Digital Asset's board voted to name co-founder Yuval Rooz chief executive officer, effective at once. The distributed ledger firm announced the move on March 19, 2019. “Digital Asset, the creators of DAML and leading provider of Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT) solutions, announced today that Yuval Rooz has been appointed the company's Chief Executive Officer (CEO), effective immediately,” the release said1. Rooz had served as chief operating officer and chief financial officer, Ledger Insights reported on March 19, 2019. In the COO role, he had hired most of the company's executive team2.
The second CEO appointment at Digital Asset on the record since 2018
Leadership moves CryptoLately has verified at Digital Asset, by year
- 2019: 2
- 2018, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024, 2025
Moves: The Moves Ledger, CryptoLately's record of verified leadership moves, Oct. 3, 2016 to Oct. 2, 2026.
Read the chart as a table
| Item | Value |
|---|---|
| 2018 | 5 |
| 2019 | 2 |
| 2020 | 0 |
| 2021 | 0 |
| 2022 | 1 |
| 2023 | 0 |
| 2024 | 0 |
| 2025 | 1 |
Eight CEO appointments on the record in 2019
CEO appointments CryptoLately has verified, by year
- 2019: 8
- 2016, 2017, 2018, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023
Moves: The Moves Ledger, CryptoLately's record of verified leadership moves, Oct. 3, 2016 to Oct. 2, 2026.
Read the chart as a table
| Item | Value |
|---|---|
| 2016 | 2 |
| 2017 | 3 |
| 2018 | 4 |
| 2019 | 8 |
| 2020 | 7 |
| 2021 | 6 |
| 2022 | 18 |
| 2023 | 17 |
From first employee to chief executive
Rooz joined Digital Asset in 2014 as one of its first employees, Ledger Insights reported2. Before that he ran an algorithmic trading desk at DRW Trading, the Chicago firm led by Digital Asset co-founder Don R. Wilson. His promotion closed a three-month gap at the top. Blythe Masters had resigned as CEO on December 18, 2018, and board chairman AG Gangadhar had served as acting chief executive since then, a Digital Asset release said at the time3. Gangadhar stayed on as executive chairman once Rooz took over, the Finextra release said1.
Gangadhar explained the choice in an internal email the release quoted. “I have had the privilege of working very closely with Yuval over the past year. Along with the rest of the Board, I feel very strongly that Yuval's strategic agility, business acumen, mission-driven orientation and deep belief in our people and products make him uniquely qualified to lead Digital Asset successfully into the future,” he wrote1. Rooz answered with his own statement on the appointment. “It is an honor to be appointed CEO at this exciting and pivotal time for the industry and our company,” he said. “I'm proud of our outstanding team and the progress we've made recently, especially with DAML, which will have a profound effect on how people exchange information and transfer value”.
What came next
Rooz still ran Digital Asset more than seven years later: the firm said on June 11, 2026, that it had raised $355 million in a funding round led by a16z crypto, CoinDesk reported4. That money would expand Canton Network, the blockchain infrastructure Digital Asset had built for regulated capital markets. Rooz tied the raise to the same pitch he had made the day he took the job. “For capital markets to move onchain, institutions need infrastructure that reflects how they actually operate, with privacy, compliance, scale, and interoperability built in from the start,” he said. CoinDesk reported that the round drew ABN Amro, Apollo Funds, BNP Paribas, Citadel Securities, HSBC, SBI Group and the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, and beat a $300 million target at a $2 billion valuation.
Sources
- "Digital Asset names company co-founder Yuval Rooz as CEO," Digital Asset via Finextra, March 19, 2019, https://www.finextra.com/pressarticle/77713/digital-asset-names-company-co-founder-yuval-rooz-as-ceo
- "Digital Asset promotes COO Yuval Rooz to CEO," Ledger Insights, March 19, 2019, https://www.ledgerinsights.com/digital-asset-ceo-enterprise-blockchain/
- "Blythe Masters Steps Down As CEO Of Digital Asset," Digital Asset via Mondo Visione, December 18, 2018, https://mondovisione.com/media-and-resources/news/blythe-masters-steps-down-as-ceo-of-digital-asset-20181219/
- Krisztian Sandor, "Canton Network developer Digital Asset raises $355 million to bring capital markets onchain," CoinDesk, June 11, 2026, https://news.google.com/rss/articles/CBMivAFBVV95cUxOa3prQVVLSzEya3o1cDJaUDc0QnA5elRnbmFNMHBvdXBqV3hodE1xLVFfQkpfTmphekJBQk1CVG03N3ZwUzk1VVZPSzNRV0hEYmMyYVhWclRPV2JVdUV4SDdDenpQZTVpc2JCTkV5dTNMM3RFSS1CYWhPYnpFU3d5X3F0U2VWanljbDBRdXZRbjZ2OWJIREw1RXRqNWI2dFRpZFZOOWxnNGVYVGNmWFBRT29RMUJCUWVuTjRXdQ?oc=5