FTX USA President Joins Crypto C-Suite Exodus Just As Voyagers Arrive
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FTX US may have picked up a few million customers as part of a winning bid for Voyager Digital’s cryptocurrency assets, but it’s losing a president.
Brett Harrison said he would step down from his position at the US unit of crypto exchange FTX, the second high-profile crypto resignation today.
“Over the next few months, I will transition my responsibilities and step into an advisory role with the company,” Harrison tweeted Tuesday.
He did not provide much information about his plans, but indicated that he was moving to a new position: “I remain in the industry with the goal of removing technological barriers to the full participation and maturation of global crypto markets, both centralized and decentralized,” he said in his tweet string. “I can’t wait to share more about what I’m doing next.”
FTX US is the US crypto trading arm of billionaire Sam Bankman-Fried’s stock market giant FTX. On Monday, FTX US won the auction to buy the crypto holdings of Voyager Digital, the digital asset lender operating under bankruptcy protection, with a bid of just over $1.4 billion.
As part of the arrangement, it will offer Voyager investors their crypto, which was tied up in bankruptcy proceedings, via new accounts with FTX US intended to encourage them to stay with the exchange. Voyager had 3.5 million customers before it filed for Chapter 11 protection.
Both FTX.US and Kraken underperformed major US peers in terms of unique monthly visitors. Compared to August 2021, ftx.us visitors dropped 42% while Kraken dropped 44%. Coinbase, Gemini and Binance USA saw visitor declines in the 22-27% range.
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FTX US will also move its headquarters to Miami from Chicago, Bankman-Fried tweeted Tuesday. Parent FTX is located in the Bahamas.
Harrison was named the company’s first president in May 2021. Prior to joining FTX US, he had held various roles at Citadel Securities and Jane Street.
The announcement is the latest in a string of resignations from top crypto executives. Earlier today, Alex Mashinsky, founder and CEO of Celsius Network, announced his resignation. Last week, Jesse Powell said he would step down from the top position at cryptocurrency exchange Kraken, which he founded in 2011. In August, Sam Trabucco, co-CEO of Bankman-Fried’s trading firm Alameda Research, said made a similar announcement.
