Digital Asset Prime Brokerage Genesis Announces Leadership Shake Up

Genesis, a digital asset prime brokerage providing services for qualified individuals and global institutional investors, has announced a number of executive changes to “position the company for its next phase of growth.” Genesis is controlled by the Digital Currency Group.

Effective immediately, Michael Moro, Genesis CEO is stepping down but will remain as an advisor.

Chief Operating Officer Derar Islim has been appointed interim CEO while the company seeks a replacement for Moro.

Tom Conheeney will now become a Senior Advisor to Genesis, supporting Islim on the firm’s strategy while advising the trading, lending, and risk teams. Conheeney will join Islim on the company’s Board of Directors.

Along with the change at the top, Genesis says that it has made key executive leadership hires to better position the firm for the future.

Chief Risk Officer Michael Patchen, Chief Compliance Officer Michael Patterson, and Chief Technology Officer Matthew Johnson have joined Genesis.

Alice Chan, Chief Financial Officer, and Arianna Pretto-Sakmann, Chief Legal Officer, are expected to strengthen the company’s overall risk management in partnership with Genesis’ sales and trading leadership.

Moro issued a statement on his exit:

“Since we launched the first OTC bitcoin trading desk in 2013, sophisticated investors have come to Genesis to provide liquidity, lending, and custody services for their digital assets. It has been an honor to lead Genesis for nearly a decade and I look forward to supporting the company’s next phase of growth.”

Islam said the changes and the investments thy are announcing affirm their commitment to operational excellence as they meet the demands of their clients.

Mark Murphy, Chief Operating Officer, Digital Currency Group, thanks Moro for his leadership in building the company:

“We’re pleased to elevate Derar to the interim CEO role – he has our full trust and confidence and has been instrumental in developing key areas of the Genesis business. We also welcome Tom, a proven leader and highly skilled financial services veteran, as we strengthen Genesis for the future.”

Genesis recently posted Q2 results that delivered a mixed bag during a challenging time in the marketplace. The spot desk traded desk was a bright star in the report delivering over $17.2 billion OTC, an increase of over 51% quarter-over-quarter. The new hires along the compliance segment appear to indicate a stepped-up focus on a somewhat opaque regulatory environment – one that may change if pending legislation in Congress becomes law.

Update: It has been reported that Genesis is laying off 20% of its workforce, or approximately 52 employees. It should be noted that currently, Genesis has job postings for dozens of open positions, a good number in compliance and security, which may negate much of the jobs being slashed. As was previously reported, Genesis had exposure to the collapse of Three Arrows Capital (3AC). Parent company Digital Currency Group – assumed the losses by migrating the assets over to their balance sheet.



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