Crypto exchange BitMEX removes CEO, CFO and head of growth

BitMEX, the troubled cryptocurrency exchange reportedly looking for a buyer, has cleared out its executive team, removing chief executive Stephan Lutz, chief financial officer Ina Steiner, and chief growth officer Raphael Polansky, CoinDesk has learned.

The firm’s former global general counsel and chief operating officer, Peter Wilkinson, has taken over as CEO. The moves were highlighted in recent postings on LinkedIn.

Wilkinson, Lutz, Steiner and Polansky did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Crypto exchange and derivatives trading platform BitMEX was co-founded in 2014 by Arthur Hayes, Ben Delo and Samuel Reed. In 2020, BitMEX was alleged to have failed to implement adequate anti-money laundering measures in place, and later pleaded guilty to the charges. Hayes, Delo and Reed resigned shortly after the U.S. brought criminal charges.

BitMEX is presumably looking to streamline its costs and appear more attractive to prospective buyers, as an ongoing depression in digital asset prices weights on the crypto industry.

It was during the last 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 stepped down.

The latest crypto winter has prompted numerous crypto and tech firms to shed staff.