Bitfinex chief strategy officer departs

NEW YORK: Bitfinex Chief Strategy Officer Phil Potter is leaving the cryptocurrency trading platform, the executive and the exchange told Reuters.Potter will be replaced in the interim by Chief Executive JL van der Velde, the company said.

“As Bitfinex pivots away from the U.S., I felt that, as a U.S. person, it was time for me to rethink my position as a member of the executive team,” Potter said in a statement.

He referred to “new opportunities” in the days ahead but did not elaborate.

Owned by a British Virgin Islands company, Bitfinex is the fourth-largest cryptocurrency exchange in the world by trading volume. It enables traders to buy and sell virtual currencies such as bitcoin and ether.

The exchange shares management with Tether, a company that issues a cryptocurrency that is pegged to the U.S. dollar.