Galaxy Digital's head of trading strategy departs following February layoffs

The head of trading strategy at Mike Novogratz's Galaxy Digital is no longer with the firm, according to three sources familiar with the departure. 

Joshua Lim, who joined the company in September 2018, left Galaxy last month. Lim declined to share what his next opportunity is, but he is set to join another firm.

When reached for comment, a representative for Galaxy told The Block:

"We appreciate Josh's contributions to the firm and wish him well. The market, as everyone recognizes, is volatile but active. This dislocation is creating numerous trading opportunities and the firm remains well-positioned to take advantage of them."

Lim, who previously held trading positions at UBS and Circle, is the latest departure from the New York-based "merchant bank." As reported by CoinDesk, Galaxy laid off 13 people – approximately 15% of its total workforce – in mid-February.

The February report did not mention specific employees impacted by the layoffs. The Block can report on at least three employees whose departure from Galaxy took place in February.

To be clear: the timing of their departure does not necessarily mean they were laid off. Below are those known to have left Galaxy in February.

• Yoshi Nakamura, left the firm in February, according to his LinkedIn. At Galaxy, he led business development for the trading business and sales for the trading business. According to his LinkedIn, Nakamura is now running his own investment firm NAKA Capital. Nakamura was a strong presence on the crypto conference circuit and led Galaxy's "Heard Around The Block" video series. 
• Ivan Brightly, who served as chief information security officer at Galaxy, was another exit. He is currently trading independently, according to his LinkedIn. He was one of the first employees of the venture, having joined in September 2017.
• David Gross, who previously served as global head of sales, is not longer at the firm. He was responsible for driving sales across the firm's advisory, trading, and asset management businesses. The former executive at DRW, recently started at Goldman Sachs as a convertible bond salesman, according to his LinkedIn.

As noted by The Block's Ryan Todd, realized income for Galaxy came in at a loss of $870,000 with its digital asset trading business seeing a realized net loss of $8.5 million in the third quarter of 2019.