Diogo Mónica

Diogo Mónica is a Portuguese-American entrepreneur and engineer who is the co-founder of Anchorage Digital, a cryptocurrency and digital asset platform headquartered in the United States. Prior to founding Anchorage, he led cybersecurity at companies like Square and Docker.

Diogo Mónica
Born
EducationPhD in computer science
Alma materInstituto Superior Técnico
Occupations
  • Entrepreneur
  • Engineer
Years active2011–present
Known forCo-founder and president of Anchorage Digital
Websitediogomonica.com

Early life and education

Diogo Mónica was born in the U.S. state of California, but was raised primarily in Portugal.[1] His father was a captain in the Portuguese Navy.[2] Mónica attended the Instituto Superior Técnico (IST) in Taguspark,[3] earning a bachelor's degree in telecommunications and informatics engineering[4] and a master's degree in communication networks engineering.[5] He ultimately earned his PhD in computer science at IST.[6]

Career

While still at university, Mónica presented a paper at a conference in the United States, garnering job offers from Google and Facebook. He opted to take a job with the startup payment platform, Square (now Block),[3] as lead security engineer. While working at Square, Mónica identified an issue with the online reservation service, OpenTable, that let users create bots to reserve tables as soon as a reservation became available. He also wrote code that would allow other users to do the same,[7] publishing the code and his findings on his eponymous blog.[8]

In 2015, Mónica left Square[3] to become the security lead at the software company, Docker.[9] Throughout his time at Square and Docker, he was also a member of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, chairing the institute's Public Visibility Committee for a time.[10] In November 2017, he co-founded digital asset platform Anchorage Digital with Nathan McCauley, whom he had met while working at Square.[3] Mónica is the president of Anchorage,[11] which has the first federally chartered cryptocurrency bank in the United States[12] and received a valuation of over $3 billion in 2021.[13]

References

  1. Hussey, Matt (23 October 2019). "Anchorage founder Diogo Monica: Anything short of excellence is a threat to the industry". Yahoo!. Retrieved 22 March 2022.
  2. Tomé, João (3 July 2021). "Anchorage, o novo unicórnio a falar português? "Queremos é abrir as criptomoedas ao mundo"". Dinheiro Vivo (in Portuguese). Retrieved 22 March 2022.
  3. Fernandes, Filipe S. (23 November 2021). "O criptobanqueiro". Jornal de Negócios (in Portuguese). Retrieved 22 March 2022.
  4. "Diogo Mónica is among the 100 most influential people in crypto". Instituto Superior Técnico. 22 March 2021. Retrieved 22 March 2022.
  5. "Técnico alumnus is among Fortune 40 Under 40 list of most influential people in the world". Instituto Superior Técnico. 4 September 2020. Retrieved 22 March 2022.
  6. Ferreira Nunes, Diogo (7 September 2020). "Há um português entre os melhores talentos sub-40". Dinheiro Vivo (in Portuguese). Retrieved 22 March 2022.
  7. Rao, Tejal (25 September 2013). "Coveted Restaurant Reservations Without the Groveling". The New York Times. Retrieved 22 March 2022.
  8. Parsons, Russ (25 July 2013). "Are reservation robots the next weapon in snagging the hottest seats?". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 22 March 2022.
  9. Graham, Luke (23 March 2016). "BMO to launch biometric credit card program". CNBC. Retrieved 22 March 2022.
  10. Bilton, Nick (16 April 2015). "Why keeping your car keys in the freezer may protect you from digital thieves". Australian Financial Review. Retrieved 22 March 2022.
  11. Lenihan, Rob (14 March 2022). "The European Union Delivers Great News to Crypto Fans and Investors". TheStreet. Retrieved 22 March 2022.
  12. Yue, Frances (21 December 2021). "'No longer just bitcoin and ether': Crypto industry braces for wider adoption, more competition and perhaps regulatory clarity in 2022". MarketWatch. Retrieved 22 March 2022.
  13. Dillet, Romain (15 December 2021). "Crypto company Anchorage raises $350 million at $3 billion valuation". TechCrunch. Retrieved 22 March 2022.
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