R3, the enterprise distributed ledger firm, announced on February 22, 2024, that it had appointed Bob Wigley to its board as an outside director1. Wigley had chaired the trade body UK Finance for six years at the time of the announcement. Ledger Insights reported on February 22, 2024, that R3 had actually seated him on the board back in October 2023, four months before the public announcement2.
Six board appointments on the record in 2024
Board appointments CryptoLately has verified, by year; 2026 through Oct. 2, 2026
- 2024: 6
- 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023, 2025, 2026
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 |
|---|---|
| 2019 | 3 |
| 2020 | 10 |
| 2021 | 10 |
| 2022 | 4 |
| 2023 | 4 |
| 2024 | 6 |
| 2025 | 20 |
| 2026 | 29 |
Layer 1s & Infrastructure led board appointments in 2024, with one
Board appointments CryptoLately has verified in 2024, by the sector of the company
- Layer 1s & Infrastructure: 1
- Stablecoins & Payments, Trading Venues & Brokerage, Bitcoin & Mining
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 |
|---|---|
| Layer 1s & Infrastructure | 1 |
| Stablecoins & Payments | 1 |
| Trading Venues & Brokerage | 1 |
| Bitcoin & Mining | 1 |
The move
R3 tied the appointment to Wigley's work leading the "UK Finance digital tokenization taskforce." That group had produced a report titled "Unlocking the power of securities tokenization," Ledger Insights reported2. Wigley welcomed the seat. He named the company's new product line directly. “I'm delighted to join R3 at a time when R3 Digital Markets is transforming the way global financial markets operate,” he said. “R3 is the catalyst behind pioneering CBDC and other real financial asset tokenization projects, and I look forward to working with the team and its customers to continue driving adoption in new geographies and asset classes.”1
David E. Rutter, R3's chief executive, cast the hire as a credibility signal rather than a technical one. "We're excited to welcome Bob to the R3 board of directors," Rutter said. “His extensive experience in progressing regulated financial infrastructure is crucial as we build the foundations for interoperable regulated networks.”1 R3's own release said the firm had "recently launched R3 Digital Markets." The release called it “an end-to-end suite of digital solutions designed to help firms adopt and drive value across digital assets and digital currencies”.
Wigley's record before R3
Wigley had chaired Merrill Lynch's European, Middle East and Africa business before joining R3's board, R3's release said1. In that role, he sat on the boards of the Bank of England, Euroclear and LCH.Clearnet. Ledger Insights noted that UK Finance had pushed regulators to back tokenized securities the year before his board seat became public2. By the announcement, Ledger Insights reported, the UK Digital Securities Sandbox the taskforce had sought was already live.
What came next
R3 shifted strategy fifteen months after Wigley's appointment became public. Ledger Insights reported on May 22, 2025, that R3 struck a deal with the Solana Foundation. The deal would link R3's Corda platform to Solana's public network3. It also brought Lily Liu, president of the Solana Foundation, onto R3's board. Ledger Insights called that a sign of "deeper strategic alignment between the companies". Bloomberg had reported in October 2024 that R3 was already in talks about "a potential minority investment, joint venture or outright sale," Ledger Insights noted, naming Ava Labs, the Solana Foundation and Adhara as the parties. R3 brought more than $10 billion in assets from regulated institutions already on its platforms into the partnership, Ledger Insights reported.
Sources
- R3, "R3 appoints UK Finance Chairman Bob Wigley to Board of Directors," R3, Feb. 22, 2024, https://web.archive.org/web/20250521043315/https://r3.com/r3-appoints-uk-finance-chairman-bob-wigley-to-board-of-directors/
- Ledger Insights, "UK Finance Chair joins board of enterprise blockchain firm R3," Ledger Insights, Feb. 22, 2024, https://www.ledgerinsights.com/uk-finance-chair-joins-board-of-enterprise-blockchain-firm-r3/
- Ledger Insights, "R3 pivots to public blockchain with Solana partnership," Ledger Insights, May 22, 2025, https://www.ledgerinsights.com/r3-pivots-to-public-blockchain-with-solana-partnership/