We're thrilled to announce today key executive appointments to accelerate Mantle's vision of bridging traditional finance with blockchain innovation. These strategic hires strengthen Mantle's position as a leader in institutional-grade blockchain infrastructure and sustainable yield products.
đť‘“BTC by Function*: Transforming Bitcoin into a Hyper Liquid Financial Primitive
Thomas Chen joins as CEO of Function, leading the development of đť‘“BTC (FBTC), the standard Bitcoin yield primitive with over $1.3B in total value locked (TVL). Previously serving as Managing Director and Global Head of Sales at BitGo, Chen helped scale the regulated digital asset custodian to over $100B in assets under custody and $30B in staked assets. His appointment underscores Mantle's commitment to establishing Bitcoin as the reserve asset of DeFi through institutional-grade infrastructure.
Function, previously known as Ignition FBTC, is set to announce its official rebrand on February 13, 2025.
Mantle Network: The Liquidity Chain
Brian Trunzo, formerly VP and Global Head of Business Development at Polygon Labs, assumes the role of Chief Growth Officer at Mantle Network. At Polygon, Trunzo led the industry-recognised team responsible for enterprise and institutional onboarding to Web3, while driving technical business development for Polygon's L2 stack, CDK, and interoperability protocol AggLayer. His unique background spanning financial regulation, consumer insights, and blockchain technology will be foundational in expanding Mantle Network's institutional adoption.
Enhanced Index Fund: The Convergence of Crypto and Traditional Markets
Sohan Sen and Tim Chen join to lead Mantle’s Enhanced Index Fund.
Sohan Sen has been appointed Group Head of Structured Products at Mantle, bringing extensive expertise in financial markets and derivatives across both traditional finance and crypto. Previously, he was Global Head of Sales and Business Development at Paradigm and Paradex. Before moving into crypto, he held leadership roles in sales and structuring at Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs, where he played a key role in developing and distributing innovative products for private banks, corporates, and hedge funds. Alongside his role at Mantle, Sohan is also a Partner at Mirana Ventures, focusing on projects involving derivatives and structured products.
Tim Chen joins as Group Head of Strategy at Mantle, bringing significant expertise from his role as Partner at UAE- and Saudi-sovereign wealth backed MSA Novo. At MSA Novo, a global venture fund with $2B+ assets under management (AUM), Chen leads global investments and has built proprietary Bitcoin mining operations and ETF products focused on China and the US through its venture labs. His track record includes heading international product and expansion at Mobike ($3B exit to Meituan), where he operated across 20 countries, managing 100M registered users and 25M daily trips.
MantleX: Pioneering AI Integration Across On-Chain Finance
Jordi Alexander, Chief Alchemist at Mantle, will spearhead MantleX, an innovative AI-augmented division designed to deploy and manage advanced AI agents across the Mantle Ecosystem.
“As we enter 2025, blockchain presents the natural environment for AI agents to become truly autonomous – having financial sovereignty and the ability to perform complex operations,” said Alexander. “Through MantleX, we're creating a foundation where AI can operate within the financial ecosystem. We look forward to co-developing specialized agents for treasury management, community engagement, and on-chain research to advance DeFAI innovation.”
Mantle Banking: Bringing the Power of Blockchain to Everyday Finance
Yaxi Zhu, Co-Founder of Bybit and Founding Partner at Mirana Ventures, will guide the development of Mantle Banking, a full-suite blockchain-based financial services platform.
"Mantle Banking aims to bridge the critical gap between traditional and decentralized finance," said Zhu. "Built entirely on-chain, we’re reimagining banking with a DeFi-first approach – creating a seamless experience that brings the power of crypto to everyday financial activities, from payments to wealth management."
"These appointments reflect Mantle's evolution into a comprehensive platform for institutional-grade on-chain finance," said Jordi Alexander, Chief Alchemist at Mantle. "Our veteran leadership team brings unparalleled expertise in digital assets, enterprise adoption, and structured products. Their collective experience will be instrumental in realizing our vision of seamless institutional capital flows across traditional and decentralized markets."
The distinguished leadership team will drive forward Mantle’s six core innovation pillars for 2025:
- Mantle Network: The premier liquidity chain with integrated zk validity proof technology
- mETH Protocol: The gold standard for institutional-grade liquid staking and restaking
- đť‘“BTC by Function: The institutional-grade hyper liquid BTC across global markets
- Enhanced Index Fund: Bringing crypto to traditional markets
- Mantle Banking: Delivering fully blockchain-based financial services
- MantleX: Pioneering AI integration across treasury management and ecosystem operations