The crypto market has been volatile since spring. While some executives have run for the hills, others have opted to transition to back-seat roles.
The crypto market spent 2021 riding high on major investments and larger-than-life valuations. Several crypto billionaires were minted in 2021, and the first nonfungible token (NFT) billionaires followed in early 2022.
The Federal Reserve in March boosted interest rates for the first time since 2018, while war blossomed between Russia and Ukraine. Two months later, TerraUSD, a stablecoin designed to reduce volatility in the market by maintaining a fixed value, imploded. Unlike other stablecoins, Terra wasn’t backed by a stable reserve asset.
After the collapse, more than $200 billion was erased from the crypto market in a single 24-hour period.
In the months since, the slump has amounted to $2 trillion in total.
Amid a rapid slew of executive moves in late September — punctuated by high-level departures at Celsius, FTX and Kraken — FTX Digital Markets co-CEO Ryan Salame tweeted: “Probably just easier for everyone who’s not stepping down from their role this month to raise their hand!”
Sam Trabucco, former co-CEO of crypto trading firm Alameda Research, who himself stepped down in August, retweeted Salame 58 seconds later.
Tyrone Ross, a California-based financial adviser and wealth manager with a longtime focus on crypto, noted that not every resignation should be chalked up to the downturn. In the case of Celsius, for example, the resignations may not have happened without their legal woes.
For some companies, pending regulation will soon provide a framework that hasn’t yet existed, so they may be looking to elevate someone with regulatory chops. (Binance.US, for example, tapped former Acting Comptroller of the Currency Brian Brooks to become its CEO in 2021. He would resign three months later but move to another crypto firm, Bitfury, where he remains CEO.)
But for the shake-ups resulting directly from the downturn, changes in the C-suite represent changes in strategy.
“CEOs that get companies to certain points are not always the CEOs to walk them through tumultuous times, and not always the ones to handle downsizing or revaluation of the company,” Ross said.
He noted, too, that being a CEO “sucks.”
“It sucks even when the market is going straight up — especially in crypto, where you have to fight for everything because it’s still illegitimate to the masses,” Ross said.
Matt Sherman, a financial analyst with Merchant Maverick, told Banking Dive that as the federal government ekes closer to regulating crypto, some executives “feel like increased rules and scrutiny is not what the cryptocurrency industry is supposed to be about.”
Mirroring Ross’s sentiment, Sherman said the bear market has forced companies to mitigate losses and (potentially) capitalize on acquisitions, which “requires a different skill set than managing a company in a bull market.”
Some executives opt for more of a back-seat position, joining boards or staying on in an advisory role.
Given the early November implosion of crypto exchange FTX, more may come. Our tracker will keep you up to date on who’s gone and, if it’s known, what’s up next.
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Quit date: November 11
Bankman-Fried stepped down from FTX after its spectacular downfall in the second week of November. It was a whirlwind time for FTX, with Bankman-Fried tweeting Nov. 7 that assets were “fine” before asking Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao for a bailout two days later — which was rejected.
The 130-plus companies that make up FTX Group — including FTX.com, FTX US, and Alameda Research — jointly filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy on the day Bankman-Fried quit, just one day after Bankman-Fried insisted FTX US was “100% liquid.”
Not immune to the downfall of his own companies, Bankman-Fried went from a net worth of $16 billion to $0 in four days, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index.
Bankman-Fried will “remain to assist in an orderly transition,” the company announced.
Quit date: October 25
Hoeptner left crypto futures exchange Bitcoin Mercantile Exchange (BitMEX) after less than two years with the company and ahead of the launch of BMEX, its native token, which will drop by year’s end.
Hoeptner left BitMEX when the book was closed on a scandalous chapter for the company — just after former Head of Business Development Gregory Dwyer pleaded guilty to Bank Secrecy Act (BSA) violations over failing to establish and maintain an anti-money laundering program at BitMEX.
BitMEX was in controversy for nearly all of Hoeptner’s tenure because the exchange’s three founders had been indicted on BSA violations four months before Hoeptner joined. The founders all pleaded guilty in May and now face a $10 million fine and jail time.
BMEX, officially launched Nov. 11 after delays due to market conditions.
Hoeptner declined to share information about what he’s doing next.
Quit date: October 21
Wood stepped down from the head role at Parity Technologies, an infrastructure provider that supports the Polkadot cryptocurrency, in search of “eternal happiness.”
As Wood told Bloomberg, “The role of CEO has never been one which I have coveted (and this dates back long before Parity). I can act at being a CEO well enough for a short while, but it’s not where I’m going to find eternal happiness.”
Wood created Polkadot, which is the 11th-largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization.
Wood is the co-founder and was the first chief technology officer of Ethereum, which he left in 2015 because he “didn't think Ethereum was doing enough to pursue the promise of blockchain technology: a truly decentralized ecosystem,” Protocol reported.
Wood remains Parity’s majority shareholder, and has been succeeded as CEO by Parity co-founder Björn Wagner.
Quit date: October 20
Patchen left Genesis just three months after stepping into his role.
He joined the company in July, when then-CEO Michael Moro stepped down and staff was cut by 20%.
