Ben Strack

<div id="highlights-block_62bf2533b47ae" class="highlights">
 <ul>
 <li>Metamask operations lead set to join the BitDAO ecosystem</li>
 <li>Abra and Bitpanda cut jobs while Kraken still on the hunt for talent</li>
 </ul>
 
</div>



The global head of business development for <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/quote/9869818Z:US" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Citadel Securities</a> is set to lead the company’s joint venture focused on increasing investor access to crypto, Bloomberg News <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2022-06-28/citadel-securities-nazarali-leaves-to-run-firm-s-crypto-venture" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">reported</a>.



Citadel Securities and Virtu Financial were in the process of building a cryptocurrency trading platform, a source familiar with the matter <a href="https://cms.blockworks.co/citadel-securities-virtu-financial-building-crypto-trading-platform/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">told Blockworks last month</a>. Jamil Nazarali is reportedly expected to become CEO of the platform.



Citadel Securities did not immediately return a request for comment.&nbsp;



Web3 gaming company Immutable hired a former global head of product design for payments at Facebook to lead the protocol’s product design.



Henry Cho will help the company build an API-only user experience that enables mainstream developers to build simply.&nbsp;



“Immutable will continue hiring the best talent across the globe to continue building our vision of enabling the next billion players to truly own their in-game items,” Immutable co-founder Robbie Ferguson said in a Twitter post.



Andrei Serjantov joined crypto startup Nym as its chief financial officer. He is set to develop the company’s multi-purpose mixnet that helps enable privacy for any application, as well as the underlying finances of its NYM token.



Serjantov joins Nym from French banking group BNP Paribas, where he worked for 16 years. He was most recently the company’s head of electronic credit trading and head of flow credit quantitative research.



“As the bear market rages on, all eyes are on crypto to prove its worth,” Serjantov said in a statement. “Skeptics assume people join crypto to make a quick buck and scam the typical user, but those working through the bear market have something more to prove.”



The former operations lead for self custodial wallet MetaMask is set to join the BitDAO ecosystem to accelerate the adoption of Web3 gaming.



Jacob Cantele is now head of product strategy for BitDAO’s <a href="https://www.globenewswire.com/Tracker?data=RahCDqBPLaBstxmOiHGQa1CDZiEMesp8Rq0nyXTHCEpKTcTSFrZNgyb-TjJRHcgYqG_b2Y9OQw4S5FdLSsh8dg==" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Windranger Labs</a> and head of product for the <a href="https://www.globenewswire.com/Tracker?data=8VFB9yNCFXlRwlXlNa_pyfLRfykSOvleobU6PPWrNw6gy8oJY0kZWyRKlngn5dRx" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Game7</a> DAO. 



Before working at MetaMask, Cantele led product for the Panvala grant funding DAO (decentralized autonomous organization), one of the earliest grant DAOs in the Web3 ecosystem.&nbsp;



NFT marketplace Magic Eden hired Joseph Doll to the role of general counsel.



Doll previously served as a corporate associate for Fenwick &amp; West, where he structured, negotiated and executed equity and token funding.



Web3 Ventures appointed Zach Rosen to its advisory board as the company gains Rosen’s expertise in software engineering and investment banking.&nbsp;



Rosen is a co-founder of Brydge, a startup that enables decentralized applications to deploy on one chain and accept payments from others. He said in a statement that he would leverage his network and background within the Web3 space to help identify and evaluate crypto projects for Web3 Ventures’ platform.



Crypto trading and lending platform Abra reportedly laid off about a dozen employees this week as market turbulence continues. Abra CEO Bill Barhydt <a href="https://www.theblock.co/post/155209/abra-becomes-latest-crypto-firm-to-cut-jobs" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">told The Block</a> that the job cuts — representing about 5% of the company’s workforce — were done “purely as a cost-saving measure.”



