IOHK announced on April 7, 2020, that Romain Pellerin would join as chief technology officer1. Jerry Fragiskatos joined at the same time as chief commercial officer. The pair joined "IOHK's decentralized team of over 250 employees," the press release said, dated from Longmont, Colorado. CryptoSlate's own report on April 10, 2020, three days later, confirmed the same two hires and said IOHK had shared the release directly with the outlet2.
12 executive hires on the record in 2020
Executive hires CryptoLately has verified, by year
- 2020: 12
- 2017, 2018, 2019, 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024
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 |
|---|---|
| 2017 | 2 |
| 2018 | 8 |
| 2019 | 11 |
| 2020 | 12 |
| 2021 | 27 |
| 2022 | 37 |
| 2023 | 20 |
| 2024 | 39 |
Trading Venues & Brokerage led executive hires in 2020, with three
Executive hires CryptoLately has verified in 2020, by the sector of the company
- Layer 1s & Infrastructure: 1
- Trading Venues & Brokerage, Capital Markets & Treasury, Stablecoins & Payments
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 |
|---|---|
| Trading Venues & Brokerage | 3 |
| Capital Markets & Treasury | 2 |
| Stablecoins & Payments | 2 |
| Layer 1s & Infrastructure | 1 |
The move
Pellerin's own comments leaned toward engineering, where Fragiskatos spoke to the commercial side. “It is an honor to join IOHK in its mission to disrupt the global marketplace. All of the team aligns strongly with Charles Hoskinson's passion, and we're all working to scientifically prove and code trust into the system,” he said in the press release1. He added a note on the work ahead: “I am looking forward to identifying problems, pain points, from the process language to experimenting with the newest developments in disruptive blockchain technology. Ultimately, we want to provide technology that people and businesses will use seamlessly,” Pellerin said.
IOHK's chief of staff, Tamara Haasen, framed both hires around the firm's growth. “Jerry and Romain join us at a crucial stage for IOHK, as we continue to roll out key products and services,” she said in the release1. She singled out Pellerin's background outside blockchain: “Romain's experience of working with disruptive technologies will be invaluable in his role as CTO with responsibility for all of IOHK's current work strands,” Haasen said.
Before and after at IOHK
Pellerin came to IOHK from a run of founder roles, the press release said. He had founded the startups Slyseed and Eminently, and led Ubidreams as chief executive1. CryptoSlate's report added a detail on his earlier work, "cross-platform mobile and internet of things (IoT) applications." The outlet said that background would carry into "architecting and implementing blockchain-based systems and applications" at IOHK2. IOHK's release tied his new post to a goal: Cardano's Shelley mainnet, due later in 2020. He would work from Houston, Texas, with the company's product and technology teams.
What the record shows
IOHK's release and CryptoSlate's report, dated April 7 and April 10, 2020, carry the hiring announcement, and IOHK tied Pellerin's role to the Shelley mainnet, due later in 202012. A Google News search on October 3, 2026, looked for a later page on Pellerin's tenure at IOHK. Its results were Cardano coverage that leaves him unnamed.
Sources
- IOHK, "IOHK welcomes new CCO and CTO to scale growth," April 7, 2020, https://www.bitcoininsider.org/article/85226/iohk-welcomes-new-cco-and-cto-scale-growth
- Priyeshu Garg, "Cardano (ADA) parent company—IOHK gets a new CTO," CryptoSlate, April 10, 2020, https://cryptoslate.com/cardano-ada-parent-company-iohk-gets-a-new-cto/