Elizabeth Rossiello

Elizabeth Rossiello is the Founder and CEO of BitPesa, a Foreign Exchange and Payment platform for Frontier Markets. She is a feminist and a Carmen Sandiego addict. In 2013, BitPesa became the first company in the world to connect bitcoin to mobile money and to trade bitcoin into African currencies. In 2015, it was the first blockchain company to receive a license from the UK’s Financial Conduct Authority. BitPesa is now a market-maker in every major African currency and facilitates payments into G20 currencies directly. Elizabeth has expanded the company from its origins in Nairobi, Kenya to operations in 8 markets across Africa and Europe, with offices in Nairobi, Lagos, Dakar, London and Luxembourg. Before building BitPesa, Elizabeth was a Rating Analyst for Microfinance Institutions across sub-Saharan Africa. She worked with regulators and policy-makers across the region on legislation for financial innovations. Elizabeth started her career at Credit Suisse in Zurich in Investment Banking and is a graduate of Columbia University’s School of International and Public Affairs. She is a member of the Investment Committee for Bamboo Capital and the World Economic Forum’s Future Council on Blockchain.