Hedera CFO Betsabe Botaitis Selected as Top Honoree at Nasdaq’s Latina Disruptors Event
Hedera’s Chief Finance Officer, Betsabe Botaitis, has been honored for her accomplishments in technology and finance at an event celebrating the achievements of Latina business leaders
8th December, 2022 - Betsabe Botaitis, an internationally accomplished strategist and fintech executive championing financial inclusion, has been named as a top honoree with the DealMakeHers Latina Disruptors, celebrated at a Nasdaq event in San Francisco. Botaitis, who has extensive experience in distributed ledger technology (DLT) and traditional finance, was recently appointed as Chief Finance Officer and Treasurer of Hedera, the most innovative, sustainable, enterprise-grade public ledger for the decentralized economy.
Betsabe Botaitis, CFO and Treasurer at Hedera, commented: “I’m delighted to receive this recognition from the Dealmakehers, which is currently doing some vital work highlighting the impact of Latinas in the world of business. I have witnessed firsthand the huge importance of financial inclusion, so it has naturally become something I strive to promote in my work and career. I’m grateful for this honor, and I feel very optimistic about how I can further this work through my recent appointment at Hedera, a DLT network that enables numerous impactful use cases for financial inclusion around the world.”
Botaitis is an internationally accomplished strategist with more than 15 years of experience at large financial institutions and blockchain and cryptocurrency startups. As Treasurer and CFO at Hedera, she provides leadership on Hedera’s financial goals and objectives, while overseeing the financial management of the network’s treasury.
Hedera, which supports a number of different use cases for payments, has been utilized for numerous initiatives to promote financial inclusion. EMTECH, a software company modernizing central banking infrastructure for financial inclusion and resilience was built on Hedera by Founder and CEO Carmelle Cadet. EMTECH partners include the Bank of Ghana, the Central Bank of the Bahamas, and WiPay Caribbean. In 2021, Hedera also partnered with Standard Bank, the largest African bank by assets held to address pain points impacting cross-border payments.
Botaitis said: “One of the things that really drew me towards my current role at Hedera was the sense of alignment I had with Hedera’s vision to cut down settlement periods and bottlenecks involved in cross-border trade, while bringing Central Bank Digital Currencies (CBDCs) to wider audiences interested in cryptocurrencies – eliminating volatility while offering speed and transparency to end-users. The future of financial inclusion looks brighter and brighter as we move forward, and I’m eager to ensure Hedera continues to remain at the forefront of this important movement.”
Prior to joining Hedera, Botaitis held various senior positions at renowned companies including Uplift, Kueski (Mexico’s largest BNPL), Lending Club, and Citigroup. While at Citigroup, Botaitis became an expert on financial inclusion and fintech, and was the global director of Finance and Operations for the departments of Community Development and Microfinance (later renamed Financial Inclusion). Here Botaitis oversaw the funding of many programs in partnership with NGOs, CDFIs, and other community-based organizations. This ultimately led to her becoming the CFO and cofounder of AIKON, a startup enabling the first DLT-based API marketplace to provide equal opportunity to software developers across the globe, giving them a chance to be paid fairly for their work.
Nasdaq’s Latina Disruptors event was created to highlight the impact that Latina entrepreneurs and leaders have within the realms of business, finance, and tech. Making up 20% of the total US population, Latinos contribute more than $800 billion to the American economy each year, employing around 3,000,000 workers with more than $100 billion in annual payroll. Data also shows that Latina-owned businesses grew at double the rate compared to non-Hispanic female-owned businesses from 2012 to 2019. Nasdaq’s Latina Disruptors attracts representatives from the world of Latina business, as well as media from Hispanic and general market media including TechCrunch, CNBC, MSNBC, and Pitchbook.
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About Hedera
The Hedera network is the most innovative, sustainable public ledger for the decentralized economy. Hedera’s robust ecosystem is built by a global community, on a network governed by a diverse council of industry-leading organizations, including abrdn, Avery Dennison, Boeing, Chainlink Labs, DBS Bank, Dentons, Deutsche Telekom, DLA Piper, EDF (Électricité de France), eftpos, FIS (WorldPay), Google, IBM, the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), LG Electronics, The London School of Economics (LSE), Magalu, Nomura Holdings, ServiceNow, Shinhan Bank, Standard Bank Group, Swirlds, Tata Communications, Ubisoft, University College London (UCL), Wipro, and Zain Group.
For more information, visit www.hedera.com, or follow us on Twitter at @hedera, Telegram at t.me/hederahashgraph, or Discord at www.hedera.com/discord. The Hedera whitepaper can be found at www.hedera.com/papers.