Hjortur Hjartarson is an Icelandic entrepreneur, designer, and executive known as a co-founder and the Chief Operating Officer of the e-money and digital assets company Monerium. His career began in creative direction and design before he transitioned into the technology sector, where he has focused on digital product design, operational management, and cross-border payment solutions. Before Monerium, he co-founded the technology startup Appvise and was an early participant in the cryptocurrency space. ^[3]

Career

Kapital

Hjartarson's career began in 2003 when he co-founded Kapital, described as both a software company and an advertising agency. In his capacity as a co-founder, he also served as a manager, creative director, and designer. He remained with the company for over 8 years, contributing to a wide variety of advertising and design projects that laid the foundation for his design expertise. ^[2]​

Appvise

In 2011, Hjartarson shifted his focus to technology by co-founding Appvise with Gisli Kristjansson. As co-founder, Hjartarson took on the roles of Head of Design and Operations, overseeing the company's design direction and operations. Appvise's mission was to "enable a borderless internet, removing virtual barriers." The company focused on developing cross-border digital tools and researching solutions to address persistent frictions in international payments, transfers, and remittances.

During their time at Appvise, Hjartarson and Kristjansson began experimenting with early cryptocurrencies. They integrated Bitcoin as a payment option, an experience that gave them firsthand insight into the challenges of the nascent digital currency landscape, including issues related to high transaction fees and the jurisdictional inequalities present in global payment systems. This exploration of cryptocurrencies and their application to real-world payment problems was a formative experience that directly influenced Hjartarson's later ventures. Hjartarson's work at Appvise and his direct engagement with the challenges of early digital currencies led to deeper involvement in the blockchain ecosystem. Alongside Kristjansson, he became an early participant in the Ethereum Initial Coin Offering (ICO) around 2014. ^{[1] [2]}​

Monerium

In 2015, Hjartarson co-founded Monerium, leveraging his background in digital product design and his experience with cross-border technology tools from his time at Appvise. The company was formed in the wake of the global financial crisis with the goal of creating a bridge between traditional finance and blockchains. Hjartarson co-founded the company with Jon Helgi Egilsson, Sveinn Valfells, and his previous business partner, Kristjansson. He serves as Monerium's Chief Operating Officer (COO).

As COO, Hjartarson helped build Monerium as an on-chain fiat platform designed to make digital currency accessible, secure, and easy to use. Monerium operated as a licensed Electronic Money Institution in Iceland, giving it the authority to issue e-money on public blockchains under EU e-money rules and later MiCA. During his tenure as co-founder, the company developed products such as EURe, a regulated euro-denominated token issued on networks like Ethereum, Polygon, and Gnosis; Web3 IBAN, which enabled automatic conversion of incoming euros into EURe for blockchain wallets; and the Monerium API, which supported developers building payment applications with integrated fiat on

• and off-ramps. Hjartarson was also involved in advancing partnerships with organizations across the Web3 ecosystem, including MetaMask, Gnosis Pay, Safe, Aave, Balancer, and CoW Swap. ^{[1] [3]}​