Melbourne-basedPepperstone has appointed Nigel Fernandes as Chief Technology Officer,effective 1 October 2026. Fernandes will oversee the broker’s global technologyoperations as the company increases its focus on developing and owning more ofits technology.The appointmentfollows Pepperstone’s expansion into spot crypto in Australia. The broker launchedits dedicated crypto exchange in February 2026, initially offering Bitcoin,Ethereum, Solana, USDC and USDT against the Australian dollar. The launchexpanded Pepperstone’s business beyond its established FX and CFD operations.Fernandes will oversee technology functions supporting this broader business,including engineering, architecture, security and data.Fernandes Brings over 20 Years’ExperienceFernandes will reportto Pepperstone Group CEO Tamas Szabo and will be based at the company’s globalheadquarters in Melbourne.Fernandes joinsPepperstone from Xero, where he is SVP and Executive General Manager ofEngineering. He leads a global engineering organisation covering cloudplatforms, customer identity and data.He has more than 20years of technology leadership experience across financial services, retail,media and enterprise software. Before joining Xero, Fernandes held senior rolesat Publicis Sapient, Coles Group, SEEK and Envato.Pepperstone Expands Technology AcrossCrypto and AIPepperstone said theappointment comes as itexpands its technology strategy across crypto, artificial intelligence andinstitutional-grade infrastructure. The company also plans to broaden itsfintech offering and develop more of its own technology.Fernandes said hisfocus would be on “investing in the technology we own” and building anAI-native engineering foundation. He said this would support faster and morereliable access to trading tools.Szabo said technologywas “core to everything we do” as Pepperstone expands into a broader fintechecosystem. He also said the company was seeking to provide access to crypto andnew markets while developing a more personalised client experience.The appointment adds adedicated technology leadership role as Pepperstone continues to expand beyondits traditional online trading business. Fernandes will take responsibility forthe technology functions supporting that expansion from October.This article was written by Tareq Sikder at www.financemagnates.com.