Crypto Market Maker Portofino Technologies Suffers Massive Staff Turnover After Firing Its Co-Founder and CFO

On Oct. 24, Switzerland-based cryptocurrency market-making firm Portofino Technologies received approval from the U.K.'s Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) earlier this year to serve institutional cryptocurrency clients in the U.K., according to CoinDesk. However, in recent months, the company has suffered a significant loss of staff due to the dismissal of its co-founder and chief financial officer.

In July, Portofino's COO and co-founder Alex Casimo and CFO Jae Park were both fired. That then triggered the resignations of Vincent Prieur, head of strategy and operations, and Shane O'Callaghan, head of global business development, as well as a large number of the company's employees. Since the dismissal of the two executives, 10 to 12 people have left or are in the process of fulfilling their exit obligations, representing 30 to 40 percent of the company's workforce at the time, people familiar with the matter said.

A Portofino Technologies spokesman said the company had hired new CFO Mark Blackborough and senior sales trader Olivier Sultan; that it had been actively hiring since then, with four positions currently open; and that the company's headcount had returned to summer levels.