Kanav Kariya, the President of Leap Crypto, introduced his resignation 4 days after studies surfaced that the Commodity Futures Buying and selling Fee (CFTC) was investigating its Leap Buying and selling subsidiary’s actions.
Kariya said,
“At this time marks the tip of an unbelievable private journey for me. It’s my final day at Leap, a second I’m receiving with each a heavy coronary heart and nice pleasure in regards to the highway forward[…] I’m assured that Leap Crypto will proceed to do nice work within the trade.”
Leap Crypto, a digital asset arm of the Chicago-based buying and selling agency Leap, has reportedly come underneath scrutiny from the CFTC for its buying and selling and funding practices within the digital belongings market. Since its inception in September 2021, Leap Crypto has established itself as a big participant within the digital belongings area, performing as a number one market maker and investor.
The agency has been concerned in notable initiatives comparable to Wormhole, Pyth, and Firedancer. Nonetheless, it has additionally confronted a number of challenges, together with a $325 million hack of Wormhole, substantial losses from the FTX collapse in 2022, and allegations associated to propping up Terra’s peg throughout its near-collapse in 2021.
In response to those challenges, Leap Crypto has taken proactive steps to affect the regulatory panorama, together with a $10 million donation to Fairshake, a political motion committee supporting pro-crypto candidates, bringing its complete contribution to $15 million.
Whereas the CFTC investigation into Leap Crypto is important, it doesn’t essentially point out wrongdoing. Such regulatory probes are a part of the method as businesses search to grasp and oversee the evolving digital belongings sector. Nonetheless, Kariya’s resignation raises tensions among the many group concerning the precise nature of any potential investigation.
In his departure announcement, Kanav Kariya expressed gratitude for his experiences and relationships at Leap Crypto and indicated plans to remain engaged with portfolio firms whereas taking time to replicate on his future endeavors. He alluded to taking a while off to “learn” somewhat than transfer on to a brand new challenge.
