Josip Heit

Josip Heit
Born	1977 (age 48–49) Split, Croatia
Nationality	Croatian
Occupation	Entrepreneur, Fintech Strategist, Businessman
Known for	Founder of GSB Gold Standard Corporation AG; Senior Strategic Advisor to Apertum Holding Ltd.

Josip Heit is a Croatian-born entrepreneur, businessman, and fintech strategist recognized for his involvement in blockchain innovation and digital asset ecosystems. He is widely known for his strategic vision in emerging financial technologies and currently serves as Senior Strategic Advisor to Apertum Holding Ltd., a blockchain organization developing a next-generation Layer-1 decentralized ecosystem designed to bridge traditional finance with the evolving world of digital assets.

Early life

Josip Heit was born in 1977 in Split, Croatia. He later lived and worked in several European countries and studied economics in Germany. Heit is reported to speak multiple languages, including Croatian, German, English, Italian, Russian, Romanian, and French, which supported his international business activities and expansion across European and global markets.

He began his entrepreneurial career working in international trade, including the import and sale of vehicles and yachts. In subsequent years, he became involved in business activities related to natural resources, precious metals, and real estate.

In the 2010s, his activities expanded into precious metals trading, financial technology, and blockchain-related ventures, including projects associated with the GSB Group.

Career

Media activities

Josip Heit owns an international media group comprising 42 long-established daily newspapers across multiple continents, several of which have more than a century of publishing history.

Apertum

Josip Heit currently serves as Senior Strategic Advisor to Apertum Holding Ltd. Apertum is a leading general Layer-1 blockchain in the Avalanche ecosystem.

The platform is fully EVM-compatible, enabling developers to deploy smart contracts and scale decentralized applications (dApps) and decentralized finance (DeFi) services.

The ecosystem includes the APTM token, which operates on a deflationary token model within the Apertum ecosystem. Apertum supports ultra-fast transactions with a time-to-finality of 0.15–1.50 seconds and processes more than 4,500 transactions per second (TPS), outperforming Bitcoin, Ethereum, BNB, and Tron.

Apertum DEX & Chain has been fully integrated on CoinMarketCap. In 2025, the project received the Best Layer-1 Blockchain award at the Crypto.News and FinanceFeeds Awards, recognizing its development in decentralized infrastructure.

Alchemy Pay integrated Apertum, enabling the purchase of the $APTM token in approximately 173 countries using more than 50 fiat currencies and 300 fiat payment channels. CertiK conducted a full independent audit of Apertum smart contracts and confirmed its decentralized technology. The APTM token is traded on eight major cryptocurrency exchanges.

GSB Group

In 2013, Josip Heit founded GSB Gold Standard Corporation AG, a business group focused on fintech platforms, digital assets, and commodity-based projects such as gold. The ecosystem included the digital asset platform GSPartners and several blockchain-based financial products.

In 2020, Heit founded and became chairman of GSB Gold Standard Bank Ltd, focusing on decentralized technologies, digital payment systems, and blockchain-based communication networks. The project was associated with the concept of real-world asset tokenization (RWA), aiming to merge traditional physical assets — specifically gold — with blockchain technology to create a described "crisis-resilient" financial ecosystem.

As part of the ecosystem, the G999 blockchain was introduced in 2021 as infrastructure for payments and digital asset services. The project was presented at an international conference in Dubai, where its branding appeared on the facade of the Burj Khalifa.

Promotional campaigns featured German actress and model Sophia Thomalla, who appeared in advertising with Josip Heit displayed on digital screens at Times Square in New York City.

Lydian World

Within the GSB ecosystem, the metaverse project Lydian.World was introduced as a platform combining virtual environments with blockchain-based assets.

In May 2022, Lydian.World was presented during a global event at the Dubai Opera in Dubai, with appearances by former football players Roberto Carlos and David Trezeguet.

Professional boxer Floyd Mayweather Jr. served as an ambassador for Lydian. World and wore the brand during an exhibition bout against Don Moore in Abu Dhabi.

The brand was also promoted during the "Beautiful Game" exhibition football match in Miami, where players including Ronaldinho, Roberto Carlos, and Paul Pogba appeared as ambassadors of the project.

10th Anniversary Event

In 2023, the GSB Gold Standard Corporation AG 10th Anniversary Event took place at the Coca-Cola Arena in Dubai, bringing together approximately 2,500 GSPartners participants from around the world to mark the milestone.

Vision and philosophy

Josip Heit has publicly articulated several principles underlying his business philosophy:

• Technological sovereignty: Heit advocates for "digital sovereignty" through the development of blockchain competencies, with the goal of enabling individuals to manage their wealth independently of government intervention.

• Trust through transparency: He emphasizes that blockchain's decentralized nature provides an immutable ledger of transactions, which he argues makes fraudulent activity structurally difficult to conceal.

• Diversified integration: Beyond banking and digital assets, Heit's vision extends to tokenized real estate, sustainable mining, and media, with the objective of integrating blockchain transparency across multiple sectors.

Gallery

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External links

• Josip Heit – CryptoSlate profile
• Apertum (APTM) on CoinMarketCap
• Josip Heit on Apertum's strategic expansion – Decrypt