ItBit loses seven key employees as industry focus shifts from Bitcoin to blockchain

Rage Comment : Although blockchain technology was separated from Bitcoin, industry experts predict that the importance of blockchain will surpass Bitcoin, which is why many Bitcoin exchanges have transformed into enterprise blockchain service providers. It is just that the large-scale industry strategy shift during the same period has intensified the competition among enterprises, and the market demand has not increased to the same extent; therefore, it is inevitable that there will be internal adjustments and personnel turnover in enterprises. Therefore, it is not surprising that the financial services company itBit made strategic adjustments during this period, and that senior employees resigned one after another.

Translation: Annie_Xu

The recent spate of employee departures from itBit has left the company looking very different than it did just a few months ago.

After itBit launched its enterprise clearing and settlement network Bankchain last year, three executives (and at least three other employees) left the company to pursue other projects. It seems that around this time, many companies have transformed from bitcoin exchanges to enterprise blockchain service providers.

Several former itBit employees confirmed that at least seven employees had moved to other companies. Six of them updated their LinkedIn accounts, and one refused to comment. ItBit also refused to comment.

Two of the managers who changed jobs went to investment companies in the digital currency field, and one founded a headhunting company.

Earlier this month, Daniel Kim, the company’s head of institutional clients, left itBit and joined Gemini Exchange. In the same month, Leanne Wong, itBit’s former global head of talent, resigned and updated her LinkedIn account to the co-founder of MC Partners, a New York-based headhunting firm.

Bobby Cho

itBit head Bobby Cho resigned in April and now works for DRW Capital, a subsidiary of Cumberland Mining Materials. The quietly-formed startup won 27,000 bitcoins in the US Marshals’ Silk Road funds auction last year.

Another well-publicized event was the resignation of Michael Wozniak, a former blockchain software engineer at itBit, who seemed to have left the blockchain space entirely to join the instant messaging service Snapchat.

New direction?

While it is noteworthy to see so many senior employees leaving a startup in a short period of time, we have no reason to believe that this is related to the company's overall strategic shift.

ItBit currently needs to fill eight positions, seven of which include blockchain engineers and senior recruitment specialists, seemingly to replace those who recently resigned. However, its recruitment focus is on precious metal clearing and settlement, which reminds people of Bankchain's shift in focus.

The recent resignations may be related to the plans of the itBit trading platform.

According to people familiar with the matter, itBit is considering closing or selling the exchange in September, and the largest digital currency exchange Kraken may be a potential buyer. At the same time, the company may be renamed Paxos, which comes from a consensus protocol organization.

Given the current state of the industry, these decisions may not be that surprising.

Cryptocurrency companies have been facing a number of issues over the past year and a half, wondering how to cope with the growing attention paid to blockchain and distributed ledger technology, while consumer demand has been declining.