Halifax-based blockchain cybersecurity company Nodalblock Canada Holdings has named Joel Leetzow its new President and Chief Executive Officer, taking over from Daniel Faria, who is remaining with the company.

Leetzow, who is also joining the board of directors, comes to Halifax from Calgary, where he has spent 25 years in the tech industry.  He was most recently President and CEO of Cortex Business Solutions, which he sold to Tranzap P2P in January for more than $45 million.

"We are very pleased that Joel will be joining our team as President and CEO," said Nodalblock Chair Jim Megann in a statement. "His extensive experience in the tech sector and strong operational background will be of tremendous benefit, and his proven track record of delivering on sales and technical deployments will be invaluable to the advancement of the company's corporate strategy."

While Nodalblock was founded in Madrid and has 15 employees in the Spanish capital, it received investment last year from Halifax-based Numus Financial, which assembled an executive team in Halifax, including Faria. The company has a range of products including digital identity, document verification and ticket distribution.

Nodalblock's mobile ticket delivery system dramatically reduces counterfeit ticket and scalping occurrences. The company's ticketing delivery system works in conjunction with established ticketing solutions providers, replaces paper tickets, and can provide track and trace accountability for all tickets issued and transferred.

"The company has developed a best-in-class cybersecurity and digital identity platform capable of reshaping the idea of a secure internet,” said Leetzow. “The platform's ability to provide a very complex layer of data encryption behind standard facial recognition technologies without diminishing the user experience of facial recognition login is incredibly exciting. The world needs a passive security screening tool that doesn't miss, and the team at Nodalblock has invented one.”