Galaxy Digital hires veteran hedge fund executive as new CFO

Galaxy Digital Holdings, a financial services and investment firm, has hired former Point72 executive Tony Paquette as its new chief financial officer.

According to an announcement published on Dec. 13, Paquette is set to replace current chief financial officer Alex Loffe, who will move into a senior advisory role on Jan. 1, 2025.

The turnover comes amid a period of financial turmoil for the company and a rapidly changing regulatory environment for cryptocurrency and blockchain technology in the US. 

“I am thrilled to join Galaxy,” said Paquette. He also expressed his gratitude to his predecessor, Loffe, “for building a robust finance team that has helped to prepare Galaxy for a potential US listing.” 

Galaxy Digital’s financials

Paquette, whose prior experience includes a four-year stint as CFO at global investment firm Point72, a turn as a business unit leader at Social Finance (SoFi), and nearly 10 years at JPMorgan Chase holding numerous leadership positions. 

His tenure at Galaxy Digital will begin on the heels of the company’s most recent earnings report, where the firm reported a net loss of $54 million — up 30% over the previous quarter. The firm boasted $2.1 billion in equity capital as of Sept. 30, 2024. 

Despite its financial loss, Galaxy Digital appears well-positioned to continue its quarter-over-quarter momentum as the incoming Donald Trump presidential administration signals its intent to install pro-crypto regulation in 2025. 

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The incoming Trump presidency

As Cointelegraph reported, Galaxy Digital clocked its biggest trading day of 2024 on Nov. 5, the day the 2024 US election was called and Trump was presumptively declared president-elect.

In the time since, Trump has vowed to make the US the Bitcoin (BTC), crypto, and blockchain capital of the world. Republicans have also pushed for a Federal Bitcoin reserve to fight inflation and reduce the national deficit. 

Galaxy CEO Michael Novogratz has been somewhat critical of the idea of a Bitcoin strategic reserve, calling it unlikely under Trump and saying the US dollar doesn’t need any further backing to maintain its dominance. 

However, Novogratz said BTC could reach $500,000 if the Trump administration is successful in establishing a Bitcoin reserve.

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