GSR Executives Depart Amidst Leadership Changes in Crypto Firms

According to Blockworks, the co-CEO and chief technology officer of crypto market maker GSR have exited the firm. Rich Rosenblum, who co-founded the company over a decade ago, has stepped down to pursue entrepreneurial opportunities, GSR announced in a Wednesday X post. The company credited Rosenblum's visionary leadership and innovative approach for shaping its strategic direction and establishing GSR as a leading player in the cryptocurrency market. John MacDonald, GSR’s CTO since January 2022, will also be leaving the firm. It remains unclear where Rosenblum and MacDonald will work next. A GSR spokesperson did not respond to a request for comment about potential replacements for the executives. The departures follow the appointment of Rosenblum and Xin Song as co-chief executives on July 1, when then-CEO Jakob Palmstierna transitioned to a president role to lead the company’s client franchise. In other executive moves within the crypto industry, BlockFills, a crypto trading firm, has appointed Amy Shelly as its chief financial officer and promoted Neil Van Huis to lead the company’s strategy. Shelly, who served as CFO for the Options Clearing Corporation from 2016 to 2022, stated that her new firm addresses fragmented liquidity problems through aggregation and matching algorithms, and provides an end-to-end software suite for institutions. Van Huis, a director at BlockFills since 2018, now holds the title of chief strategy officer and will focus on building global trading relationships and driving new business. The firm is preparing to launch international offices, expand its product offering, and position itself for significant growth in the institutional digital assets space. CoinShares, a crypto asset manager that recently established a New York office, is hiring for roles in sales, marketing, operations, and compliance. These hires will support the Europe-focused firm’s commitment to scaling US operations following its acquisition of Valkyrie’s crypto ETFs earlier this year. Meanwhile, Nova Labs, the company behind the Helium Mobile cell network, laid off 36% of its workforce in August. The layoffs were reportedly done to focus more on Nova Labs’ core cellular business. A former employee estimated the company had 105 employees at the time of the cuts.