Bridgewater CFO Dalby Leaving for Bitcoin Services Firm

Hema Parmar, Bloomberg News

Illuminated mining rigs operate inside racks at the CryptoUniverse cryptocurrency mining farm in Nadvoitsy, Russia, on Thursday, March 18, 2021. The rise of Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies has prompted the greatest push yet among central banks to develop their own digital currencies. Photographer: Andrey Rudakov/Bloomberg , Bloomberg

(Bloomberg) -- John Dalby, chief financial officer at Bridgewater Associates, is leaving to join Bitcoin financial services firm NYDIG.

Dalby will be the organization’s CFO, NYDIG said in a statement Friday. It offers customers Bitcoin custody, execution and financing and is a subsidiary of $10 billion alternative asset manager Stone Ridge. NYDIG recently raised more than $300 million from strategic partners including Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance Co. and Liberty Mutual.

He’s the latest industry leader to move into cryptocurrency. In 2018, Alesia Haas left as CFO of Och-Ziff Capital Management to join Coinbase Global Inc.

Dalby has worked at Bridgewater, which manages $150 billion, for less than three years, according to his LinkedIn profile. Prior to that, he was CFO at D.E. Shaw Renewables and had spent more than two decades at UBS Group AG.

“Every day, more industries come to understand Bitcoin’s potential and more clients seek ways to safely access it,” Dalby said in the statement. “Personally, I share NYDIG’s vision for Bitcoin’s ability to propel economic empowerment for all.”

This week, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. said it will offer new Bitcoin derivatives to Wall Street investors.

Bridgewater said Dalby will remain at the firm until the end of the second quarter to ensure a smooth transition. It’s in the process of seeking his replacement.

(Updates to include Bridgewater statement in last paragraph,)