NatGold Digital Appoints Laurian Cristea to Board and as Strategic Advisor

Cristea brings wealth of experience to support company's digital mining model and growth.

Mar. 16, 2026 at 10:49pm

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NatGold Digital Ltd., a digital mining company focused on tokenizing in-ground gold resources, announced the appointment of Laurian Cristea to its Board of Directors as an independent non-executive director, and separately as strategic advisor to the Chief Executive Officer. Cristea has extensive experience in digital markets, digital assets, and regulatory strategy, which will be valuable as NatGold advances its tokenization efforts and evaluates future product opportunities.

Why it matters

NatGold's blockchain-based approach to digitizing gold resources aims to unlock the intrinsic value of gold in a modern digital assets framework. Cristea's appointment reflects the company's focus on building an experienced team to guide its strategic direction as it moves toward its initial tokenization event and explores potential expansion into other derivative and exchange-traded products.

The details

Cristea is currently General Counsel of a derivatives exchange and clearinghouse regulated by the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission. Previously, he was a partner at Barnes & Thornburg LLP, where he led the firm's financial innovation practice. He also served as General Counsel of Cboe Digital, formerly ErisX, where he played a key role in shaping the firm's regulatory strategy in advance of its acquisition by Cboe. Earlier in his career, Cristea held senior legal and regulatory roles with an international clearinghouse group based in London and served as an attorney with the CFTC's Division of Market Oversight.

  • NatGold announced Cristea's appointment on March 16, 2026.

The players

Laurian Cristea

An independent non-executive director on NatGold's Board of Directors and strategic advisor to the Chief Executive Officer. Cristea has extensive experience in digital markets, digital assets, and regulatory strategy.

Mark Radke

Chair of the Board of NatGold Digital Ltd.

Andrés Fernández

Chief Executive Officer of NatGold Digital Ltd.

NatGold Digital Ltd.

A digital mining company unlocking the intrinsic value of in-ground gold resources through blockchain-based tokenization.

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What they’re saying

“I am delighted to join the Board of NatGold and support a company that is advancing a distinctive and forward-looking model. NatGold's approach to digital mining reflects an important evolution in how gold's intrinsic value can be identified, preserved and made accessible in a modern digital assets framework. I am excited to contribute to the Company's continued growth and future direction.”

— Laurian Cristea

“We are very pleased to welcome Laurian to NatGold as both a director and advisor to the CEO. He brings valuable experience, sound judgment and a perspective that is highly relevant to the Company's strategic direction. We believe his contributions in both capacities will be meaningful as NatGold continues to advance its digital mining model and broader corporate objectives.”

— Mark Radke, Chair of the Board of NatGold Digital Ltd.

“Laurian's appointment comes at a pivotal stage in NatGold's development. As we move rapidly toward our initial tokenization event, his deep experience across digital markets, digital assets and end-to-end tokenization strategy will be highly valuable. His perspective will also help inform our post-tokenization product strategy as we continue to evaluate the broader future potential of the NatGold platform, including areas of opportunity that may extend to other derivative and exchange-traded products – an outlook also reflected in one of the Company's recent video releases.”

— Andrés Fernández, Chief Executive Officer of NatGold Digital Ltd.

What’s next

NatGold plans to move rapidly toward its initial tokenization event, with Cristea's experience expected to provide valuable guidance on the company's digital assets strategy and future product opportunities.

The takeaway

NatGold's appointment of an experienced digital markets and regulatory expert like Laurian Cristea underscores the company's commitment to building a strong leadership team to support its innovative approach to digitizing gold resources and unlocking their intrinsic value through blockchain-based tokenization.