In a move to expand its services to Europe, the Middle East and Africa, itBit, a New York-based bitcoin exchange, has announced the opening of its London office.

"London is a major financial services hub, with a concentration on blockchain innovation, technology and transforming fintech services worldwide," said Chad Cascarilla, CEO of itBit.

In addition, the company also announced the appointment of Jason Nabi to head the EMEA with an initial focus on the UK market. Nabi is a prominent industry figure – he was the global business lead for post-trade services with a major European bank and is an advisor to the Post-­Trade Distributed Ledger Working Group, which is coordinating the industry's response on blockchain developments.

"We are pleased to bring an industry veteran like Jason Nabi onto the team, given his leadership in blockchain applications for post-trade services and his deep understanding of financial markets globally."

Nabi brings his extensive expertise of over 20 years at securities services banks and technology firms to itBit. He has held senior positions at Bloomberg, IBM Global Services, BNP Paribas Securities Services and Markit.

Nabi is a well-known thought leader in market infrastructure, regulatory developments and blockchain, having helped the London market establish a focus on blockchain in capital markets post-trade. Moreover, he has led EMEA business development throughout his career, focused on technology innovations in financial markets.

"I look forward to working with itBit to establish a leading presence for the company in EMEA, while driving initiatives to enhance and accelerate post-trade processes using our blockchain technology," commented Jason Nabi. "The industry is at a turning point with distributed ledger technology, and I believe that itBit is the best-positioned firm to be a leader in this area with its Bankchain offering."