Securitize hires former PayPal executive as general counsel ahead of taking company public via SPAC
Securitize, the world's leading real-world asset tokenization firm, has hired a former PayPal legal executive to bolster its team ahead of going public.Former PayPal Head of Legal for Digital Assets Jerome Roche has joined Securitize to be the company's new general counsel, according to a Tuesday release."As we are preparing to be a publicly-traded company, Jerome brings the kind of leadership, expertise, and work ethic that signals where Securitize is headed," Securitize co-founder and CEO Carlos Domingo said in a statement. "He has advised some of the world’s most respected financial institutions, helped guide one of the largest fintech companies through the launch of a major stablecoin, and has spent his career operating at the intersection of securities law, market infrastructure, and digital innovation."In October, Securitize said it wanted to join the ranks of other crypto native firms going public, like Circle and Gemini. Rather than an initial public offering, Securitize plans to list on the Nasdaq through a special purpose acquisition company (SPAC) sponsored by an affiliate of Cantor Fitzgerald. The proposed merger values Securitize at a $1.25 billion pre-money equity valuation.The combined company will be renamed Securitize Corp. and trade under the ticker symbol SECZ. It plans to tokenize its own equity."This is one of the most consequential moments in the evolution of financial markets," Roche said in a statement. "For the first time, modern ledger technology is giving us the ability to record ownership, settle transactions, and move value in ways that are fundamentally better than the fragmented systems we’ve inherited. Innovation only works when it fits squarely within the guardrails of applicable law. That intersection, where responsible technology meets prudent regulation, is exactly where I’ve spent my career, and exactly where Securitize has been leading."At PayPal, Roche helped oversee the fintech's push into crypto. He spent about three and a half years at PayPal, according to his LinkedIn.Founded in 2017, Securitize has become the go-to firm for traditional finance institutions looking to dip their toes in the tokenization sector. Most notably, Securitize issues BlackRock’s BUIDL fund, the first institutional-grade onchain Treasurys product to cross the $1 billion mark.Disclaimer: The Block is an independent media outlet that delivers news, research, and data. As of November 2023, Foresight Ventures is a majority investor of The Block. Foresight Ventures invests in other companies in the crypto space. Crypto exchange Bitget is an anchor LP for Foresight Ventures. The Block continues to operate independently to deliver objective, impactful, and timely information about the crypto industry. Here are our current financial disclosures.© 2025 The Block. All Rights Reserved. This article is provided for informational purposes only. It is not offered or intended to be used as legal, tax, investment, financial, or other advice.