Charles Cascarilla #35

Co-founder and CEO of Paxos

Charles Cascarilla & Co-founder and CEO of Paxos & background` Charles Cascarilla & Co-founder and CEO of Paxos & poster`
Charles Cascarilla & Co-founder and CEO of Paxos
Category Founder
person-quote
Blockchain-based infrastructure will power the financial markets of the future, which will enable all asset holders to transact with confidence, transparency and speed.

Biography:

Charles Cascarilla is the co-founder and CEO of Paxos, a regulated blockchain technology company that allows companies to trade, hold and tokenize assets in the crypto space. This is achieved through the company’s array of software solutions. Cascarilla is a certified financial analyst and has a Bachelor of Business Administration from the University of Notre Dame.

Cascarilla’s experience in the finance industry dates back to 1999 when he began his career as an analyst at Bank of America, followed by a brief stint as a financial analyst at Goldman Sachs in 2000. He has worked with a number of other notable companies since, including Claiborne Capital Management, Cedar Hill Capital Partners, Liberty City Ventures and the Association for Digital Asset Markets.

Cascarilla’s 2021:

2021 was a busy year for Cascarilla, with Paxos entering into partnerships with major companies such as Interactive Brokers, one of the biggest stock brokerage firms in the world. The alliance, which was announced in September, provides Interactive Brokers with the capacity to offer crypto trading services to its clients by relying on Paxos’ cryptocurrency exchange framework.

Paxos also inked a deal with Mastercard that same month, enabling Mastercard customers to make payments using stablecoins. According to the announcement, Paxos’ infrastructure will facilitate the cryptocurrency payments.

Another noteworthy collaboration was with Bank of America. The partnership led to the unveiling of a joint service designed to allow fast stock-trade settlements. However, a full rollout was held back due to the bank’s lack of a clearing agency permit.

In addition to building out partnerships, Paxos experienced significant capital inflows from venture capitalists in 2021. In April, the firm got a boost after receiving $300 million in funding during a Series D fundraising event. Notable contributors included Paxos clients WestCap, PayPal Ventures, Mithril Capital, Liberty City Ventures and Senator Investment Group. The company said that the funds will be used to further the development of innovative infrastructure, improve network security and boost compliance.

Cascarilla faced the House Financial Services Committee in December alongside five other CEOs involved in the crypto industry. He was questioned about his collaboration with Meta (formally known as Facebook) in the development of its Novi digital wallet and the potential data privacy issues that could arise. He responded by assuring lawmakers that the project would abide by all relevant statutes.

Cascarilla’s 2022:

Headed by Cascarilla, Paxos has made some major advances in 2022, including the appointment of Ben Gray, who previously spent six years at Jack Dorsey’s Block, as global general counsel. Paxos has also made advances in its product offerings. On Feb. 3, the company revealed that it would be adding support for a few popular cryptocurrencies: AAVE, LINK, UNI and MATIC.

Cascarilla has historically been vocal about the growth of stablecoins and their increased use around the world. He has championed their regulation and advocated for the development of a United States central bank digital currency similar to China’s digital yuan. He is expected to continue with this campaign in 2022, and Paxos is likely to bag more deals as it expands its blockchain technology offerings.