COINPAYMENTS Founder Alex Alexandrov Returns as Group CEO to Scale Global Operations

CoinPayments has appointed its founder, Alex Alexandrov, as Group CEO to lead a significant leadership overhaul. For fintech professionals, this move signals a transition from foundational growth to institutional maturity, as the digital asset infrastructure provider integrates veteran talent from traditional finance to capture the next wave of merchant adoption and global market expansion.

What was announced

Alex Alexandrov, who founded CoinPayments in 2013 and has served as Chairman for much of the company's history, has returned to the helm as Group CEO. He succeeds Ali Rafi, who is departing the organization to pursue new opportunities after utilizing his expertise in blockchain and fintech to strengthen the firm’s global market position. This leadership change marks a new phase for the provider, which has processed more than $50 billion in transaction volume since its inception.

The appointment is part of a broader executive expansion featuring several senior hires from the traditional financial services sector. Simon Dewsbury joins as Group Chief Financial Officer, bringing 15 years of experience in regulatory compliance and capital strategy. Nigel Brook-Walters has been named Group Chief Revenue Officer, joining from KPMG where he served as Markets Lead for Wealth and Asset Management. Additionally, Stacy Belf, formerly of State Street, has been appointed as Head of Sales for North America.

These strategic hires are designed to scale an infrastructure that already supports over 250,000 merchants and more than one million wallet users worldwide. The company’s focus remains on providing the secure, digital-asset payment tools necessary for businesses to reach new customer segments. The new leadership team will manage the company's established foundations as it navigates the evolving landscape of digital currency adoption across global markets.

"The digital assets landscape has evolved rapidly since I founded the business 13 years ago. Businesses across every industry now see digital-asset infrastructure as a genuine growth enabler, helping them scale, reach new customer segments and stay at the forefront of innovation."

Alex Alexandrov, Group CEO and Founder, COINPAYMENTS.

The companies involved

CoinPayments is a veteran player in the digital asset space, having established itself as a global payment infrastructure provider long before the current wave of institutional interest. Founded in 2013, the company focuses on providing secure tools for businesses and consumers to send, receive, and manage various digital currencies. It has carved out a significant niche by offering a gateway that bridges the gap between traditional commerce and the crypto economy.

The company’s market position is defined by its extensive merchant network, which now exceeds a quarter of a million businesses. Unlike many newer entrants that focus solely on retail trading or institutional custody, CoinPayments has maintained a primary focus on the utility of digital assets as a medium of exchange. This focus on "payments-first" infrastructure has allowed it to survive multiple market cycles while building a user base of over one million wallet holders. The company operates as an independent digital assets infrastructure provider and has spent over a decade refining its proprietary technology to handle the complexities of multi-currency processing and merchant settlements.

What FF News has reported before

FF News has closely tracked the strategic movements of CoinPayments as it expands its global footprint and executive bench. We previously covered the company’s efforts to bolster its leadership in COINPAYMENTS Strengthens Executive Bench to Power Next Phase of Global Expansion. The specific addition of Stacy Belf to lead the North American sales division was also detailed in COINPAYMENTS Bolsters North America Leadership with Head of Sales Appointment.

Beyond personnel, the firm has been active in forming strategic alliances to drive regional growth, such as its partnership with OSL Group reported in COINPAYMENTS Accelerates APAC Expansion with OSL Group Partnership. Additionally, the company recently moved into the luxury sector through a collaboration with the duPont REGISTRY Group, as seen in COINPAYMENTS and duPont REGISTRY Group Announce Alliance to Power Digital Payment Infrastructure.

What this means

The return of a founder to the CEO role, flanked by veterans from KPMG and State Street, suggests a pivot toward institutional rigor. The digital payments sector is currently under intense pressure to move beyond "crypto-native" use cases and prove utility in mainstream commerce. By hiring leaders with deep roots in traditional wealth management and regulatory compliance, CoinPayments is positioning itself to address the primary barriers to merchant adoption: trust and regulatory certainty. The industry question now is whether such traditional financial expertise can be successfully integrated into a crypto-native infrastructure without slowing the agility that allowed these early movers to reach $50 billion in volume.