BitMEX, the struggling cryptocurrency exchange reportedly looking for a buyer, has gutted its management team, removing chief executive officer Stephan Lutz, chief financial officer Ina Steiner and chief growth officer Raphael Polansky, CoinDesk has learned.
The company’s former global general counsel and chief operating officer, Peter Wilkinson, took over as CEO. These measures have been highlighted in recent LinkedIn posts.
Wilkinson, Lutz, Steiner and Polansky did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Cryptocurrency exchange and derivatives trading platform BitMEX was co-founded in 2014 by Arthur Hayes, Ben Delo and Samuel Reed. In 2020, BitMEX allegedly failed to implement adequate anti-money laundering measures and later pleaded guilty to the charges. Hayes, Delo and Reed resigned shortly after the United States filed criminal charges.
BitMEX is likely looking to streamline its costs and appear more attractive to potential buyers as the continued depression in digital asset prices weighs on the crypto sector.
It was during the latest crypto downturn in 2022 that Lutz took over as CEO from Alexander Hoeptner, who became CEO in early 2021 when Hayes and his co-founders resigned.
The last crypto winter prompted many crypto and tech companies to lay off staff.
