We are pleased to announce the appointment of Adam Popat as Chief Executive Officer, effective June 2025. Adam Popat, who previously served as the company's Chief Financial Officer, succeeds Co-Founder and former CEO Matthew Van Niekerk, who will continue with SettleMint as President and lead the company’s commercial operations. In his new role, Adam Popat will join the Board of SettleMint and relocate to Dubai, reflecting the importance of the Middle East region to SettleMint’s growth plans.
"We are pleased to announce Adam's promotion to CEO, as part of a planned succession," said Matthew Van Niekerk, Co-Founder and now President of SettleMint. "Adam’s financial expertise, strategic vision, and execution focus have been instrumental in our development over the last 12 months. Given his decade of experience in the digital asset space with a top-tier global financial institution, we are confident in his ability to establish SettleMint as the leading asset tokenization and blockchain company globally."
Adam Popat brings 20 years of experience in finance, investment, and M&A to his new role. At Standard Chartered, Adam led the bank’s market-leading adoption of digital assets and blockchain technology. He also co-led all fund, investment, fundraising, and M&A activities for SC Ventures, managing multiple funds and leading investment teams. Prior to this, Adam was a Managing Director in Standard Chartered’s Group Corporate Development team and CFO of the bank’s business in Vietnam. His notable achievements include leading the spin-out of SC Private Equity and managing the sale of a $3.5 billion private equity asset portfolio.
"I am honored to take on the role of CEO, as we seek to establish SettleMint as the world’s leading asset tokenization and blockchain company”, said Adam Popat. “I am looking forward to continuing to work with Matthew, Roderik, our board, and investors to build on the great foundations they have laid for SettleMint. Asset tokenization is taking off globally, and we are excited to leverage our market-leading capabilities to support our clients in harnessing the power of blockchain technology.” Mr. Popat's international background, with experience living and working in seven countries and speaking four languages, aligns with SettleMint's global client base and expansion plans.
Matthew Van Niekerk founded SettleMint in 2016 following extensive research and experimentation with blockchain technology in enterprise settings. In his new role as President, he will oversee the company’s commercial operations, with a focus on business development and strategic partnerships.
Van Niekerk previously held senior positions at KBC, including Chief Operating Officer for the Belgian Consumer Finance business and Head of Platform Innovation at KBC Securities, where he oversaw the Bolero online brokerage platform and launched Bolero Crowdfunding. This platform became the first bank-operated blockchain application available to the public in Europe.
Co-Founder and CTO Roderik van der Veer remains in his current role, continuing to lead our technical development and platform innovation. Van der Veer has over a decade of experience in digital transformation and regularly speaks about blockchain technology at industry events.
SettleMint is the blockchain transformation company that makes asset tokenization accessible for enterprises. Our platform and Asset Tokenization Kit enable organizations to develop, deploy, and operate tokenized assets while providing development teams with comprehensive support and guidance.
Our all-in-one platform allows web2 developers to build on web3 infrastructure, accelerating the journey from concept to production-ready solutions. We hold SOC 2 Type 2 certification and work with banks and other highly regulated industries to ensure compliant and secure blockchain implementations.
Founded in 2016 and headquartered in Brussels, Belgium, SettleMint serves clients globally across multiple industries seeking to implement blockchain technology and asset tokenization solutions.
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For more information about SettleMint, visit: https://www.settlemint.com/