Bitcoin futures exchange hires JPMorgan exec

Henny
Ray Abrams/AP

• Two of the largest players in the crypto space have
  snagged employees from top Wall Street banks for similar roles,
  according to people familiar with the matter. 
• Amy Yu, who previously worked in sales for synthetic
  products at JPMorgan, joined BitMEX to head up institutional
  sales.  
• Meanwhile, Lauren Abendschein, formerly a director at
  Credit Suisse, has joined as a manager of institutional
  sales. 
• Both will be tasked with luring more large players in
  financial services to their respective markets. 

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Count this as another sign that the cryptocurrency space is
growing up. 

Both BitMEX and Coinbase, two of the largest market places for
crypto, have snagged veteran Wall Streeters as the firms vie for
more business from large traditional financial services
companies, people familiar with the matter tell Business
Insider. 

Hong Kong-based BitMEX is a platform that offers peer-to-peer
trading of leveraged bitcoin contracts, while Coinbase is a
US-based cryptocurrency exchange operator best known for its
brokerage unit. Both have been building-out their services to
attract large investors.

As for BitMEX, the firm has brought on Amy Yu as head of
institutional sales, according to people familiar with the
situation. She joins the firm from JPMorgan where she worked in
sales for synthetic products. 

A BitMex spokesperson confirmed the hire. 

Meanwhile, Lauren Abendschein, formerly a director at Credit
Suisse, has joined Coinbase as a manager of institutional sales,
according to people familiar with the hire. 

She is joining the team in New York, which has been building out
its white-glove broker business aimed at getting large firms onto
Coinbase’s venue. Notably, the firm recently onboarded a $20
billion hedge fund onto its platform,
as Business Insider previously reported. 

Abendschein, who worked in Credit Suisse’s prime business, will
play a role in building out the prime business Coinbase is
looking to get off the ground as soon as year-end. 

Offering so-called white-glove services to large institutions —
from face-to-face meetings to block trades — is one way exchanges
are trying to lure larger investors to the nascent market for
digital currencies, market experts says. 

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