Michael Bodley

<div id="highlights-block_62ad3a116bb7a" class="highlights">
        <ul>
                <li>The splashy appointment comes as a number of crypto companies are cutting staff in an effort to maintain their margins in a turbulent market</li>
                <li>One source dubbed his departure a “big blow” for Coinbase</li>
            </ul>
    
</div>



<p>Matrixport has landed a prized former Coinbase executive to lead the cryptocurrency investment platform’s US business, according to two sources familiar with the matter.&nbsp;</p>



<p>Anthony DeMartino, a Wall Street <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/anthony-demartino-8086a81/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">veteran</a>, was most recently head of risk strategies, institutional decentralized finance and derivatives trading at Coinbase. The lengthy title, one source who has done business with the exchange said, indicates DeMartino’s departure deals a “big blow.”</p>



<p>Matrixport representatives confirmed the hire. A Coinbase spokesperson did not respond to multiple requests for comment. DeMartino declined to comment.</p>



<p>Cynthia Wu, Matrixport’s chief operating officer, told Blockworks that company executives are convinced DeMartino’s “experience, passion and style fits Matrixport very well.&#8221;</p>



<p>Having previously spent time at traditional finance institutions — including managing director-level positions overseeing aspects of emerging-market trading for Barclays and HSBC — DeMartino is known by industry participants to keep strict tabs on a deep rolodex of Wall Street contacts.&nbsp;</p>



<p>That, sources said, was especially important to Coinbase’s yearslong push to develop something similar to a traditional prime brokerage — including lending, trading and clearing, as well as capital introduction. Though exchanges and other crypto financial firms have worked to develop such an all-in-one, plug-and-play product, most traders say it’s still a pipe dream, leading to a hodgepodge of different service providers based in different time zones investing in different corners of crypto markets.</p>



<p>Coinbase recently <a href="https://cms.blockworks.co/coinbase-cut-workforce-ceo-wary-of-potential-recession/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">announced</a> steep layoffs in response to a market downturn that has eroded once-lucrative trading fees. Although exchanges have tried for years to diversify their revenue streams to reduce reliance on such fees, results have been mixed. </p>



<p>Matrixport, meanwhile, appears to still be on the hiring trail — an outlier in a crypto landscape where most layoffs are measured as better or worse than expected, but expected, nonetheless.</p>


Anthony Demartino

Crypto Platform Matrixport Hires Big-name Coinbase Exec To Build US Business

Morgan Chittum

<div id="highlights-block_615b161b23f7f" class="highlights">
        <ul>
                <li>The Matrixport exec has seen many clients who mine bitcoin move to North America following regulatory clampdowns</li>
                <li>However, there has been an influx of larger institutions getting involved in the space this year, according to Wu </li>
            </ul>
    
</div>



<p>Cynthia Wu, founding partner at Matrixport, joined Blockworks for an interview at the Digital Asset Summit (DAS) in New York last month after she spoke on the “Institutional Lending and Yield Generation in Digital Assets” panel.&nbsp;</p>



<p>Wu, who previously served as investment director at Bitmain, shared insights from the conference and talked about topics including:</p>



<ul class="wp-block-list"><li>Industry-wide challenges to accelerating mainstream adoption in crypto</li><li>Regulatory crackdown on bitcoin in China</li><li>Differences in user demands on Matrixport&#8217;s platform since its inception</li><li>Crypto as an “emerging asset class”</li></ul>



<p>Watch the full interview below and all of the panel videos from DAS <a href="https://cms.blockworks.co/events/digital-asset-summit-2021-2/#videoslider0" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">here</a>. </p>



<figure class="wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio"><div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper">
<iframe loading="lazy" title="DAS New York 2021: Matrixport’s Cynthia Wu on China&#039;s Crackdown on Bitcoin Mining and More" width="1024" height="576" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/ZE0dZn-u-f8?feature=oembed" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen></iframe>
</div></figure>



<hr class="wp-block-separator"/>



<p><strong>Are you a UK or EU reader that can’t get enough investor-focused content on digital assets? <a target="_blank" href="https://cms.blockworks.co/events/das-london/" rel="noreferrer noopener">Join us</a> in London on November 15th and 16th for the Digital Asset Summit (DAS) London. Use code ARTICLE for £75 off your ticket. <a target="_blank" href="https://cms.blockworks.co/events/das-london/" rel="noreferrer noopener">Buy it now</a>.</strong></p>



<hr class="wp-block-separator"/>


Cynthia Wu

Newsletter

Blockworks Research