Former JPMorgan Chase executive joins blockchain startup Vakt as CEO

London-based blockchain startup Vakt has appointed former JPMorgan Chase executive Etienne Amic as the new chief executive officer.

Vakt is a blockchain-based post-trade processing platform backed by energy majors BP, Shell, Reliance, and Statoil; trading houses Gunvor, Koch Supply & Trading, and Mercuria; and banks ABN Amro, ING and Societe Generale, among others. It was created and launched as an independent company in December 2017.

The platform went live last November. More recently, oil majors Chevron and Total also joined the initiative.

Vakt will benefit from Amic’s extensive experience in commodities trading. He has served as managing director at both JPMorgan Chase and Mercuria Energy Trading S.A.

More recently, he served as co-founder and chairman of Vortexa, a cargo and analytics company focused on global crude oil and refined products markets, and as founding partner at CommodiTech Ventures, a firm funding the next generation of commodities technology and innovative business models.

Amic said that he believes that technology will fundamentally change the physical commodities market.

“I was aware of VAKT from the start, but what impressed me was the success the company has had as a creation by a consortium of traders. To have such prestigious companies pulling in the same direction – many of them competitors – tells you this is something very powerful that the industry really needs,” he added.