Former government minister Jeff Baron is joining cryptocurrency exchange company Bittrex Global (Bermuda) Ltd as chief compliance officer.

The company has a licence to operate a cryptocurrency exchange in Bermuda is looking at the potential for issuing a digital token backed by Bermuda dollars.

Stephen Stonberg, chief operating officer at Bittrex Global, said: “The cryptocurrency industry has come a long way in the last decade in terms of credibility and mainstream acceptance, however much work remains to be done before it fully reaches its potential.

Mr Stonberg, who is also Bittrex Global’s chief financial officer, added: “Jeff Baron’s appointment to the role of CCO is testimony to the high priority on compliance and regulation that the team at Bittrex Global place in providing assurances to potential retail and institutional investors interested in this sector.”

Mr Baron served as a senator during the One Bermuda Alliance administration from 2012 to 2017, and was Minister for National Security from 2016 to 2017.

He was elected an MP in 2017, but left politics in April 2018 when he announced he was “stepping towards new opportunities”.

In a statement, Bittrex Global said Mr Baron will take up his appointment next month, and will work alongside Bermudian Ashton Easton, who has joined the company as a compliance analyst.

Bittrex Global said: “Their combined role will be to assure traders and investors interested in growing their wealth with cryptocurrency that as Bittrex Global expands to Bermuda, it still adheres to the highest levels of compliance and safety. Siegfried Herzog remains as the CCO of Bittrex Global in Liechtenstein, and he will work closely with the Bermuda team. Jeff’s appointment aims to lead the way for the industry towards greater accountability to potential investors as the cryptocurrency asset class matures.”

Mr Baron has previously held a number of executive positions, including head of compliance for a Bermudian-based Digital Asset & Investment Business company, head of financial crime threat mitigation at HSBC Bermuda, and field adviser at the United Nations. He holds a MSc in Criminology from the University of Leicester, England, and in March was selected as a ‘Edward S. Mason Fellow’ at Harvard.

He has volunteered on several non-profit boards in Bermuda and is currently a member of the Institute of Directors and the Association of Bermuda Compliance Officers.

Mr Easton worked for more than four years as an analyst and fund accountant on compliance with financial services providers, including Opus Fund Services. He has a BCom from the Sobey School of Business at St Mary’s University, Canada and a BA from Dalhousie University.