Blockchain.com adds Microsoft and Global X ETF executives to board

Blockchain.com appointed Lisa Nelson and Luis Berruga to its board, adding a former Microsoft executive and the CEO under whom Global X ETFs grew from a startup to $85 billion in assets under management.

Blockchain.com said the appointments bring experience in venture investing and ETF management. The company did not disclose board terms, committee assignments, executive reporting lines or specific strategic mandates, so the confirmed change consists of two new directors, not a defined executive role.

• Lisa Nelson: Nelson spent nearly 15 years in executive roles at Microsoft, covering finance, investor relations and business development. She co-founded M12, Microsoft's first venture fund, and served as its managing director. M12 invested hundreds of millions of dollars in more than 80 startups worldwide.
• Luis Berruga: Berruga served as CEO and board chair of Global X ETFs. During his leadership, the company grew from a startup into a platform with $85 billion in assets under management and more than 150 ETFs across four continents. He also serves as an independent director at SOL Strategies.

Nelson also serves on the boards of Banqer Software, Spark New Zealand and Brooks Running, extending her board experience beyond M12 and Microsoft. Berruga's independent directorship at SOL Strategies gives him a continuing role outside Global X ETFs.

The scale figures require separation by institution. The $85 billion represents Global X ETFs' platform-wide assets under management, not Blockchain.com's assets, while M12 invested hundreds of millions in its startup portfolio. Neither amount indicates capital committed to Blockchain.com. The $85 billion figure is best read as an aggregate across a platform with more than 150 ETFs, not as the assets of a single product. M12's hundreds of millions similarly describes aggregate capital deployed across more than 80 startups, not one investment.

What does the board expansion change for investors and partners?

For practitioners, the immediate change is the board's experience base, not Blockchain.com's product set or financing structure. Nelson brings nearly 15 years of corporate finance, investor-relations and business-development experience, plus direct experience in venture investment through M12. Berruga brings CEO and board-chair experience from an ETF platform that scaled beyond 150 products.

The two appointments also add different forms of institutional judgment. Nelson's Microsoft and M12 background centers on corporate funding and venture investment, while Berruga's record centers on product-platform scaling, ETF management and board oversight. Their existing directorships give both appointees experience evaluating governance from more than one boardroom.

It makes board composition a more concrete part of governance review, particularly where counterparties care about oversight, capital discipline and institutional readiness. It does not by itself prove that Blockchain.com will launch an ETF, pursue an acquisition, raise capital or give either director control over a business line. The announcement included no such plans.

The near-term test is whether the appointments lead to disclosed committee work, leadership mandates or changes in strategic priorities. Until Blockchain.com provides those details, the verified market-structure change is confined to governance: two new directors, with no announced shift in products or capital.