At that point, Genesis had already been suffering the effects of its exposure to bankrupt crypto hedge fund Three Arrows Capital.
Patchen, who did not return a request for comment on his departure, followed several management-level executives out. Four senior-level executives — Matt Ballensweig, co-head of sales and trading; Michael Paleokrassas, managing director of trading; Reed Werbitt, head of cash trading; and Joshua Lim, head of derivatives at Genesis — stepped away from the company during Patchen’s tenure.
Quit date: October 7
An OpenSea spokesperson told The Information that Roberts, a former Lyft CFO, had been asked to step into an advisory role at the nonfungible token marketplace, although it’s not clear why. While several publications have reported that Vice President of Finance Justin Jow will take over Roberts’ role, the company hasn’t confirmed that.
In his LinkedIn post, Roberts said he’d been working with “the supremely capable” Jow and CEO Devin Finzer to “ensure a smooth transition.”
“I had the rare opportunity to build a team literally from the ground up and handpicked game changers,” Roberts wrote. “I remain incredibly bullish on web3 and especially OpenSea. The company is heads down building and I assure you, the best is yet to come.”
Roberts wasn’t the only executive to leave OpenSea on Oct. 7. Ryan Foutty, vice president of business development, also announced his departure on LinkedIn, leaving his position after 18 months.
“We have come a long way from the early days working out of Alex’s basement. OpenSea has a bright future,” Foutty said. “I will be eagerly cheering on my OpenSea crewmates from the harbor.”
Quit date: October 4
Leon left the bankrupt crypto exchange about a week after co-founder Alex Mashinsky stepped down as CEO.
Leon left without public explanation, and Celsius did not return a request for further comment.
His departure came two weeks ahead of the initial bid deadline for other firms to snatch up Celsius’ assets. That deadline has since been pushed to December.
Quit date: October 3
Gutmann left the Bitcoin investment company on the same day as NYDIG President Yan Zhao, and a release on their departure didn’t give reason for the change.
Gutmann remains at Stone Ridge Holdings Group, NYDIG’s parent company, alongside co-founders Zhao and Executive Chairman Ross Stevens.
Zhao and Gutmann “are delivering the business to [now-CEO and President Tejas Shah and Nate Conrad] in phenomenal shape,” Stevens said in a prepared statement.
CoinGeek reported later in October that NYDIG had laid off one-third of its staff just before Gutmann and Zhao stepped away from their roles.
Gutmann remains a member of NYDIG’s board,
Quit date: October 3
Zhao left the Bitcoin investment company on the same day as NYDIG CEO Robert Gutmann.
Zhao remains at Stone Ridge Holdings Group, NYDIG’s parent company, which she co-founded alongside Gutmann and Executive Chairman Ross Stevens in 2012.
Stevens said in a prepared statement that Zhao and Gutmann “are delivering the business to [now-CEO and President Tejas Shah and Nate Conrad] in phenomenal shape.”
Days before they stepped down, NYDIG quietly laid off one-third of its staff, according to a mid-October CoinGeek report.
A reason for her departure is unknown.
Quit date: September 27
Mashinsky’s resignation was encouraged by a committee representing Celsius’ unsecured creditors, which felt that allowing him to remain at the helm “was unacceptable and not in the best interests of the estates,” according to documents from bankruptcy proceedings.
Mashinsky was at the head of the company when it froze withdrawals for its 1.7 million customers over liquidity issues, leaving customers unable to access the roughly $12 billion Celsius had under management.
When it filed for bankruptcy in July — shortly after a former employee sued the company and accused it of being a Ponzi scheme — a $1.19 billion deficit was revealed.
“I regret that my continued role as CEO has become an increasing distraction, and I am very sorry about the difficult financial circumstances members of our community are facing,” Mashinsky wrote in his resignation letter. “Since the pause, I have worked tirelessly to help the Company and its advisors put forward a viable plan … to return coins to creditors in the fairest and most efficient way.”
Quit date: September 27
Harrison had served in FTX US’s top role since last year, and his resignation came just one day after FTX US won the bid to buy Voyager Digital’s assets for more than $1.4 billion.
Harrison announced his resignation via Twitter, saying he’d be “transferring [his] responsibilities and moving into an advisory role” at FTX US.
In his resignation tweet, he reflected on his time at the firm, “working together to build a nascent crypto exchange into a multi-business enterprise; writing a retail equities trading platform and building a US brokerage; acquiring LedgerX and Embed; getting to know and work with regulators and lawmakers; participating in shaping crypto policy in the US; and many more.”
He’s since opened up about what’s next for him: a plan to launch a startup in the decentralized finance space.
Quit date: September 23
Prithipaul was finance chief at Voyager Digital for just five months.
The crypto trading firm prospered in 2021, but the challenges of 2022 led it to file for bankruptcy in June, just one month after Prithipaul took his post.
Voyager CEO Stephen Ehrlich said “his efforts during Voyager's restructuring process" were a great asset to the team, but apparently not one Prithipaul wanted to stick around and see the fruits of.
