The Open Network Foundation (TON Foundation) has confirmed the appointment of Nikola Plecas as its new vice president of payment. According to a blog post released on Wednesday, Plecas previously worked with popular payment merchant Visa as a top executive.
As revealed, during his time with the payment processor, he championed various crypto initiatives, helping Visa to enjoy a successful expansion to the sector. More so, the announcement highlighted how Plecas helped with crypto product development and global commercialization while at Visa.
Additionally, he masterminded the development of the company’s virtual currency engagement model for users in Europe. The appointment of Plecas surfaced shortly after the decentralized stablecoin platform Ethena collaborated with TON to make its collection of stablecoins available to users of the network.
The partnership indicated the growing focus of The Open Network towards payment infrastructure. With the presence of Plecas at the helm of TON’s affairs, the network will enhance its focus on payment facilities.
How Nikola Plecas will help TON build new payment infrastructures
Following his appointment with TON, the expert will help develop and implement a new payment infrastructure strategy for the company. While reacting to the appointment, Plecas described how joining the TON Foundation is a good opportunity to innovate the future of payment on a global scale.
Similarly, the CEO of TON Foundation, Max Crown underlined how payment is an integral part of TON’s roadmap. The CEO went on to emphasize how Plecas’s experience and vision for scaling payment systems will help enhance the company’s growth.
Also, TON established that Plecas as the vice president of payment is commissioned to expand the project’s offering. Similarly, the new TON executive will ensure the company’s compliance with various regulatory regimes across the globe.
As indicated, Plecas will oversee financial partnerships on behalf of the organization, supporting the establishment to hit a new height. Leveraging his experience with Visa, TON Foundation disclosed that Plecase will champion the pursuit of payment infrastructure that is globally interoperable.
Furthermore, the company said the payment architecture will be vast enough to cater to the growing demands of developers and end users alike.
However, the appointment of the former Visa executive will further establish TON as a force to reckon with in the digital assets sector, contributing to its growing popularity. It is worth mentioning that in September 2024, Bitget and Foresight, a venture capital firm invested $30 million to support the advancement of the TON blockchain.
According to a Binbits report, the investment is aimed at supporting apps based on the TON network to scale and gain market attention. With the investment, the two investors became prominent contributors to the governance of the network.