Julian Sawyer
Outgoing CEO, Zodia Custody
Julian Sawyer, who became chief executive of Zodia Custody in January 2023, has argued that custody is the foundation for banks offering digital assets but not what differentiates them.
Why the room needs them.
Julian Sawyer, Zodia Custody's chief executive since January 2023, told staff in September 2026 he was stepping down to become a strategic adviser. A co-founder of Starling Bank and former chief executive of Bitstamp, he spoke at Proof of Talk Paris 2026 on how institutions access tokenised assets.
The full account.
Julian Sawyer spoke at Proof of Talk Paris 2026 as CEO of Zodia Custody. On 3 June 2026 he joined Fabian Dori, Matthew Felice Pace and Moritz Platt on the Taostats Stage for a panel titled "How Institutions Actually Access Tokenised Assets", moderated by Xavier Gomez.
Sawyer was appointed chief executive of Zodia Custody, a London-based institutional digital-asset custodian backed by Standard Chartered and other banks, in January 2023, taking over from Maxime de Guillebon. He had joined Bitstamp, the Luxembourg-based cryptocurrency exchange, as chief executive in October 2020, succeeding its founder Nejc Kodrič, and left that role in May 2022. He came to Bitstamp from Gemini, which had appointed him in December 2019 as managing director overseeing its operations in the UK and Europe. Before that he co-founded Starling Bank and served as its chief operating officer until 2019, with responsibility for customer services, anti-money laundering, payments, HR and supplier management. Earlier in his career he worked as a management consultant at Accenture and EY and ran his own financial-services consultancy, Bluerock, for 13 years before selling it.
On 18 May 2026, Standard Chartered announced that Zodia Custody's shareholders and noteholders had accepted its offer to acquire the company, subject to regulatory approvals. The regulated custody activities are to be integrated into the bank's Financing and Securities Services business, while the infrastructure platform is to be separated into a new entity, Zodia Solutions, under SC Ventures. On 20 May, SC Ventures said Sawyer would become chief executive of Zodia Solutions, and Companies House records show him appointed a director of Zodia Solutions Limited on its incorporation on 26 May 2026.
That plan changed in September. According to a staff memo dated 10 September 2026 and reported by CoinDesk, Sawyer is stepping down as chief executive of Zodia Custody and moving into a strategic-adviser role, supporting an "orderly transition" across both businesses. Richard Clark, Zodia Custody's chief revenue officer, is to lead the custody business into Standard Chartered, and Craig Perrin and Anoosh Arevshatian are to lead Zodia Solutions. As of 11 September 2026 the acquisition had not been publicly confirmed as completed.
In July 2026, Recognise Bank, a UK SME property lender, appointed Sawyer as a non-executive director.
What Julian believes about the next ten years.
Years of shipping.
Lines that keep proving correct.
“Custody is the foundation. It's not the differentiator.”
“Digital asset custody is increasingly being delivered within banking environments.”
“Crypto-native custodians will have to pivot.”
What they have built, written, and backed.
Built
- Starling BankCo-founded the UK bank and served as chief operating officer until 2019, with responsibility for customer services, anti-money laundering, payments, HR and supplier management.
- BluerockSet up and ran a financial-services consultancy for 13 years before selling it.
- Zodia Custody, as chief executiveLed the London-based institutional digital-asset custodian from January 2023, a period in which its Solutions infrastructure business launched in 2025 ahead of its planned separation as Zodia Solutions.
The next Proof of Talk is in Abu Dhabi.
Louvre Abu Dhabi, 3–4 December 2026. Admission is by application, and the room is capped at 2,000.
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