Utexo, the team developing Bitcoin-native yield and payment infrastructure via the RGB protocol, has appointed Federico Tenga to its advisory board. Tenga, a leading authority on RGB and a core architect of its development, currently serves as R&D Strategist within the Bitfinex and Tether ecosystem, where he leads the RGB protocol implementation, the RGB Lightning node, and critical developer tooling. His addition marks a significant step in Utexo’s goal to build foundational infrastructure for stablecoin issuance and global payments on Bitcoin.
“Federico is one of the people building the RGB ecosystem at the protocol level,” said Viktor Ihnatiuk, CEO of Utexo. “His decision to join Utexo’s advisory board reinforces how closely aligned we are with the future direction of Bitcoin. Federico brings deep technical expertise, and his insight will help ensure Utexo continues to push forward Bitcoin-native stablecoin infrastructure.”
Tenga leads the Bitfinex team developing key RGB components, including the RGB Lightning node and Iris Wallet, a mobile application that provides a user-friendly interface for RGB-based assets. His team also created rgb-lib, an open-source Rust library that simplifies development on RGB. This tooling supports the broader ecosystem in which Utexo operates.
The appointment strengthens Utexo’s strategic alignment with Tether, which co-led the company’s $7.5 million seed round. Tenga’s role within the Bitfinex and Tether ecosystem creates a direct technical link between Utexo and the teams integrating USDT on Bitcoin via RGB. “Utexo represents one of the most compelling real-world implementations of RGB today,” Tenga said. “The team is focused on solving payment and liquidity challenges using Bitcoin as the base layer. The opportunity to help shape how stablecoins operate natively on Bitcoin at both the protocol and application level is compelling.”
Before his current role, Tenga co-founded Chainside, an Italian Bitcoin payment processor that enabled merchants to accept Bitcoin, including through a partnership with itTaxi, Italy’s largest taxi network. He also contributed to blockchain policy as a member of the Italian Ministry of Economic Development’s national blockchain task force. His involvement provides Utexo with direct visibility into RGB’s evolution, including emerging standards, performance improvements, and developer tooling.
With Tenga joining its advisory board, Utexo continues to expand its technical leadership across Bitcoin, stablecoins, and financial infrastructure. For more information about Utexo, visit https://www.utexo.com.
