Catena Labs Expands Executive Team, Appoints Global Payments and Fintech Leader Sharda Caro Del Castillo as Chief Legal and Business Officer

Business Wire

2 days ago

SAN FRANCISCO--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Catena Labs, a pioneer in AI and stablecoin financial services, today announced the appointment of Sharda Caro Del Castillo as Chief Legal and Business Officer. Caro Del Castillo brings to the company over two decades of legal, compliance, strategic and operational expertise from leadership roles at Affirm, Airbnb, Square, PayPal and Wells Fargo.
'Sharda's unique combination of skills and experience makes her the ideal leader to work with partners, regulators, and policymakers to realize our vision for an agentic economy...," said Sean Neville, co-founder and CEO at Catena.
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Catena faces legal and compliance challenges as it seeks to establish a regulated financial institution delivering a new class of financial services designed from the ground up for stablecoins and AI. The company plans to offer financial products that enable AI agents to execute secure, reliable financial transactions that are fully compliant with regulatory requirements.
'We're building the regulated financial institution that businesses will need as a trustworthy partner to realize the tremendous potential of agentic commerce and stablecoins,' said Sean Neville, co-founder and CEO at Catena. 'Sharda's unique combination of skills and experience makes her the ideal leader to work with partners, regulators, and policymakers to realize our vision for an agentic economy built on regulated stablecoin infrastructure.'
Caro Del Castillo most recently served as Chief Legal Officer at Affirm, where she crafted the legal framework for its core product, Pay in Four, which laid the groundwork for an initial public offering. Prior to that, she worked as Global Head of Payments, General Counsel, and Chief Compliance Officer for Airbnb's payments business, overseeing strategy and operations around the world. She also held senior legal positions at Square and PayPal, and began her career at Wells Fargo, supporting merchant services and emerging payment models. Caro Del Castillo currently serves on the boards of GoFundMe, Forter and Payoneer.
'I've spent my career working at the leading edge of fintech innovation, collaborating closely with regulators and partners to build new products that create value for customers, and, at the same time, protect the public interest,' said Sharda Caro Del Castillo, Chief Legal and Business Officer. 'Catena provides an exceptional opportunity to drive another step change in the financial system by leveraging AI innovation and stablecoins, with a mission to make the financial ecosystem more stable, accessible and inclusive at a global scale.'
In May, Catena released the open-source Agent Commerce Kit (ACK), which introduces foundational building blocks for agentic commerce, including agent identity and payments. On top of this foundation, Catena plans to deliver a new class of financial services agentic commerce.
About Catena Labs
Catena Labs is building a regulated financial institution designed for the AI era. The company is developing new financial infrastructure and services to enable AI agents, businesses, and consumers to participate safely and efficiently in the growing AI-driven economy. Catena is actively seeking collaboration with developers, businesses, and partners involved in the AI space and working with stablecoins.