Crypto Financial Services Company Changes Focus, Closes London And Tokyo Market-Making Business

Woman-owned and led cryptocurrency financial services firm Menai Financial Group (MFG) announced in a statement that as part of shifting focus to asset management, it is winding down its market-making business in Tokyo and London to adapt to the ever-advancing financial landscape.

The announcement, made by the company Wednesday, noted that the crypto financial services firm will maintain investment and expansion of its asset-management business and will remain a firm advocate of the "disruptive promise of blockchain technology, especially as it relates to the tokenization of financial and real-world assets," Coindesk reported.

So far, it isn't clear how many people are affected by this latest decision by Menai. But the outlet, citing a person with knowledge on the matter, reported that the process of refocusing the group is ongoing and the business could be sold with internal staff getting relocated.

In January 2022, it was announced that Menai Financial Group partnered with MSCI, a New York-based finance company known for its MSCI indexes and offering portfolio analysis tools and ESG products, among others.

The initiative started its own set of digital assets indexes and launched in November last year.

"Institutional players are keen to participate in the digital asset markets but have historically struggled to find the means to do so in a way that meets the high standards of professionalism, scale, risk management, security and rigor required by traditional financial markets," Menai CEO and founder Zoe Cruz said at the time.

Menai Financial Group is the latest firm in the growing list of businesses that are shifting the focus of their operations and reducing their workforce amid the current crypto market environment.

Last year, several crypto and tech businesses announced their plans to cut off their workforce. In October 2022, centralized crypto exchange platform Crypto.com downsized its workforce by about 30-40% and let go of around 2,000 employees.

In November, Meta, the parent company of the social media giant Facebook, reduced an estimated 13% of its workforce when it cut more than 11,000 jobs. During the same month, payments processor Stripe trimmed its workforce by about 14% when it cut more than 1,000 jobs.

In December last year, crypto trading firm Amber Group reduced its headcount by around 300 people, equivalent to 40% of its workforce.

In the same month, Australian crypto exchange Swyftx cut its workforce by 35% while cryptocurrency exchange platform Bybit announced its plan to cut its workforce by 30%, equivalent to 250 employees.