Genesis director to step down and move into advisory role

On Wednesday, Matthew Ballensweig, managing director of cryptocurrency broker Genesis, announced via Linkedin that he was formally leaving his post after over five years of tenure. Ballensweig is also the co-head of sales and trading. As told by Ballensweig, he has been transitioning his core responsibilities to a handful of trusted colleagues who will be taking the front-line role. 

"I am forever thankful to both Digital Currency Group [Genesis' parent company] and Genesis for giving me the opportunity to build a capital markets business from the ground up. We built an eight-person company huddled in a small office in New York City back in 2017 to a sell-side trading behemoth doing billions in volumes in multiple countries today."

Ballensweig will stay with the firm in the foreseeable future as an advisor and will "take some time to travel and enjoy the holidays with friends and family before delving into my own next chapter." Previously, Genesis' CEO Michael Moro stepped down in August as the company began a transition period. 

It appears that Genesis' bourgeoning business took a tough hit as part of the overall crypto winter. In July, Moro confirmed that Genesis had investment exposure in the now liquidated Singaporean crypto hedge fund Three Arrows Capital (3AC). According to Moro, the firm had mitigated losses but nevertheless issued a margin call to 3AC that fell on deaf ears.

Despite challenging conditions, Ballensweig says that he will "absolutely" be staying in the crypto ecosystem. "My mission will be to help facilitate the next cycle of growth and mainstream adoption through my expertise in capital and information flow, trading and lending, yield, venture, and bridging institutional participants with crypto-native opportunities," he stated.

9/ I am excited to share more about what I want to do next with anyone who’s interested in chatting. My line is always open and I can’t wait to continue building and learning with all of you.

— Matt Ballensweig (@MattBallen4791) September 28, 2022