PayPal's former blockchain head José Fernández da Ponte has joined the Stellar Development Foundation as president and chief growth officer. The SDF also appointed Jason Karsh, ex-Block and Blockchain.com executive, as chief marketing officer. Both hires aim to boost Stellar's growth, financial inclusion efforts, and adoption.
José Fernández da Ponte, who led PayPal's blockchain initiatives including the PYUSD stablecoin launch, has moved to the Stellar Development Foundation (SDF) as president and chief growth officer, motivated by Stellar's focus on financial inclusion. SDF simultaneously hired Jason Karsh, with experience at Block, Blockchain.com, Coinbase, and Blockaid, as chief marketing officer to unify brand, product, and ecosystem strategies. Stellar operates a cash on/off-ramp network via MoneyGram and tokenizes real-world assets with partners like Franklin Templeton, while maintaining humanitarian goals. Fernández da Ponte emphasized working at the blockchain infrastructure layer to enable scalable applications like stablecoins. Karsh highlighted Stellar's role as reliable financial infrastructure for institutions and individuals. Stellar's XLM token has risen 38% this year, outperforming the CoinDesk 20 Index.