JPMorgan’s blockchain arm, Kinexys, went through a lot of changes in 2025. The team’s London-based co-head Tyrone Lobban tragically died in January. A new co-head was appointed, but other senior people have since left. Now, at the start of 2026, Kinexys’ other initial co-head is departing too.
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Singapore-based Naveen Mallela announced his departure from JPMorgan earlier today, after 11 years at the bank. He held a number of roles before joining Kinexys, including the head of innovation for global technology in JPMorgan’s Singapore tech hub. Mallela has held a leadership role at Kinexys since 2020, and was promoted to MD in 2022 while in the role. A JPMorgan spokesperson said that the bank wishes him well in his future endeavours and plans to name a replacement soon.
Kinexys’ remaining co-head is Kara Kennedy, an executive director based in Edinburgh that has spent four and a half years at the bank. She previously spent eight years at BNY Mellon in London, latterly working on blockchain technology. Bloomberg reported that she was appointed in August to run its tokenization projects and blockchain research division; Mallela ran the payments division, including its ‘information exchange network’ Liink.
Kinexys is still hiring despite the leadership turbulence. The bank has 11 openings in Kinexys across London, Singapore and the US. In Jersey City, it’s hiring a principal program manager on a salary of up to $265k.
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