Mode Hires Ryan Moore as CEO to Grow Its Bitcoin App

Mode has appointed Ryan Moore as the first Chief Executive Officer, where he will oversee Mode’s day to day strategy and help drive and deliver the Group’s ambitious growth strategy, innovative product launches and customer acquisition targets.

Moore has been a member of the Board at Mode, an early investor since the business was founded and has been closely involved in key strategic business decisions since inception. Founder Jonathan Rowland will remain as Chairman, working closely with Ryan to shape Mode’s growth trajectory for the years ahead.

The new CEO joined Mode from energy technology firm Baker Hughes, where he held multiple senior leadership positions. With over a decade of experience scaling and leading large global teams, and deploying novel technologies across new markets and successfully executing high growth strategies, he also has significant experience advising financial services companies on the adoption of new technologies as well as transactions.

Ryan Moore, CEO at Mode, said: “Having closely worked with Jonathan and Mode’s executive team since the company’s founding, I have a deep understanding of Mode’s strategy, successes and growth potential. As CEO of Mode, my focus will be to execute on the day-to-day strategy, ensure organisational efficiency, attract and develop talent and, most importantly, deliver on our promise of building a disruptive financial services ecosystem enabled by Bitcoin and Open Banking.”

Jonathan Rowland, Chairman at Mode, said: “I’m delighted to welcome Ryan to the role of CEO at Mode. Ryan, whom I have closely worked with over the past few years, has unrivalled expertise in scaling a disruptive and rapidly-growing technology organisation, with a strong track record for delivering results. Since listing on the LSE Main Market in October 2020, we’ve been successfully executing on our product expansion plans, and Ryan is well positioned to capitalise on this trajectory, hit the ground running and accelerate our path to become a leading player in the fintech arena.”

“The global fintech sector is fast evolving and Mode is pioneering the development of a truly digitally-native financial services ecosystem. I’m excited to have Ryan join us so that together we can continue to drive this innovation and deliver on Mode’s goal to build an all-encompassing ecosystem where wealth creation and value exchange is seamless for all economy participants.”

Ryan is a shareholder of Mode via Tulham LLC, in which he owns 50% of the interests, and the Keve Family Ltd Partnership, in which Ryan and/or members of his family are interest holders. Currently, Tulham LLC holds 3,506,094 Mode shares and Keve 3,000,000. Ryan’s current directorships include Mode Global Holdings PLC, Tulham LLC and Keve FLP.

Mode has recently appointed Ariane Murphy as Chief Investor Relations Officer after joining as one of the founding team members in June 2018, where she has been responsible for the Group’s strategic marketing and communications programmes during a period of accelerated growth which saw the launch of the highly successful Mode bitcoin app and the Group’s IPO on the London Stock Exchange Main Market last year.

Prior to joining Mode, Ariane held marketing and communications roles at both early-stage start-ups and large corporations, securing and activating brand partnership deals with global brands such as Adidas, Estrella Damm, and Maui Jim, and organising large scale events, including at the world-renowned Formula One World Championship.

As Chief Investor Relations Officer, Ariane will be responsible for leading the strategic planning and ongoing development of all investor relations activities with the aim of diversifying the Group’s shareholder base and increasing shareholder value. Ariane will work directly with Mode Executive Chairman Jonathan Rowland and the Board of Directors.

In March, the firm appointed Jonathan Conway as Chief Technology Officer as the Bitcoin app plans to launch its novel payments and loyalty solution powered by Open Banking in Q2 2021.

Conway co-authored the payments and security sections of the UK Open Banking Specification which lays out an open standard that enables account-to-account (A2A) payments, and a safe and secure way for third parties to interact with customers’ bank accounts.

Mode plans to leverage Open Banking to provide merchants with an alternative to rising card interchange fees and boosting loyalty amongst consumers. The app allows customers to manage fiat currency and digital assets, make instant payments, and earn rewards in Bitcoin.

The firm has successfully IPO’d on the London Stock Exchange in October 2020.

Most recently, Mode launched its Android app, which matches the iOS version with the same core features such as an easy sign-up process, free and instant GBP bank transfers, and Open Banking top-ups in British pounds. Customers can make use of the Bitcoin Jar service, which rewards them for holding Bitcoin.

It was in February 2020 that R8 Group’s London-based fintech firm Mode announced the launch of its Bitcoin banking mobile iOS app. Available to users globally, except in the United States of America, the app is backed by Twitter co-founder Biz Stone. Mode charges a fee of 0.99% at the time of purchasing and selling Bitcoin. The platform is partnered with leading digital asset custodian BitGo.

Mode’s competitive edge is its simplicity as the app avoids needlessly complex processes and focuses on a responsive UI and UX with a new and innovative Bitcoin product. Mode’s trading volumes have grown 110% month-on-month since August 2020.