Two bitcoin startup executives have joined the leadership team for Uphold, the digital money platform.
Bitnet CEO and co-founder John McDonnell and chief data architect Jiri Novak will become part of a new offering called Uphold Merchant Services, which will aim to provide payment and financing services to businesses that use the Uphold platform. Bitnet was acquired as part of the deal.
The company, formerly known as Bitreserve, was founded by CNET founder Halsey Minor and formally launched in late 2014. The platform later rebranded as Uphold.
McDonnell and Novak join the startup months after Japanese e-commerce firm Rakuten acquired Bitnet's assets. Former Bitnet employees Fergal Downey and Stephen McNamara would go on to become part of a new blockchain lab founded by Rakuten, using the company's assets to kickstart that effort.
http://www.coindesk.com/former-bitcoin-startup-execs-join-uphold-team/
