BitGo has named Angela Ang as managing director for Asia-Pacific and president of BitGo Singapore, the digital asset infrastructure firm said today (Thursday).

Ang spent more than a decade at the Monetary Authority of Singapore, where she helped build the country's payments and crypto licensing framework, before moving to blockchain analytics firm TRM Labs.

Ang takes the role after clearing regulatory and fit-and-proper requirements, BitGo said. She joins from TRM Labs, where she was head of APAC public policy and strategic partnerships and part of the firm's founding regional team.

At MAS, she led the team that operationalized the licensing regime that BitGo's local unit now sits under as a Major Payment Institution licensed by the regulator.

From Rule-Writer to Regulated Operator

Ang's move traces a line from the public sector into the industry her former agency oversees. TRM Labs sells blockchain intelligence tools used by regulators and law enforcement, while BitGo is a custodian and infrastructure provider that has to satisfy those same rules.

• BitGo and Susquehanna Launch OTC Trading for Prediction Market Contracts
• BaFin MiCA Approval Follows VARA Broker-Dealer License for BitGo in Dubai
• BaFin Grants MiCA License to BitGo Europe for EU Crypto Operations

In the new post, she will lead BitGo's business growth, market development, and operations across the region, the company said. Jody Mettler, BitGo's chief operating officer, said the appointment "strengthens BitGo's leadership in one of the world's most important regions."

BitGo's Regional Build-Out After Going Public

The hire follows BitGo's move to take crypto custody onto public markets, an IPO that earlier coverage put at up to $201 million in proceeds and a valuation near $2 billion. The company now trades on the New York Stock Exchange under BTGO.

BitGo also said it has since entered the Fortune 500 at No. 273. The firm describes its BitGo Bank & Trust unit as the first federally chartered digital asset trust bank owned by a publicly traded company.

The Singapore appointment continues a regional staffing pattern. BitGo earlier named a former Citi and Standard Chartered banker to lead its European sales push, tying senior hires to specific geographies as it expands custody, trading, lending, and settlement services.

Custodians Compete for Institutional Asia

Ang inherits a regional market where rivals are also courting institutions. Nomura-backed Komainu has moved to offer crypto custody in Japan, working with local partners to reach the country's institutional investors.

Larger exchanges are pushing the same way. Kraken built a US institutional custody service through its Wyoming-chartered bank, positioning regulated status as the selling point.

Traditional finance names are circling too. Nasdaq has said it will launch custody for institutions, and Schwab is aiming crypto custody at its advisor channel by 2027. Against that field, BitGo is leaning on a hire who knows how the rulebook in one of Asia's main hubs was written.

Ang said APAC is "entering an important phase of institutional market development." BitGo serves what it calls thousands of institutions across custody, wallets, staking, trading, financing, settlement, and stablecoin infrastructure, a client count it did not break down.