In what has already proven to be an extremely challenging 12 months for is shows no signs of respite. The crypto exchange’s CTO announced his departure following in the spot.
Balaji Srinivasan broke the on his Twitter account. He also thanked his “friend” CEO for the opportunity.
1/2 Really enjoyed my time at working with my friend . The Earn integration was successful and we’ve closed ~$200M in deals for the new Earn. Was also my privilege to help with shipping new assets, launching USDC, & getting staking/voting going.
— Balaji S. Srinivasan (@balajis)
The exit is surprising. Srinivasan originally joined following the exchange’s acquisition of Earn.com. Now rebranded as Earn, the program allows users to earn extra by watching educational videos about new coins and and then answering questions via related skill quizzes. It’s been one of the few things going right for .
During Srinivasan’s short tenure at , the exchange has been busy. They supported the launch of stablecoin , bolstered the number of ERC20 on , and expanded staking services on a platform specifically aimed at institutional investors.
Nevertheless, Srinivasan isn’t the first executive to depart. Dan Romero, head of Institution, announced he was leaving last . Furthermore, left to become head of sales and marketing at Fidelity.
Who’s next, Brian Armstrong?
Love or Hate Coinbase…
For many, was the first port of entry into . During the early growth stages and right through the bull run of 2017, it was the primary exchange for a wide swath of new retail investors seeking to purchase for the first time.
The simplicity of the exchange and user-friendly interface meant users had strong confidence in the platform. During this time listed five : (), (ETH), (LTC), Cash (BCH) and Classic (ETC). The exchange has since expanded to include more coins.
Neutrino Disaster
In March, announced the acquisition of Neutrino, a analytics intelligence project. The deal exploded into a massive PR nightmare for the exchange after it was discovered that Neutrino had ties to the scandalous Hacking.com that worked with authoritarian governments. The exchange’s tone-deaf decision to proceed with the purchase of Neutrino didn’t go over well in crypto land. An online movement ‘ spread like wildfire through Twitter and other social media platforms, encouraging to delete their accounts.
YOU DID WHAT?!?!
A official responds to by saying they had to acquire Neutrino because their previous tracking provider SOLD CUSTOMER DATA TO THIRD PARTIES
And that’s why we should trust the people you choose to do business with?!?!
— Udi Wertheimer (@udiWertheimer)
Brian Armstrong acknowledged the mistake, releasing the Neutrino members in question. But the damage was done. There was much disillusionment at how a pillar of the crypto and world could ignore its moral compass and fail to sense right and wrong.
Back to Basics
The unicorn startup was recently valued at , but the future is a lot less clear for these days. The reputational damage from the Neutrino fiasco continues to linger, and the exchange is projected to have generated 60% less revenue in 2018 than initially hoped. reported the exchange expected to generate $1.3 billion, but according to a report by , the actual number was closer $520 million.
, the son of famous venture capitalist Tim Draper, is an . And the exchange has arguably done more to onboard crypto investors than any other company in the space. Maybe it’s time for to get back to basics.
Published at Sat, 04 May 2019 20:05:10 +0000
![Bitcoin lightning network increased 20% since last month! [cryptocurrency news]](https://ohiobitcoin.com/storage/2019/02/jzb8Lu.jpg "Bitcoin lightning network increased 20% since last month! [cryptocurrency news]")