CoinPayments founder Alexandrov returns as Chief Executive

CoinPayments has appointed founder Alex Alexandrov as Group Chief Executive Officer as the digital-asset payments company expands its executive team.

Alexandrov founded the business in 2013 and has served as Chairman for much of its development. He succeeds Ali Rafi, who is leaving to pursue new opportunities after a period in which he helped strengthen the company's global position.

The change is part of a broader reshaping of the senior team. CoinPayments has also named Simon Dewsbury Group Chief Financial Officer, Nigel Brook-Walters Group Chief Revenue Officer, and Stacy Belf Head of Sales, North America.

The appointments add experience in financial services, compliance, capital strategy, wealth and asset management, strategic partnerships, and institutional sales. Brook-Walters most recently served as Markets Lead for Wealth and Asset Management at KPMG, while Belf joins after 11 years at State Street.

CoinPayments provides digital-asset payments infrastructure that allows businesses and consumers to send, receive, and manage digital currencies. Since launch, it has processed more than USD $50 billion in transaction volume, supported more than 250,000 merchants, and served more than one million wallet users worldwide.

Those figures highlight the scale CoinPayments has reached since its early years, at a time when digital-asset firms face pressure to demonstrate durable commercial use beyond trading. Payment processing has been one area where crypto companies have sought to build recurring transaction revenue from business customers.

Leadership shift

Alexandrov has been closely associated with the company since its founding and now returns to an executive operating role as it builds its international business. His appointment puts the founder back in day-to-day charge at a time when many fintech and digital-asset companies are reassessing strategy, costs, and growth plans.

The senior hires in finance, revenue, and regional sales suggest a focus on commercial execution as well as corporate oversight. Bringing in executives with experience in regulated financial services may also help the company navigate closer scrutiny from partners, customers, and authorities across multiple markets.

CoinPayments did not disclose further details on any wider restructuring, financial targets, or transaction growth outlook. It also did not provide information on the size of its workforce or where the new executives will be based.

Founder returns

Alexandrov described how the market has changed since the company was founded. "The digital assets landscape has evolved rapidly since I founded the business 13 years ago. Businesses across every industry now see digital-asset infrastructure as a genuine growth enabler, helping them scale, reach new customer segments and stay at the forefront of innovation. I'm as excited about this industry today as I was on day one. With a strong leadership team now in place, our focus is on building on COINPAYMENTS' foundations and delivering the trusted, seamless infrastructure needed for the next phase of digital-asset adoption," said Alex Alexandrov, Group Chief Executive Officer and Founder of CoinPayments.

His comments point to a strategy centred on expanding business use of digital-asset payment tools rather than relying solely on consumer enthusiasm for cryptocurrencies. That approach reflects a broader push across the sector to position digital assets as practical financial infrastructure for merchants and cross-border transactions.

CoinPayments was founded during an earlier phase of crypto market development and has remained focused on payments as the sector moved through cycles of rapid growth and sharp declines. The latest executive changes place the founder back at the centre of the business as it looks to turn that long operating history into its next stage of expansion.