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CoinPayments founder Alex Alexandrov has been appointed Group CEO, returning to the top executive role as the digital-asset payments company adds senior finance, revenue and sales leaders. The company announced the appointments on October 2, 2026, and said Alexandrov succeeds Ali Rafi, who is leaving to pursue other opportunities.
CoinPayments said it has processed more than $50 billion in transaction volume since launching in 2013, supported payments for more than 250,000 merchants and served over one million wallet users. Those figures and the leadership changes were provided in the company announcement distributed by Chainwire; the release did not include financial results, a breakdown of transaction activity or an implementation timetable for its stated growth plans.
Founder takes the chief executive role
Alexandrov founded CoinPayments in 2013 and served as chairman for much of the company’s growth, according to the announcement. He said the digital-assets landscape had changed since the company began and described the new leadership group as part of an effort to build on its existing platform.
The announcement did not specify the effective date of Alexandrov’s appointment or describe changes to the company’s ownership or board. It also offered no details about Rafi’s departure beyond saying he was pursuing new opportunities.
Three senior hires announced
CoinPayments named Simon Dewsbury Group Chief Financial Officer. The company said he brings more than 15 years of experience in traditional financial services, regulatory compliance and capital strategy, but did not provide further details about his previous positions.
Nigel Brook-Walters joins as Group Chief Revenue Officer. CoinPayments said he has more than 25 years of experience in wealth and asset management, financial services and strategic partnerships, and most recently served as Markets Lead for Wealth and Asset Management at KPMG.
Stacy Belf was appointed Head of Sales for North America after an 11-year tenure at State Street, the announcement said. It did not detail the scope of her former role or specify regional sales targets for the new position.
Leadership chronology
The appointment follows earlier changes at the company. In a 2025 announcement, CoinPayments introduced Ali Rafi as its new CEO, saying he would lead efforts to scale operations and develop the business. The October 2 release now identifies Alexandrov as Rafi’s successor.
CoinPayments also announced in 2022 that Dennis Pederson had been appointed CEO. The company’s public announcements therefore show multiple chief executive transitions over several years, although the latest release does not lay out the full sequence of interim leadership arrangements or explain the timing of each change.
What the announcement leaves unclear
The company framed the appointments as supporting a new phase of growth and market expansion, but did not name specific markets, products, investment plans or milestones. It also did not explain how the new executives’ responsibilities will be divided or whether the company intends to make further leadership appointments.
CoinPayments described its business as providing infrastructure for businesses and consumers to send, receive and manage digital currencies. Its transaction-volume, merchant and wallet-user totals are company-reported figures; the announcement did not provide a measurement period, methodology or independent verification for those metrics.
The release did not include comment from Rafi or the newly appointed executives. No further dates or scheduled corporate actions were disclosed alongside the leadership announcement.
