Robinhood Crypto Unit General Counsel Leaves to Join Firm Behind ‘Axie Infinity’ Video Game
The lead attorney and chief compliance officer for Robinhood Markets Inc.’s
cryptocurrency trading unit has left the online brokerage house to join crypto startup Sky Mavis Pte. Ltd., the publisher of the popular online game “Axie Infinity.”
James Nguyen, who also previously worked at Wells Fargo & Co. and at the law firm Morrison & Foerster LLP, is now serving as Sky Mavis’ general counsel, the company said on Twitter Thursday. A spokeswoman for Robinhood confirmed Nguyen’s departure but declined to comment further.
Mr. Nguyen’s departure was the latest staffing change at Robinhood, which has cut more than 1,000 jobs in two rounds of layoffs so far this year as it continues to reel from a sharp decline in client trading activity.
Mr. Nguyen has been the Robinhood crypto unit’s general counsel and chief compliance officer since late last year, when his predecessor, Benjamin Melnicki, left after a few months on the job to join Cross River Bank. Mr. Nguyen was previously President of Robinhood Crypto LLC.
Mr. Nguyen signed Robinhood Crypto’s settlement agreement on behalf of the company with the New York State Department of Financial Services in July. The state financial regulator announced in August that it was fining the entity $30 million for alleged breaches of anti-money laundering and cyber security regulations.
Sky Mavis said in the tweet that Mr. Nguyen will help design and execute its strategies around the new legal issues presented by Web3, the idea of a decentralized internet that uses blockchain and other technologies.
“Axie Infinity”, launched in 2018, is part of a small but rapidly growing number of so-called play-to-earn games. Also known as blockchain games, they largely focus on the buying, trading and selling of virtual assets backed by non-fungible tokens, or NFTs. The games are considered an early foray into the metaverse, a more immersive future version of the internet where people are expected to work, learn and be entertained.
The move comes after Sky Mavis said in March that hackers stole more than $500 million in cryptocurrency from its flagship “Axie Infinity” product. Some of the funds lost in the hack have since been recovered by US authorities, investigators said. The firm also raised $150 million in April to help them compensate victims of the attack.
Write to Mengqi Sun at [email protected]
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