Citigroup Director of Blockchain & Digital Assets Departing

Citigroup's director of blockchain and digital assets is leaving the U.S. bank to take a role at SIX Digital Exchange, according to his LinkedIn page.

SIX Digital Exchange is a Swiss digital asset exchange offering trading, settlement, and custody of cryptoassets.

Kech had announced his departure from Citi (C) earlier this week, adding that he was starting a "new exciting challenge in November."

A SIX representative has confirmed his hiring but did not comment further, according to Bloomberg, which first reported the news.

Kech will be following Citi's head of foreign exchange Itay Tuchman, whose departure was announced in August, with reports that he would be moving to a digital asset firm. Tuchman was central to the bank's exploration of digital assets in recent years.

The two Citi departures reflect a trend of banking executives moving into the world of crypto. In June, a trio of JPMorgan (JPM) executives departed to join crypto firms. The following month Galaxy Digital (GLXY.TO) appointed former Credit Suisse (CS) managing director, Danielle Johnson, to oversee sales and product strategy for institutional investors.

Neither SIX nor Kech immediately responded to CoinDesk's request for further comment.