredible depth of complementary expertise. It very much feels like we’re in the ‘Big Bang’ once again – early days in a rapidly growing market.
I’d like to thank Nick for laying the foundations, and to Jamie and the Board for their support and especially to the CEOs of our partners Fideum, Digishares and Blubird. We are already seeing the benefits of their collaboration and are excited for the journey ahead.”
Chairman of Valereum Plc, James Formolli, comments: “Gary’s appointment as CEO comes at a critical time as we focus on global growth and recruitment of institutional Tier-1 personnel. Gary brings a wealth of knowledge, contacts and commercial acumen. These attributes will allow Valereum to ‘think on its feet’ as the digital asset market transitions to the mainstream. As Chairman, I’m looking forward to now delivering on our objectives and will update the markets with more news over the coming weeks.”