ChainCatcher news, according to CoinDesk, Switzerland-based cryptocurrency market maker Portofino Technologies received approval from the UK's Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) earlier this year to serve institutional cryptocurrency clients in the UK. However, in recent months, the company has experienced significant employee turnover following the dismissal of its co-founder and chief financial officer.In July, Portofino's chief operating officer and co-founder Alex Casimo and chief financial officer Jae Park were both fired. This subsequently triggered the resignations of strategic and operations head Vincent Prieur, global business development head Shane O'Callaghan, and a large number of the company's employees.Insiders revealed that since the dismissal of these two executives, 10 to 12 people have left or are in the process of leaving, accounting for 30%-40% of the company's total workforce at that time.

ChainCatcher news, according to The Block, digital asset trading company STS Digital has acquired Swiss cryptocurrency market maker flovtec to expand its market-making capabilities and enhance liquidity solutions.The press release states that STS Digital specializes in over-the-counter trading and market making, and the company believes that the strategic acquisition of flovtec will "significantly accelerate its market-making services," as "this will provide flovtec's existing clients with deeper liquidity and tighter spreads." Enhanced services may include regulated custody, customized liquidity solutions, and trading strategies. The acquired company's trading infrastructure and proprietary algorithms will be integrated into STS Digital's existing platform. STS claims this will "facilitate the development of new innovative trading products and services." Additionally, flovtec's regulation in Switzerland may assist STS Digital in expanding into the European market.

According to ChainCatcher, citing sources familiar with the matter, cryptocurrency market maker Wintermute Trading is discussing a round of financing. The company plans to sell $100 million in shares, part of which will go to existing shareholders. Wintermute will also issue new shares, but the specific amount has not yet been determined.Sources added that negotiations are still ongoing, and details have not yet been finalized.

ChainCatcher news, according to Bloomberg, crypto market maker GSR Markets announced that Jakob Palmstierna will transition from the CEO position to the role of President, with Rich Rosenblum and Xin Song jointly taking on the CEO role.Rosenblum stated in an interview that as cryptocurrency experiences a resurgence, the new structure will enable GSR to better serve clients in different time zones. He explained, "When I'm awake, I'm basically the CEO and COO, and when I'm asleep, my partner is too. This arrangement allows us to cover the global market around the clock."Rosenblum mentioned that the company's revenue in the first half of this year has more than doubled compared to the same period last year. He also revealed that GSR has remained profitable and has never raised external funding.

ChainCatcher news, GSR analyst Brian Rudick stated in a report on Wednesday that the likelihood of the SEC approving a spot Ethereum ETF this May is 20%, a significant downgrade from GSR's January prediction of a 75% probability.The analyst noted that the SEC is under some political pressure to refrain from approving more digital asset ETFs, and the investigation into whether Ethereum qualifies as a security could greatly diminish the chances of approval. The regulatory body may seek to avoid turning the potential approval of a spot Ethereum ETF into "another major spectacle."Regarding future expectations, the analyst believes that any approval process for a spot Ethereum ETF may take longer and could be influenced by some litigation events, now estimating that a spot Ethereum ETF is most likely to be approved between 2025 and 2026.

ChainCatcher news, according to Blockworks, crypto market maker GSR has hired former JPMorgan executive Andreas Koukorinis as the new head of trading. It is reported that before becoming the global head of credit and electronic trading for JPMorgan's fixed income and commodities ETF, Koukorinis founded a sports betting startup, which then ventured into the cryptocurrency space. This startup caught the attention of Blockchain.com, which acquired the company in 2018.

ChainCatcher news, according to Lookonchain monitoring, crypto market maker Cumberland has transferred a total of 9,000 ETH to Coinbase and Gemini in the past 5 hours, worth approximately 18.16 million dollars.

ChainCatcher news, according to Bloomberg, the sharp decline in cryptocurrency prices has led to the bankruptcy of companies like the FTX trading platform, with a large number of token assets trapped on the collapsed trading platforms. Crypto market makers will strive to reduce risks in the future, stating that this shift will erode profits.Crypto market liquidity providers Auros, GSR Markets Ltd., and Wintermute Trading Ltd. emphasized that they will diversify trading across more trading platforms in the future. They will also not store digital assets directly on centralized trading platforms, using them as collateral to borrow coins and then transfer them back to the trading platforms, with collateral held by custodians or prime brokers. If the exchange collapses, the collateral will be held by the custodian or prime broker.Auros stated that for the entire market-making industry, using intermediaries will lead to a 20% to 30% decrease in profit margins compared to directly depositing on trading platforms and trading with leverage.

ChainCatcher news, according to sources cited by The Block, Chief Financial Officer Jonathan Hugh and several executives have left, including GSR's Global Product Head Benoit Bosc and Trading Operations Director Aman Bhalla. The company has been downsizing during the bear market, and trading volume on local exchanges has decreased.

ChainCatcher news, according to The Block, cryptocurrency market maker GSR will launch the GSR Foundation and pledge $10 million. The foundation's initial focus will be to provide smaller grants to nonprofit organizations to address technological barriers in marginalized communities. The GSR Foundation will also support nonprofits globally, aiming to tackle deep-rooted issues in the charitable ecosystem that can be overcome through emerging technologies. (Source link)

ChainCatcher news, according to The Block, cryptocurrency market maker CyberX has completed a $15 million Series A funding round, led by Foresight Ventures.Founder Zack Fan stated that the company's valuation has risen to "the range of several hundred million dollars," and that there were no other investors involved in the deal, "although other investors were interested, the company ultimately chose a single investor." The funds will be used to improve its proprietary risk management framework, which monitors on-chain and off-chain data in real-time. (source link)

ChainCatcher news, crypto market maker Keyrock has completed a $72 million Series B funding round, with participation from Ripple, SIX FinTech Ventures, Middlegame Ventures, and others. Keyrock will use this funding to invest in infrastructure development, scalability tools, and regulatory licenses in Europe, the United States, and Singapore.It is reported that Keyrock was founded in Brussels in 2017, and before the collapse of FTX, Keyrock withdrew most of its assets from FTX, and client funds were not affected. (CoinDesk)

ChainCatcher news, the decentralized exchange Bebop under the encrypted market maker Wintermute announced its expansion to Polygon. Wintermute hopes to reduce Bebop's trading fees with services based on Polygon, while achieving greater scalability and a sustainable proof-of-stake model. The team expressed a desire to expand to all major blockchain networks in the future. (Source link)

ChainCatcher news, according to CoinDesk, crypto market maker GSR announced that the company has laid off nearly 10% of its staff in the third quarter as part of a "structural reform" aimed at achieving long-term growth. GSR's website shows that it has approximately 300 employees worldwide, and the focus will now shift to improving overall efficiency and continuously enhancing trading and technological capabilities.It is reported that GSR was founded 9 years ago and has long provided liquidity to the crypto market, including for Binance, Coinbase, and FTX. (CoinDesk)

According to ChainCatcher, The Block reported that crypto market maker Portofino Technologies, founded by former Citadel Securities executives Leonard Lancia and Alex Casimo, has completed a $50 million funding round, with participation from Valar Ventures, Global Founders Capital, and Coatue.Portofino Technologies was established in April 2021 and is developing high-frequency trading technology for digital assets, having already executed billions of dollars in trades across CEX, DEX, and OTC markets. The company is reportedly set to compete with other cryptocurrency market makers such as Wintermute, B2C2, and Jump Trading. (The Block)