Bitfinex CSO Officially Leaves the Exchange Leader

Potter is also resigning as a Director at Tether Holdings Limited - a Bitfinex affiliate, which issues the digital token Tether. He will be temporarily replaced by Jan Ludovicus van der Velde - the present CEO of Bitfinex exchange.

A spokesman of the company qualified Potter’s departure as “mutual parting of ways.” Following the news of his resignation, Potter released an official statement commenting on Bitfinex’s current cardinal shifts to strategic international markets other than the U.S. He also stated that he is ready to pursue new opportunities.

The former CSO has joined Bitfinex in 2013 and was one of the three chief managers during the years on the exchange platform. The stepping away from the U.S. markets is not the sole reason behind Potter’s departure.

It has also been provoked by the dubious reputation of Tether and Bitfinex, due to the leaked Paradise Papers in 2017 revealing the connection between the two entities.

Bitfinex was founded in 2012 with headquarters in Hong Kong. It is owned by a British Virgin Islands company. Today it is the fourth-largest cryptocurrency exchange in the world.

The crypto exchange maintains close connections with Tether which issued digital tokens are pegged to the U.S. dollar. That has raised concerns regarding the claims to hold one dollar in reserve for every Tether in circulation.

Bitfinex and Tether were subpoenaed by the U.S. CFTC (Commodity Futures Trading Commission) in December 2017. The exchange was forced to settle the charges with a $75,000 payment. 

It is likely that questions regarding Bitfinex exchange and Tether will continue even with a new CSO on board.