Digital Currency Group promotes Mark Murphy to president in restructuring

Quick Take

The restructuring saw 10 people leave the company.
It comes amid widespread job cuts in the sector as companies brace for the crypto winter.

Digital Currency Group (DCG) has moved Mark Murphy from the role of chief operating officer to president as part of a streamlining, according to a person familiar with the situation.

The Stamford, Connecticut-based crypto firm — which owns Grayscale, Genesis, and CoinDesk — also parted ways with 10 — mostly junior — employees, leaving it with 66. Bloomberg first reported the news. A DCG spokesperson subsequently confirmed the story to The Block.

“We recently made a series of internal changes to position DCG for its next phase of growth, including a streamlining of our departments alongside several promotions on our leadership team,” a spokesperson said in a statement.

Murphy, a longtime right-hand man of DCG founder Barry Silbert, first joined DCG as its head of public affairs in April 2018. Previously, he served as a global head of communications of financial products for Bloomberg LP. Prior to that, he was a EVP of communications and public affairs for Second Market, the secondary market place founded by Silbert and later acquired by Nasdaq.

DCG is best known for its wide-ranging venture portfolio, having backed companies such as Circle, Coinbase, Dapper Labs, and Ripple.

Layoff season

A growing number of crypto firms have announced layoffs in recent weeks as they grapple with a bear market and suppressed token prices. Earlier today, The Block revealed that exchange operator Bitmex had cut 30% of its workforce, shortly after parting ways with CEO Alexander Höptner.

Staff affected by the DCG reshuffle were informed about the changes last week.

In addition to Murphy’s new role, Jenn Goodson was named chief administrative officer; Simon Koster became chief strategy officer; Matt Kummell was appointed senior vice president of operations; and Amanda Cowie was put in charge of communications, marketing and events.

DCG-owned Genesis — a crypto lender that lent heavily to now-bankrupt hedge fund Three Arrows Capital — began cutting staff in August, while also parting ways with CEO Michael Moro.