Kanav Kariya, the president of Jump Crypto, has announced his resignation amid reports of a pending investigation into the firm’s activities.
In response to widespread reports of a Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) investigation, Kanav Kariya, the president of Jump Crypto and the chief of Jump Trading’s digital asset subsidiary, has announced his resignation.
In a social media post on June 24, the former president of the crypto trading firm stated that he plans to concentrate on personal relationships and reading while he searches for his next venture. Kariya also contemplated the past few years at Jump Crypto, which he described as “eventful.”
Eventful years of Jump Crypto
In February 2022, hackers exploited the Wormhole bridge to fraudulently mint 120,000 wrapped Ethereum tokens (wETH), which were subsequently redeemed for ETH and other tokens on the Solana blockchain. This was the beginning of Jump Crypto’s difficulties. The developer of the Wormhole Bridge, which Jump Crypto owned, accepted responsibility for the damages by depositing an equivalent number of Ether tokens into the bridge. These tokens were valued at $321 million during the breach.
The trading firm was affected by the infamous Terra ecosystem collapse in May 2022, which resulted in an investor lawsuit alleging that Jump Crypto earned $1.3 billion in profits by collaborating with Terra founder Do Kwon to manipulate the price of Terra’s UST. The objective was to preserve the algorithmic stablecoin’s U.S. dollar peg. The lawsuit also claimed that Jump Crypto received LUNA tokens at a substantial discount, sometimes at a 99% markdown from the market price, as a reward for supporting UST and the Terra ecosystem.
Concerns regarding Jump Crypto’s exposure to FTX emerged later that year. At the time, company representatives eased investor concerns by noting that Jump Crypto was “one of the most well-capitalized and liquid firms in crypto” and that it was not in the process of closing.
CFTC’s investigation
Although the precise nature of the ongoing CFTC investigation into Jump Crypto has yet to be disclosed, the inquiry may incorporate the trading activities highlighted in the investor lawsuit and referenced in the Securities and Exchange Commission’s case against Terraform Labs.
It is crucial to emphasize that the CFTC’s investigation into Jump Crypto does not suggest any wrongdoing or guilt, as the regulator has not yet issued any findings.