Qredo’s Ankex Crypto Exchange Shutters, CEO Michael Moro Leaves

Ankex, a cryptocurrency exchange launched last year by custody firm Qredo and headed up by former Genesis Trading CEO Michael Moro, has closed its doors amid bear market conditions.

Moro took the helm at Ankex, a trading platform that sought to combine a non-custodial decentralized finance (DeFi) approach with elements familiar to professional traders such as a central limit order book, earlier this year. He now appears to have left, with his profile on X saying "Formerly @GenesisTrading and @Ankexcom."

“Ankex development has been paused,” Qredo said in a message to its community. “As some of you tested earlier this year, Ankex was ready for a public beta launch. Unfortunately, our path must pause at this stage.”

Following last year's collapse of FTX, the idea that crypto exchange clients would want to keep custody of their own assets made total sense. Ankex may have just been a victim of unfortunate timing as the crypto industry gradually emerges from a prolonged bear market.

Moro left Genesis in August 2022, prior to parts of the business filing for bankruptcy protection.

The news was first reported by The Block.