Bitcoin Startup Circle Names Veteran Raj Date to Board of Directors
Raj Date Brings Circle Decades of Consumer Finance Experience
High-profile Bitcoin startup Circle Internet Financial, founded by Jeremy Allaire, is beefing up its board with former regulator and banking executive Raj Date. Date, the Managing Partner of Fenway Summer LLC and the former Deputy Director of the U.S. Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), will help advance Circle’s commitment to maintaining the highest standards of consumer protection, privacy and regulatory compliance.
Mr. Date served as Special Advisor to Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner, was founding architect and Deputy Director of the U.S. Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, and held senior exec positions at Capital One and Deutsche Bank.
“As an executive who has worked in both industry and government leadership positions within consumer finance, Raj brings Circle incredible perspective and vision,” said Jeremy Allaire, Circle founder, chairman and chief executive officer. “His addition to Circle’s board of directors will bring tremendous depth of knowledge to our business and product strategy, as well as to our engagement with key regulatory agencies.”
Date joins Jim Breyer, a well-known investor in Facebook, on Circle’s board of directors along with the Circle’s founding CEO Jeremy Allaire.
Read: Circle, A High Profile Bitcoin Startup, Raises $9M with Seasoned Team
Circle, which last month announced its debut with $9 million in Series A financing, is developing products that make it easy to exchange, store, send and receive digital currency. For businesses and charities, Circle is providing merchant services for accepting digital currency payments. By building financial products and services on top of Bitcoin, Circle is able to offer faster transactions, lower costs, greater privacy safeguards and increased protection against fraud and identity theft.
“Products that use digital currency have the potential to remove significant friction from our financial lives, and to expand financial inclusion for the underbanked around the world” said Date. “Circle is well positioned to lead innovation in the space and to champion mainstream adoption of promising new technologies, like Bitcoin. I’m thrilled to join the board and look forward to working with the team on an exciting new generation of consumer financial products and services.”
Pictured above, Raj Date meeting with Senator Dick Durbin [source]
Date has enjoyed a long career in consumer finance as well as in shaping federal consumer protection standards and policies. He was the first-ever Deputy Director of the United States Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) where he helped guide the agency’s strategy, operations, and policy agenda. Prior to being appointed Deputy Director, Date acted as the interim leader and architect of the new agency, serving as the Special Advisor to Secretary of the Treasury Timothy F. Geithner.
Before his time in public service, Date was a Managing Director in the Financial Institutions Group at Deutsche Bank Securities, where he led the firm’s investment banking coverage of U.S.-based banks and thrifts, and he also served as Senior Vice President for Corporate Strategy and Development at Capital One Financial, an industry pioneer in consumer financial products. He began his business career in the financial institutions practice at McKinsey & Company.
Circle continues to set a tone of cooperation with federal authorities. Bringing Date on board is a clear signal that it plans to take the high road with respect to digital currency regulation. Circle CEO Jeremy Allaire will testify next week at the Senate Committee on Homeland Security about Bitcoin. The hearing is “Beyond Silk Road: Potential Risks, Threats, and Promises of Virtual Currencies.”
Read: Silk Road 2.0 Launches, Government Authorities and Users React
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