Phil Potter, chief strategy officer for cryptocurrency exchange Bitfinex, has reportedly left the company.
Reuters reported Friday that Potter, who is also a director of the 'stablecoin' issuing company Tether, will be temporarily replaced by Jan Ludovicus van der Velde, Bitfinex's CEO. A spokesperson told the news service that the parting was "mutual" in nature.
Potter was quoted as saying:
"As Bitfinex pivots to other strategic international markets, I felt this was a natural time for me to depart the executive team. I am looking forward to new opportunities in the days ahead."
According to data from Coinhills, Bitfinex is the fourth-largest exchange by trade volume, sporting roughly 121,000 BTC or roughly $750 million in volume over the past 24 hours.
The exchange has been at the center of controversy for some time, largely due to its close links to Tether. Just this week, law firm Freeh Sporkin & Sullivan LLP released a report attesting that Tether's USDT token is fully backed by more than $2 billion in reserves. Yet some quarters of the cryptocurrency community remain unconvinced, with the report sparking a fresh round of allegations that USDT has been used to inflate the price of bitcoin.
Exit sign image via Shutterstock
The leader in blockchain news, CoinDesk is a media outlet that strives for the highest journalistic standards and abides by a strict set of editorial policies. CoinDesk is an independent operating subsidiary of Digital Currency Group, which invests in cryptocurrencies and blockchain startups.
