Steve Castle joins blockchain startup Nuggets’ team

Blockchain e-commerce payments and ID business, Nuggets, has brought onboard Steve Castle as a Non-Executive Director.

Castle has been supporting Nuggets as a strategic adviser for over a year and was an early investor. Alastair Johnson, Founder and CEO, says: “His strategic advice has been invaluable to us for some time now, and we’re looking forward to drawing on even more of his 35 years’ experience in financial services.”

Castle’s most recent high-profile role was as a part of the team briefed with turning around Liverpool Victoria General Insurance Group (now known as LV=) in 2006. He has also held senior Group Board positions at RBS Insurance, Direct Line and Churchill.

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Castle says: “Having seen how rapidly Nuggets has developed in markets around the world over recent months, I’m delighted to be joining the team as Non-Executive Director. Nuggets offers a unique solution for making simple e-commerce payments and other transactions without having to share personal data. I’m convinced it’s a product that will transform e-commerce as we know it.”

Kevin Jenkins

The announcement closely follows the appointment of former Managing Director of Visa, Kevin Jenkins, to establish the venture in Europe and lead on business development.

Jenkins, who has also held a leadership role at Mastercard, commented: “The current model of businesses holding personal information is broken. It needs fundamental change, study after study shows that customers are frustrated by the payments journey: the many steps they have to take, and the security fears.”

“For decades, the payments industry has been trying to achieve a balance between security and convenience. What impresses me so much about Nuggets is that it manages to optimise both. I’m convinced that every stakeholder in the payments ecosystem, from customers to retailers, will embrace Nuggets. I’m incredibly excited to be part of a genuine revolution.”