Coinpayments Appointed Founder as Group CEO
The payment processor has overhauled its senior leadership team to accelerate its global expansion and market growth.
Updated on Oct. 2, 2026 in People
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Coinpayments named founder Alex Alexandrov as the new group CEO, replacing former leader Ali Rafi. The move is part of a broader executive transition designed to guide the firm through its next phase of digital-asset adoption.
Why it matters
The leadership shuffle integrates new executives with experience in financial services and asset management to support scaling operations. This transition marks a strategic pivot for the processor as it attempts to move beyond its foundational roots into a more aggressive growth phase.
Coinpayments has processed over $50 billion in transaction volume for more than 250,000 merchants and one million wallet users since its launch. The new leadership team brings significant experience, including 15 years from Simon Dewsbury and 25 years from Nigel Brook-Walters.
The players
Alex Alexandrov
The founder of Coinpayments who has taken over as group CEO after 13 years of leading the organization.
Coinpayments
A global payment processor that enables digital-asset transactions for over 250,000 merchants.
Simon Dewsbury
The new Group Chief Financial Officer with 15 years of professional experience in financial services.
Nigel Brook-Walters
The new Group Chief Revenue Officer who brings 25 years of experience in the financial sector.
Stacy Belf
The new Head of Sales for North America who previously held an 11-year tenure at State Street.
The details
The company is integrating executives with backgrounds in asset management to capture greater market share in the digital-asset space. These changes, which include appointments to the CFO and Chief Revenue Officer roles, are intended to professionalize the firm's structure after 13 years of founder-led growth. The leadership shift also targets regional specificities through the appointment of a dedicated Head of Sales for North America.
Timeline
Alex Alexandrov founded Coinpayments 13 years ago.
Market Landscape
This transition aligns with the broader institutionalization of crypto-native payment firms that are moving away from founder-centric models. It reflects a growing industry trend where platforms replace internal leadership with experienced financial services veterans to scale operations.
Merchants and partners should monitor the firm's evolving fee structure and service terms as the new management team implements its growth strategy. The addition of experienced North American sales leadership suggests a stronger push for regional market saturation in the near term.
The takeaway
Founders who have successfully scaled a business often require a transition to veteran operational leadership to handle increased transaction complexity. Operators should assess whether their own business model has reached the scale where professionalized management of financial and sales roles is necessary.
Further reading
For more on how shifts in leadership influence corporate growth, see our People section.
Source note: This article includes information reported by Finextra Research.
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