BitPay hires payments veteran Jim Lester as first COO
Crypto paytech BitPay has hired Jim Lester as its first chief operating officer (COO).
BitPay has raised more than $70m in funding
Lester will lead BitPay’s operation, customer support, sales and account management teams, overseeing BitPay’s blockchain product innovation as the company continues to grow.
BitPay CEO Stephen Pair says the appointment of a chief operating officer was necessary as more payments move to the blockchain.
Lester has over 25 years’ experience including as senior vice president of product management, strategy and marketing within Fiserv’s electronic billing and payments division.
He has also served as CEO and board director of ThingTech and has held various executive level positions at healthtech McKesson.
Speaking on his appointment, Lester says: “The blockchain space represents a massive opportunity for disruption, especially within payments.” He adds BitPay has the “opportunity to evolve as the market changes”.
Founded in 2011, BitPay enables businesses to accept cryptocurrency as a form of payment without having to buy, own or manage crypto.
Its solutions eliminate fraud chargebacks, reduce the cost of payment processing and enable borderless payments using cryptocurrency.
The company has offices in North America, Europe and South America and has raised more than $70 million in funding.
