NY Fed official joins DeFi platform Euler as COO

New York Federal Reserve employee Brandon Neal has joined decentralised finance (DeFi) platform Euler Finance, the protocol said in a report.

Euler made the announcement on Wednesday, stating that Neal had joined as the project’s chief operating officer (COO).

Neal’s exit from the Fed comes after 10 years working in various capacities, including as a Markets Trading Desk officer. He reportedly teamed up with Euler after an engagement that left him impressed by their risk management system.

“The TradFi-to-DeFi movement is gaining steam and I’m thrilled to be part of it: After ~a decade at the NY Fed on the Markets Desk, I’m happy to announce that I’ve joined Euler Finance , a next-gen DeFi project, poised to lead in crypto,” he tweeted.

According to the ex-Fed staffer, Euler Finance has a “carefully designed” risk management system. It is a robust project that’s thoughtfully implemented” he added in an interview with CoinDesk.

Sharing his opinion on DeFi, Neal said the sector has the potential to revolutionise the finance world. He feels DeFi has the capacity to “shake up” legacy finance that’s become bloated and stuck.

But he also believes a lot of hype surrounds certain elements of the crypto world, a fact that sees many in the traditional finance sector skeptical. The hype, he noted, is something that blurs the “real, deep innovation” being undertaken by some very serious teams in the space.

Neal has joined Euler’s team just days after the platform announced it had added Wojtek Zając as a front-end developer. 

The platform said Zajac has experience in design systems and DeFi and has had key collaborations with the likes of Twitter, Riot Games and Kaplan.