Opyn Co-founders Step Down In Response To CFTC’s Recent Action

• The co-founders of Opyn are stepping down in response to CFTC’s recent action.
• Co-founder Zubin Koticha said Andrew Leone, Opyn’s head of research, would take over as CEO.

The co-founders of Opyn are stepping down after the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) charged the DeFi options protocol in September.

In a post on X today, CEO Zubin Koticha stated that he and co-founder Alexis Gauba have decided to leave crypto, citing the latest regulatory action against Opyn.

Hey Crypto Twitter,

It's been a while

This one's a tough one…

After the regulatory action against Opyn, @alexisgauba and I have made the decision that we are leaving crypto.

This is honestly really emotional for me and Alexis.

— zubin koticha (@snarkyzk) November 14, 2023

In September, the CFTC announced that it had brought and resolved charges against Opyn and two other DeFi players. Opyn was accused with a number of registration violations, including failing to implement a customer identification procedure and illegally offering leveraged and margined retail commodities transactions in digital assets. Opyn was sentenced to pay a $250,000 fine and to stop violating the Commodity Exchange Act and CFTC regulations.

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“We spent the last six years working on incredible stuff that would’ve never been possible in TradFi — cutting edge work on the forefront of structured products and derivatives,” said Koticha in the post today. “We thought we were going to be in crypto for the rest of our lives. But, unfortunately and unexpectedly, this is the end of the road.”

He also stated that Opyn’s CEO will be Andrew Leone, the firm’s head of research. According to his LinkedIn page, Leone formerly worked as a vice president at Nomura, a Japanese bank, where he oversaw VIX and structured volatility trading for six years.