22 key crypto hires, exits and moves: September 2022

Volatility in the crypto job market continued into September with several big name exiting the C-suite and other firms ramping up hiring. 

August saw some high-profile departures at the top of some big crypto firms, including CEOs Michael Saylor and Michael Moro, and that trend continued into September. Kraken’s Jesse Powell stepped down before FTX.US president Brett Harrison and Celsius CEO Alex Mashinsky resigned within hours of one another. 

Another highlight was the increased hiring activity of a number of firms in the space. Polygon appears bullish on growing its headcount, with intentions to capitalize on the misfortune of other firms, while MicroStrategy appears to be developing a Lightning Network-based Saas platform with its latest job posting. 

Hires 

• Digital asset trading company Talos announced it will grow the ranks of its team with three strategic hires. Talos is bringing in Frank Van Zegveld as head of sales for Europe, the Middle East and Africa; Matt Houston to serve as client success director; and Hillary Conley as business development director, CoinDesk reported.
• Nicolas Bertrand took over at digital asset custody firm Komainu. Previously, Bertrand had spent more than a decade as Italian stock exchange Borsa Italia's head of derivatives markets and commodities. 
• Gemini's former Head of Finance Jared Shaw joined Animoca Brands as chief financial officer. He had been in the role at Gemini since January 2021, according to his LinkedIn page. Shaw will oversee and support the strategic financial direction of Animoca Brands and its more than 380 portfolio companies. 
• Yuga Labs hired Spencer Tucker as its first chief gaming officer. The NFT issuer brought in the former president of games at mobile gaming studio Scopely to oversee its own gaming efforts, including its Otherside metaverse project. 
• David Josse joined crypto asset manager 21co as chief technology officer. Josse previously spent 10 years working for Goldman Sachs, where he was global head of data engineering and business intelligence at Marcus by Goldman Sachs. His most recent position was chief technology officer at digital assets trading platform Symbridge.
• Robot Ventures hired former Goldman Sachs trader Hart Lambur as a partner. Lambur co-founded UMA, a project that allows developers to build financial products on top of the Ethereum blockchain.
• Revolut's Nik Storonsky hired Ilya Kondrashov as CEO of his AI-powered venture capital firm Quantum Light Capital. Kondrashov joined Quantum Light Capital as chief executive last month according to his LinkedIn. Most recently he was the founder and advisor for Dubai-based family office Five8 Foundation.
• JPMorgan brought in Microsoft executive Tahreem Kampton as a senior payments executive in the bank’s payments group, CoinDesk reported. Kampton will focus on the future of payments, including the digital ecosystem and blockchain technology. 
• The central bank of Saudi Arabia, SAMA, hired Mohsen AlZahrani to lead its crypto program. AlZahrani is a former Accenture managing director and became the lead of virtual assets and central bank digital currency in the summer. According to Bloomberg, he reports to Ziad Al Yousef, the central bank's deputy governor for development and technology.

Exits  

• Kraken’s Co-Founder and long-time CEO Jesse Powell announced he was stepping down last month. The firm’s Chief Operating Officer David Ripley will take on the CEO role in the coming months. “The most fundamental role that Kraken has played from the early days is being a bridge,” Ripley told The Block in an interview. The new chief went on to say that he wants to seek growth and not a clash of crypto titans
• Ashwin Prithipaul, CFO of bankrupt crypto lender Voyager, announced he will depart the company after a transition period. Prithipaul, who is resigning to pursue other opportunities, oversaw an extremely turbulent period of the company's history, having only assumed the role in May. 
• Genesis Co-Head of Sales and Trading Matt Ballensweig resigned from his role after five years, following other high profile names out the door, such as former CEO Michael Moro and former head of market insights Noelle Acheson. Ballensweig said he will take some time off, before starting his "own next chapter."
• Facebook owner Meta Platforms Inc. revealed last month it's freezing hiring and restructuring teams to cut costs, Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg told employees the news during a weekly Q&A session, according to Bloomberg. Zuckerberg's comments echo similar sentiment in the summer, when The Verge reported that he wanted to "turn up the heat" on employees. 
• Brett Harrison announced his plans to step down as president of FTX.US after assuming the role in May 2021. Harrison will be transferring his responsibilities over the next few months as he transitions into an advisory role at the exchange. 
• Celsius CEO Alex Mashinsky stepped down in September after the committee representing customers and creditors in the Celsius bankruptcy called for his removal. The Financial Times later reported that he withdrew $10 million before the company froze customer withdrawals and ultimately declared bankruptcy.

Promotions 

• Nomura’s London-based Head of Trading and Investment Banking Steve Ashley has stepped down from his role in order to take up a new job within the bank’s crypto business, Bloomberg reported last month. 
• Daniel Bookstaber was promoted from VP of markets at blockchain.com to chief strategy office and global head of institutional at the exchange.  

Open roles and hiring ambitions

• MicroStrategy is on the lookout for a bitcoin lightning engineer, according to its job board. The software company appears to be making new bitcoin play, developing a Lightning Network-based Saas platform. 
• Fidelity is rumoured to be expanding its crypto footprint to a more retail-centric customer base, and postings on its jobs board in September offered some clues as to the firm’s crypto ambitions.  
• Polygon revealed plans to continue hiring despite the bear market and a turbulent macroeconomic backdrop in September. Bhumika Srivastava, the firm's head of human resources, told Bloomberg the company hopes to capitalize on the misfortune of other companies in the space. 
• A job posting on LinkedIn revealed that the Walt Disney Company is looking to hire a transaction lawyer to explore emerging technology opportunities, including NFTs, working at an "accelerated and aggressive timeline."
• NFT issuer Doodles announced a $54 million raise in September at a valuation of $704 million, sharing plans to grow its headcount from 11 to 30 using the funds.