The decade of mass adoption begins with CEO Sanja Kon UTRUST Follow Feb 20 · 5 min read

Utrust is entering a new era for the company with a change in CEO from Nuno Correia to Sanja Kon

2017. That’s the year Nuno Correia founded Utrust with a driving declaration — “We will be the first payment system to let regular people use digital currencies in their daily life.”

That ambitious vision grabbed the attention of the merciless tech arena and cryptocurrency users everywhere. Just three years ago, the “digital currencies” industry was still shrouded in mystery. Now? It’s becoming even more mainstream.

Utrust has spent the last three years building the foundations for what was always envisioned as more than just a simple fintech company. The start of a new decade feels powerfully symbolic. For Utrust to grow, we needed to do our part in something that would have to be tantamount to societal change. We have to ensure adoption.

Nuno’s vision for Utrust has always been about the big ideas, and it’s that vision that has got us here. As the company grows, however, the need arose for someone who would put their mind directly to the operation of the company to step in as CEO. Utrust has always emphasized its people, and playing to their strengths. Sanja’s experience with some of the world’s fastest growing market leaders made her the ideal candidate.

The Utrust company, under Founder & CEO Nuno Correia, can take pride in the fact that what we’ve accomplished has built Utrust into the powerhouse it is today.

We are taking over the world

We are gearing up for a new scaling cycle, and it’s not going to be a small change. The twenties of the new millennium are going to be the decade in which mass adoption of digital currencies happens on a global level. Governments are going to start their own digital currencies. It is estimated that 20% of the world’s population will have access to government issued digital currencies in the next three years alone. And it’s not just governments. The Deutsche Bank says mainstream adoption is all but inevitable in the next few years. This is more than an expectation, or a pipe-dream, this is the reality of this industry and we are going to be ready for it. Utrust is transitioning from a startup to a full scaleup business and that means taking advantage of our most important asset: our people.

Enter Chairman Nuno

Nuno Correia, our former CEO, will become Chairman & President of the Board, and his focus will shift to planning Utrust’s future and long-term objectives. Nuno’s vision and drive have shaped Utrust from the get-go, and this won’t change. He isn’t going anywhere. Here’s what he had to say about these changes:

“The scope of what we’ve accomplished with Utrust in the last few years has been a dream come true as CEO, but it pales in comparison to what we’re going to achieve in the next decade. This felt like the exact right moment to shift my focus from daily operations towards planning that future, and preparing for a decade in which digital currencies are going to truly enter people’s lives. The fact that Sanja was ready to step in, and knowing that I could leave daily operations of the company in such capable hands, was all the reassurance I needed.”

Sanja Kon, the CEO for the new decade

Sanja has been with Utrust since 2018, serving as vice-president for Global Partnerships. She knows the company from top to bottom, and what Utrust has become since she joined has been the fruit of her hard work and vision. Her prior experience working for multinational global leaders such as Vodafone, and her roles as Head of European Partner Development at eBay or Head of Marketplaces and Largest Enterprise Partnerships at PayPal, make her the perfect leader to drive Utrust’s expansion. She will lead the process of aligning the business for success, focusing on growth and creating a leadership culture that will make sure everyone on the team is at their very best.

Sanja sat down with us to record an interview in which she gives us some unique insights into what she envisions for Utrust, and it’s extremely exciting. You can watch it right here.

What will the future of Utrust look like with CEO Sanja?

A lot of the changes are going to be internal, as Sanja has a very clear vision about what the company needs to do to make sure the transition to scaleup is smooth. However, the real transformation will be in the scope of what we do in the market. The goal is to make it so that every merchant can accept digital currencies via our platform. Every single one.

Sanja has a plan to achieve this. The first year is crucial, and will set us up for the future. The first quarter will see a heavy focus on automating processes. We want to make onboarding merchants, settlements, refunds and withdrawals as seamless as our payments themselves. The second quarter will see us accepting a lot more merchants without the aid of human hands, and work begin on a stable coin. Stable coins will allow us to reach an audience that may be put off by market fluctuations. On the third quarter, we will focus on strategy and utilities. You can expect staking and cashback programs on the Utrust Wallet, and the beginning of our merchant referral program. The fourth quarter will be all about exploring new possibilities for Utrust, and using the experience of 2020 to guide us into 2021. We have written a blogpost with all the details about our roadmap for this year, so you should definitely check it out here.

Here’s how Sanja sees the road ahead:

“I have built my career on helping massive companies achieve their potential. Utrust has the people, the tools and the opportunity to be one of those companies. I know these things when I see them, and that’s why I was thrilled to accept the opportunity of helping this vision become a reality. We will lead the mass adoption of digital currency payments in the next decade”

Utrust is growing, and we will continue to do so. As the world adopts digital currencies, we will be there every step of the way, making absolutely sure that everyone who joins us for this journey can take full advantage of the awesome power of this technology.

To the decade of mass adoption, to President Nuno, and to CEO Sanja Kon 🥂