NEW YORK, August 13, 2015 — itBit, a financial services company leveraging traditional capital markets infrastructure and blockchain technology, today announced the appointment of Jim Manzi, former Chairman and CEO of Lotus Development Corporation, to the company’s Board of Directors, and Ed Giorgio, a 30-year veteran of the National Security Agency (NSA) and co-founder of Ponte Technologies, to the company’s Advisory Board.

“Jim and Ed are important additions for itBit, which will benefit from their extensive expertise developing products and growing companies in the technology sector,” said Chad Cascarilla, CEO and Co-Founder of itBit. “Jim brings over twenty years of investment experience developing and advising technology companies, and Ed’s expertise in cryptography and cybersecurity will help ensure that itBit’s bitcoin exchange and our next generation of blockchain-based products remain the safest and most secure in the industry.”

The pair comprise the latest additions to the company’s experienced leadership team. In May, itBit announced that former FDIC Chairman Sheila C. Bair, former U.S. Senator Bill Bradley and former FASB Chairman Robert H. Herz joined the company’s Board of Directors.

Jim Manzi

Jim Manzi is the former Chairman, President and CEO of Lotus Development Corporation. During his tenure, the company created Lotus Notes, a revolutionary software program, which was sold to IBM in 1995 for $3.5 billion. Through his investment company, Stonegate Capital, Manzi is involved in the development of a variety of technology start-ups. He is currently a director at Cargometrics, a quantitative investment management fund focused on proprietary global shipping information, and also serves as Chairman of Skyword, a content marketing company, and Chairman of Thermo Fisher Scientific, a scientific equipment manufacturer and service provider with revenues of $17 billion.

Ed Giorgio

Ed Giorgio co-founded Ponte Technologies, a cybersecurity company which was recently acquired by KEYW. He spent 30 years as an NSA mathematician, where he spearheaded developments in cryptanalysis, communications security and public key cryptography. In addition to designing the NSA’s first public key based email encryption system, Giorgio is the only person to have served as both the U.S. chief codemaker and, subsequently, chief codebreaker.

Originally published at www.itbit.com.