An Abra spokesperson did not immediately return a request for comment. &nbsp; &nbsp;



In case you missed it, crypto exchange Bitpanda <a href="https://cms.blockworks.co/bitpanda-to-slash-nearly-30-of-workforce-citing-recession-threat/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">is letting go about a third of its workforce</a>. The company, backed by billionaire Peter Thiel, wrote in a <a href="https://blog.bitpanda.com/en/way-forward" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">letter to employees</a> that it wants to cut down its headcount from more than 1,000 to 730 as it seeks to improve its financial health.



Meanwhile, crypto exchange Kraken posted more than 600 new job ads in the United States in the last seven days, according to a June 29 study by <a href="https://cryptojobslist.com/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Crypto Jobs List</a>. The Kraken listings account for nearly 20% of the new American crypto job ads over the span.



<hr class="wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity"/>



Get the news in your inbox. Explore Blockworks newsletters:



<ul class="wp-block-list">
<li><a href="https://blockworks.co/newsletter/the-breakdown">The Breakdown</a>: Decoding crypto and the markets. Daily.</li>



<li><a href="https://blockworks.co/newsletter/0xresearch">0xResearch</a>: Alpha in your inbox. Think like an analyst. </li>
</ul>

Abra

Latest in Crypto Hiring: Former Facebook, BNP Paribas Pros Join Space

Shalini Nagarajan

<div id="highlights-block_62a066dfd893b" class="highlights">
 <ul>
 <li>The trading firms intend to create “more efficient access to deep pools of liquidity for digital assets”</li>
 <li>New platform to launch either later this year or in early 2023</li>
 </ul>
 
</div>



Market-makers Citadel Securities and Virtu Financial are in the process of building a cryptocurrency trading platform, a source familiar with the matter told Blockworks.



Both firms, along with other industry leaders, “are working closely together to create a crypto marketplace that is efficient, transparent and secure, with agreed upon standards and best practices,” the source said.



“This new trading ecosystem will create more efficient access to deep pools of liquidity for digital assets,” they added.



Citadel Securities, the sister business of hedge fund giant Citadel, is owned by billionaire Ken Griffin. He was earlier known for having an <a href="https://cms.blockworks.co/the-constitutiondao-raises-49m-to-buy-a-copy-of-the-us-constitution/">anti-crypto stance</a>, trashing the assets and the efforts of their cheerleaders as a “jihadist call.” But he admitted to changing his mind earlier this year, saying Citadel Securities could soon be <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kIFQd7MyNKE" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">involved in digital assets</a>. And in January, crypto-savvy venture capital firms Sequoia and Paradigm <a href="https://cms.blockworks.co/sequoia-and-paradigm-invest-1-15b-in-citadel-securities/">invested $1.15 billion</a> in Citadel Securities.



This push into digital assets demonstrates the growing involvement of traditional financial firms in blockchain technology, especially as Web3 disruptions take center stage in the market.



Retail brokerages Fidelity Investments and Charles Schwab are helping the trading firms expand access to digital assets by developing a crypto offering, <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2022-06-07/citadel-securities-virtu-form-crypto-plan-with-fidelity-schwab" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Bloomberg</a> reported, citing people familiar with the matter.



Also involved in setting up the marketplace are tech-focused venture capital firms Sequoia Capital and Paradigm, <a href="https://www.coindesk.com/business/2022/06/07/citadel-is-building-a-crypto-trading-marketplace-with-virtu-financial-sources/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">CoinDesk</a> reported, citing a source familiar with the plans. Other market makers, wealth managers and industry leaders are expected to join the marketplace before its launch.



The trading consortium is addressing the deficiency in the current crypto market structure that’s holding back wider adoption, CoinDesk said.&nbsp;



Currently in early-stage development, the trading platform is expected to launch in late 2022 or early next year, according to Bloomberg.



Representatives of Citadel Securities declined to comment. Virtu didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment from Blockworks.



<hr class="wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity"/>



Get the news in your inbox. Explore Blockworks newsletters:



<ul class="wp-block-list">
<li><a href="https://blockworks.co/newsletter/the-breakdown">The Breakdown</a>: Decoding crypto and the markets. Daily.</li>



<li><a href="https://blockworks.co/newsletter/0xresearch">0xResearch</a>: Alpha in your inbox. Think like an analyst. </li>
</ul>