Divi expands Leadership Team with duo of high-profile appointments

By Edlyn Cardoza

Decentralized Payment Ecosystem Divi Project, has announced two new senior appointments and a promotion to accelerate its tech innovation, drive its entry into DeFi, and expand its commercial partnerships.

Chris Airola has been appointed Chief Product Officer at Divi Labs, the Divi Project’s FinTech innovation center, responsible for developing world-class decentralized solutions powered by the Divi blockchain. Chris joins from interactive content platform VRIFY, where he was head of product. He brings over two decades of product development experience from some of the world’s largest businesses and industry disruptors including Microsoft Research, PayByPhone, Moz, and Realtor.com.

Chris will drive the development of Divi’s decentralized mobile wallet and its expansion into new global territories starting with the UK and EU. In addition to current innovations including Divi’s proprietary 1-Click Master node technology (MOCCI ™) that makes earning with crypto as easy as pressing play on Spotify, Chris will be responsible for rolling out the next tranche of innovative features including staking vaults.

Chris Airola, Chief Product Officer, Divi comments: “I’ve wanted to get involved with the Divi Project for some time. Today, the crypto industry feels like the web 2.0 of the early 2000s, and I am excited to help drive the innovation taking place at Divi and grow a company in the world of nascent tech again.”

Joshua Caleb joins Divi as Chief Innovation Officer. Joshua brings a wealth of experience in blockchain development. Previously Head of Business Development and then Chief Operations Officer at Blockchain Centre, he was responsible for expanding penetration in new markets, restructuring the business model, and building credibility and rapport with new and existing customer stakeholders. As CIO for Divi, his focus will be on modernizing the blockchain to increase efficiency and developing the company’s DeFi bridge.

Joshua Caleb, Chief Innovation Officer, Divi comments: “I am committed to supporting the development of innovative technology that empowers the most economically disadvantaged and provides essential financial tools to the world’s unbanked population. This is why I joined the Divi Project as Chief Innovation Officer. I’m thrilled to work with such a purpose-driven organization and to continue affecting positive change around the world.”

In addition to the new hires, Nick Saponaro, Divi’s Chief Information Officer has been promoted to CEO. For now, he will perform the dual role of maintaining oversight of technical development, while also driving the company’s growth.

Nick Saponaro, CEO, Divi, comments, “Chris and Joshua both bring valuable skills to the business and will be critical in achieving our mission to improve people’s lives by making crypto easy and accelerate its mainstream adoption. We have ambitious development and growth targets and a team who can make them a reality.”

By removing barriers to entry, innovating new frictionless technologies, and delivering use cases for the developed and developing world, Divi is helping people across the globe to engage in this new economy and achieve financial freedom and inclusion.