Jihan Wu is a well-known billionaire. He is trimming 10% of his digital-currency lending firm’s workforce while rearranging the leadership of his asset manager. The crypto industry is experiencing a wave of upheaval right now.
According to individuals who declined to be named, Matrix Asset Management’s CEO, Damien Loh, has departed the firm. Moreover, Iz Wong, the company’s business development and investor relations lead, has also left.
Matrix Asset Management’s Chief Operating Officer, Yu Yee Woon, said that the firm is shifting to fresh leadership in response to the CEOs’ departures. Regulatory review is also ongoing, and more information has not been disclosed.
Cynthia Wu, Matrixport Technologies Ltd’s CEO, said the firm was cutting around one-tenth of its workforce of roughly 300 people late last year.
Let’s Talk a Little Bit About the Origin Story
Wong previously worked at Dymon Asia Capital as a managing director for more than 11 years. According to his LinkedIn profile, Loh worked at JPMorgan in New York for 15 years, then moved to Matrix as CEO in October 2021.
Crypto investment solutions and financial services, such as lending, are available through Matrixport. According to an investor deck reviewed by Bloomberg News in November, it handles $5 billion in monthly transactions. It has tens of billions of dollars in assets under management and custody. According to the deck, the company employed roughly 300 workers.
Despite market turmoil exacerbated by crypto exchange FTX’s implosion, Matrixport was seeking a $1.5 billion valuation, up from $1 billion a year prior. DST Global, Tiger Global, IDG Capital, and Dragonfly Capital are among its investors.
Concerning Sam Bankman-Fried’s dissolved empire, Matrixport stated in November that it has no risk of insolvency. Around 80 of its clients were impacted by exposure to FTX-linked products on the platform.
Bitmain Technologies Ltd., founded by Jihan Wu, is a crypto-mining company. As Bitmain’s chief manufacturer of Bitcoin mining computers struggled with a financial shortfall in 2019, he spun Matrixport off from Bitmain. Matrixport’s chairman is now Chinese crypto mogul Bitdeer Technologies Holding Co., which he co-founded.
