Michael Moro stepped down as CEO of Genesis on Aug. 17, 2022. The crypto lender cut a fifth of its roughly 260 staff the same day, Aug. 17, CoinDesk reported2. Genesis called Moro's exit part of a leadership change in its own release. He “is stepping down and will continue to advise the company through the transition,” the release said1. CoinDesk tied the cuts to losses tied to the fall of Three Arrows Capital that summer.
18 CEO exits on the record in 2022
CEO exits CryptoLately has verified, by year; 2026 through Oct. 2, 2026
- 2022: 18
- 2019, 2020, 2021, 2023, 2024, 2025, 2026
Moves: The Moves Ledger, CryptoLately's record of verified leadership moves, Oct. 3, 2016 to Oct. 2, 2026.
Read the chart as a table
| Item | Value |
|---|---|
| 2019 | 7 |
| 2020 | 9 |
| 2021 | 5 |
| 2022 | 18 |
| 2023 | 11 |
| 2024 | 20 |
| 2025 | 20 |
| 2026 | 18 |
Layer 1s & Infrastructure led CEO exits in 2022, with two
CEO exits CryptoLately has verified in 2022, by the sector of the company
Moves: The Moves Ledger, CryptoLately's record of verified leadership moves, Oct. 3, 2016 to Oct. 2, 2026.
Read the chart as a table
| Item | Value |
|---|---|
| Layer 1s & Infrastructure | 2 |
| Institutional Custody & Asset Management | 2 |
| Trading Venues & Brokerage | 2 |
| Bitcoin & Mining | 2 |
| Capital Markets & Treasury | 1 |
| Wallets & Consumer Apps | 1 |
The departure
Genesis named COO Derar Islim as interim CEO in the same release that announced Moro's exit1. Islim had joined Genesis in 2020. The company also named Tom Conheeney, a former president of SAC Capital and Point72 Asset Management, as a senior advisor and board member. Moro explained his own choice in the release. “Since we launched the first OTC bitcoin trading desk in 2013, sophisticated investors have come to Genesis to provide liquidity, lending, and custody services for their digital assets,” he said. “It has been an honor to lead Genesis for nearly a decade and I look forward to supporting the company's next phase of growth.”
Mark Murphy, COO of Digital Currency Group, credited Moro's run and backed his successor in the same statement. “We thank Michael for his steadfast leadership of Genesis in building the company into the industry leader it is today,” Murphy said. “We're pleased to elevate Derar to the interim CEO role, he has our full trust and confidence and has been instrumental in developing key areas of the Genesis business.”1
The exposure behind the exit
CoinDesk linked the timing to one loss. Genesis had filed a $1.2 billion claim against Three Arrows Capital in July 2022. Digital Currency Group took over that claim and its debts from Genesis the month before Moro's exit, the outlet reported2. The New York broker sat among a group of firms hit by the same downturn. CoinDesk named the chain straight: the fall of Terra's LUNA token, then the failure of crypto lender Celsius Network, then Three Arrows Capital, “led to a slew of layoffs, bad debt and bankruptcy filings throughout the industry”.
What came next
Genesis filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy within five months of Moro's exit. CoinDesk reported on Feb. 6, 2023, that Genesis and its parent, Digital Currency Group, had struck a deal with two groups of creditors3. Lawyer Sean O'Neal, speaking for Genesis, told a bankruptcy hearing that DCG planned to sell Genesis's trading and lending units as one package, to get the biggest payout for the estate. DCG also agreed to swap roughly $1.1 billion in debt it owed Genesis for new stock, CoinDesk reported. Gemini co-founder Cameron Winklevoss said at the same hearing that Gemini would add “up to $100 million more for Earn users as part of the plan,” CoinDesk reported. That plan traced back to Gemini Earn, which had used Genesis as its lending partner before Genesis froze withdrawals in November 2022.
Sources
- Business Wire, "Genesis Announces New Leadership Team," Genesis (via Crypto Reporter), Aug. 17, 2022, https://www.crypto-reporter.com/newsfeed/genesis-announces-new-leadership-team-35512/
- Oliver Knight, "Crypto Broker Genesis Cutting 20% of Workforce as CEO Michael Moro Exits," CoinDesk, Aug. 17, 2022, https://www.coindesk.com/business/2022/08/17/crypto-broker-genesis-cutting-20-of-workforce-as-ceo-michael-moro-exits
- Nikhilesh De and Nick Baker, "DCG Creditor Pact Revealed With Plan to Sell Genesis Trading Unit as Part of Bankruptcy," CoinDesk, Feb. 6, 2023, https://news.google.com/rss/articles/CBMizAFBVV95cUxQNkUwcEl4RkllMk9XNG9kSVRWYTZHcjltaXJMRVVBa2o2WEpEZHBIR1pVRExCbzNsY1Uxc0J0N29PRWE3clpBYTVUdFZUekNHTEc4UU1CNjducGhuVlRuUWVxM3ZoMUdHNkNGZU5lQl93TkxDd0Rjck5hOEN4VjQ0Z2NsM1lGbGx3WnRCc0Rwa09mWlNISEhWSnhvb2tCaTIyWERFSGRrdHRGVHYwamRpWTdaLWVzcHRzaE1Sb0FjY0FEdjU0MG82dU5mUGI?oc=5