Brett Harrison, FTX
Source: CNBC
Brett Harrison, the U.S. president of the crypto exchange FTX, announced his resignation on Tuesday, with the company in the midst of a massive expansion effort.
Harrison said on Twitter that he will be moving into an advisory role at the company and said he plans to remain in the industry.
“I have deep gratitude for my experiences at FTX in the last year and a half,” he wrote in a tweet.
Harrison joined FTX, whose parent company is based in the Bahamas, in May 2021 after spending close to two years at Citadel Securities. Earlier in his career, he spent over seven years at Jane Street, the quantitative trading firm where FTX founder and CEO Sam Bankman-Fried got his start in finance.
As of early Tuesday, Harrison was listed as CEO of FTX US Derivates on the company’s website. However, a company representative reached out to say that job is held by Zach Dexter. The website has since been updated to show Dexter with that role.
Harrison concluded his Twitter thread by saying that he “can’t wait to share” what he’ll be doing next and, in the meantime, “I’ll be assisting Sam and the team with this transition to ensure FTX ends the year with all its characteristic momentum.”
FTX, which was valued at $32 billion in a funding round earlier this year, is in talks with investors to raise up to $1 billion at a roughly flat valuation, CNBC reported last week, citing sources familiar with the matter. The company has been working to expand in the U.S., announcing Monday that it is set to buy Voyager Digital’s assets billion for $1.4 billion after winning a bankruptcy auction.
In addition to Voyager Digital, FTX has been seeking out distressed crypto assets in the U.S. as it tries to expand its market share during the so-called crypto winter. In July, FTX signed a deal that gives it the option to buy lender BlockFi.
FTX received a cease-and-desist warning from the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation in August, instructing the company to stop “misleading” consumers about the insurance status of their funds.
“We really didn’t mean to mislead anyone, and we didn’t suggest that FTX US itself, or that crypto/non-fiat assets, benefit from FDIC insurance,” Harrison wrote on Twitter at the time.