Bobby Cho, head of DRW's crypto business, is set to depart the firm

Bobby Cho, the man who helmed DRW's crypto trading operation, announced Wednesday that he is stepping away from the company.

Launched in 2014, Cumberland was one of the first instances of mainstream financial services entering the digital currencies market. "At that time, the market was still fairly quiet having just been in a bear market for all of 2015," Cho wrote in a Medium post about his exit.

"It's bittersweet to announce that I will be stepping down from my role as COO at the end of May," Cho said. "There's never a right time to step away from something you've guided for the past 3+ years."

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Cho is not leaving to join another firm, he told The Block. His exit follows that of former Goldman Sachs exec James Radecki, who The Block first reported in March was leaving Cumberland after a year stint. 

Recently, Cumberland rolled out a new electronic trading platform, dubbed Marea, to interact with its trading counter-parties.

It was a move that followed its Chicago cross-town rival Jump Trading and other market makers in crypto that have modernized their marketplaces. Still, even as such firms strove to take the market to the next level they've struggled to keep their Wall Street talent on the payroll.

"There are too many things to be proud of, but the thing I’m most proud of was that we had a team-first mentality. We took an aggressive, inclusive approach to tackling problems, qualifying ideas and constantly challenging the status quo," Cho wrote.

About Author

Frank Chaparro is Host of The Scoop podcast and Director of Special Projects. He also writes a biweekly newsletter. Chaparro started his career at Business Insider, where he specialized in the intersection of digital assets and Wall Street, market structure, and financial technology. Soon after joining Business Insider out of Fordham University, Chaparro was interviewing top finance and tech executives, including billionaire Mark Cuban, “Flash Boys” star Brad Katsuyama, Cboe Global Markets CEO Ed Tilly, and New York Stock Exchange President Tom Farley. In 2018, he become a sought after reporter in the crypto world, interviewing luminaries such as Tyler Winklevoss, the cofounder of Gemini, Jeremy Allaire, the CEO of Circle, and Fundstrat head Tom Lee. For inquiries or tips, email [email protected].