- Another 21Shares executive switches to rival ETP publisher Valor
- Legal and compliance executive moves from Figure to Wave Financial
Binance tapped co-founder Yi He to lead the crypto exchange’s venture arm and incubator. The move comes after ex-Binance Labs leader Bill Qian revealed he would be leaving the company to “continue to a new chapter”. Qian’s next move is unknown.
Binance Labs manages $7.5 billion in assets, comprising more than 200 portfolio companies. It has incubated projects such as Polygon, FTX, Certik, Nym and Dune Analytics and closed a $500 million investment fund in June.
He is set to lead the company’s global strategy and day-to-day operations, and will also focus on supporting infrastructure projects and improving usability in innovative crypto and blockchain projects.
The “unparalleled opportunity” to identify projects that will thrive in tough market conditions makes it a perfect time for He to take the helm of the company’s business operations, said Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao.
“As a leading player in the space, my goal is to help define the industry standard by identifying and supporting sustainable projects and building an ecosystem of high-performance blockchain solutions that empower the entire industry,” he said in a statement. .
Couragea technology company offering a range of crypto ETPs, hired Elaine Buhler as a product manager to expand its product range.
Bühler was previously product manager for Switzerland-based 21Shares and was responsible for the launch of crypto ETP (exchange-traded product) in the Swiss and European markets.
Meanwhile, Peter Märkl, formerly head of legal affairs for 21Shares, became Valour’s general counsel early this month. Valor also hired Marco Infuso, an ex-director and head of Germany at the crypto fund manager, to lead global sales.
Kelly Catherine Chapman joined crypto fund manager Wave Financial as head of the legal department and chief compliance officer.
Chapman will provide legal advice related to Wave’s expansion, including directing outside advisors in fund building, active fund management, institutional investor work, venture deals and mergers and acquisitions.
Kelly most recently served as a product advisor for securities-related products for Figure, and corporate counsel and Chief Compliance Officer for related funds and registered investment advisors.
Singapore-based blockchain gaming and entertainment company Digital Entertainment Assets (DEA) appointed Ryohei Nuka as finance director.
Nuka joined Goldman Sachs in 2009 and was responsible for product control activities for the equities and derivatives trading divisions. More recently, he was a senior controller in the finance department of Goldman Sachs Japan.
DEA’s previous CFO, Kyuzaburo Suzuki, will continue to help develop the company’s financial strategy as a senior advisor.
Web3 game development and distribution company third verse rented Isao Moriyasu as an executive producer of Web3 games.
Moriyasu, the former CEO of DeNA, one of Japan’s largest mobile game IT providers, will help drive Thirdverse’s growth in the metaverse and Web3.
Crypto platform BitGo promoted Chen Fang as chief operating officer and appointed Victor Tsou to vice president of technology.
Fang and Tsou will focus on driving BitGo’s operational strategy, while the company continues to offer custody, trading and financing solutions to investors, fintech companies and crypto-native platforms owning digital assets.
Fang most recently served as BitGo’s Chief Product Officer. Before joining BitGo, he co-founded Lumina, a digital asset portfolio management suite acquired by BitGo in early 2020.
Tsou was most recently Senior Director of Engineering at Affirm, where he led efforts in loan service, payment processing, international expansion and consumer products. He has also led engineering teams at Block.
Web3 and Metaverse Infrastructure Company Infinite World rented Alan Krassowski as chief technology officer. He replaces Lucas Henning, who will become Chief Technology Officer at Suku, InfiniteWorld’s Web3 partner.
Prior to InfiniteWorld, Krassowski served as CTO, Chief Architect, Vice President of Technology and Senior Director of Engineering at companies such as ConsenSys Capital, Intel Security, Symantec, Cylance and Kiva.
Crypto Banking and Payment Company BVNK rented Jonathan Cumberlidge lead to foreign exchange growth. He will work with brokers and funds to design digital asset banking and payment solutions that help service demand from active traders in particular.
“Traders want greater access to crypto liquidity, across spot and derivatives products, custodial solutions, platforms, banking and payments,” Cumberlidge said in a statement. “With their loyal, active customer base of traders, brokers are ideally positioned to meet these demands and diversify into crypto as an emerging asset class.”
The executive most recently worked as Finalto’s sales director. During his career, Cumberlidge has also held senior sales positions at companies such as Saxo Bank, GAIN Capital and GFT.
Robinhood announces more layoffs
Robinhood CEO Vlad Tenev revealed on Tuesday that the company would reduce the company’s workforce by 23% as a result of reduced customer trading activity and assets under custody.
The layoffs will reduce Robinhood’s workforce to 2,600 employees. Layoffs and restructuring costs resulting from the job loss are estimated at $45 million to $60 million, executives said during the company’s earnings call on Wednesday.
Sam Wellalage, founder of WorkInCrypto.Global, said he expects about a third of the layoffs to come from digital asset-focused positions.
“Most people who lose jobs in crypto are picked up by fintech and TradFi [companies]Wellalage told Blockworks. “We’re also seeing a lot of hypergrowth startups taking on these candidates.”
The market environment and the resulting layoffs are also tough on headhunting companies, such as Wellalage’s company. He said his crypto recruiting company, which averaged about 10 placements per month, now does less than half of that.
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Ben Strack
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