The company said he was resigning to pursue other opportunities. As of early November, his LinkedIn hasn’t been updated with a new position. Voyager accepted a bid in October to be acquired by FTX for $1.4 billion, but FTX’s own bankruptcy forced the company to reopen its bidding process. Voyager was in active discussions with other bidders as of Nov. 11.
Quit date: September 21
Powell, who founded the crypto exchange in 2011, had been “considering stepping down for quite some time,” a source familiar with the executive’s thinking told Forbes.
Powell found the national spotlight amid controversy about his “anti-woke” ideals on topics including use of preferred pronouns, diversity-focused hiring and abortion.
His decision to step back at the company he founded has nothing to do with the bad press surrounding his opinions or the company culture but rather that he’s “grown tired of long hours and day-to-day management tasks,” he told Fortune.
“For me, this is about spending more time on stuff which I’m good at and enjoy doing, like working on product and industry advocacy stuff,” he said, adding that he plans to play catch-up with matters like “11 years of unopened mail.”
Powell became chairman of the company and remains Kraken’s largest shareholder.
Quit date: August 24
Trabucco stepped down from the crypto trading firm in August, but co-CEO Caroline Ellison insinuated on Twitter that he hadn’t been around much “in recent months” anyway.
In a long Twitter thread titled “On happiness,” Trabucco explained that while he loved Alameda and crypto, it’s all hard work, and he needed time to take time for himself.
“I can't 100% remove myself from crypto without going into withdrawal, so I'll probably still be around here to some extent. I don't currently have other ‘projects’ lined up or anything, but I wouldn't rule anything out in the future once I feel more ‘recovered,’” he tweeted.
A month later, following a posted photo of cerulean blue waters, Trabucco doubled down on his reason for leaving: “Why are journalists so excited to make my stepping down about something other than a desire to go fast over the nice water[?]”
He remains with Alameda in an advisory role.
Quit date: August 17
Moro stepped down as part of a broader leadership shuffle after Genesis experienced challenges related to its dealings with Singapore-based crypto hedge fund Three Arrows Capital, the bankruptcy of which had far-reaching effects in the crypto world.
Genesis filed a $1.2 billion claim against Three Arrows Capital in July.
When Moro stepped down, the New York company also eliminated a fifth of its 260 employees in a cost-cutting measure.
“Since we launched the first OTC bitcoin trading desk in 2013, sophisticated investors have come to Genesis to provide liquidity, lending, and custody services for their digital assets,” Moro said in a prepared statement after stepping down. “It has been an honor to lead Genesis for nearly a decade and I look forward to supporting the company’s next phase of growth.”
Chief Operating Officer Derar Islim stepped in as interim CEO, and the company continues to look for a permanent replacement.
Quit date: July 31
Atallah had grown OpenSea alongside co-founder Devin Finzer from an idea in 2017 to the largest web3 marketplace for NFTs and crypto collectibles.
Atallah and Finzer became the world’s first NFT billionaires in January after a funding round that brought the company to a $13.3 billion valuation. With about 18.5% stakes in OpenSea, Forbes estimated then that Finzer and Alex were each worth a whopping $2.2 billion.
Much changed between January and July, when Atallah announced plans to step down. Between his July 1 announcement and last day, OpenSea laid off 20% of its staff amid “an unprecedented combination of crypto winter and broad macroeconomic instability.”
Rather than giving crypto winter the credit for his departure, Atallah said after years spent growing OpenSea, it was time “to turn my attention back to my primary passion: building something from zero to one.”
He remains part of the board.
Quit date: July 27
Kokinos has been with Algorand, a proof-of-stake blockchain cryptocurrency protocol, since before it publicly launched in 2019.
In a press release, Algorand said its then-CEO Kokinos was leaving “to pursue other interests.” Kokinos wrote on Twitter that he would be transitioning to a new role “to focus on key projects in the Algorand ecosystem that will help scale adoption.”
Kokinos remains with the company as a senior advisor until mid-2023.
Founder Silvio Micali is presumably relieved, touting Kokinos as “instrumental to the initial success of our business.”
Quit date: July 1
Zhong told his Twitter followers it was his last day July 1. After seven years with the company he helped grow — he was the first-ever employee at Ignite, a company that specializes in building blockchain software, back when it was called Tendermint — he gave little context for his departure.
But the announcement came not long after Tendermint’s original leader Jae Kwon decided to return to the company, leading some to assume Zhong left in response to Kwon’s arrival.
CoinDesk reported when Kwon left in 2020 that several employees had resigned over his leadership. With Kwon’s arrival in May, the company split into two entities, NewTendermint and Ignite.
Quit date: June 3
Qian’s departure from Binance Labs, the enterprise arm of the world's largest crypto exchange by trading volume, came as a surprise to many. Binance Labs had closed a $500 million funding round focused on bolstering web3 projects and founders just days prior.
But, as Qian posted in early June, it was time for him to “move on to a new chapter.” A Binance spokesperson told CoinDesk the company doesn’t comment on “people moves” as a matter of policy. However, they confirmed he left the company for personal reasons.
Binance co-founder Yi He was selected to take on Qian’s duties. Qian has since become chairman at Cypher Capital, a multistrategy crypto investment firm based in the United Arab Emirates.
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