Robinhood Crypto Unit General Counsel Departs to Join Firm Behind Videogame ‘Axie Infinity’

Mr. Nguyen’s departure was the latest staffing change at Robinhood, which has slashed more than 1,000 jobs in two rounds of layoffs so far this year as it continues to reel from a sharp slowdown in customer trading activity.

Mr. Nguyen has been the Robinhood crypto unit’s general counsel and chief compliance officer since late last year, when his predecessor, Benjamin Melnicki, left after a few months on the job to join Cross River Bank. Mr. Nguyen was previously the president of Robinhood Crypto LLC.

Mr. Nguyen signed Robinhood Crypto’s settlement agreement on behalf of the company with the New York State Department of Financial Services in July. The state financial regulator announced in August that it imposed a $30 million fine on the unit for alleged violations of anti-money-laundering and cybersecurity regulations.

Sky Mavis said in the tweet that Mr. Nguyen will help design and execute its strategies around the new legal issues presented by Web3, the idea of a decentralized internet that uses blockchain and other technologies.

“Axie Infinity,” launched in 2018, is part of a small but fast-growing number of so-called play-to-earn games. Also known as blockchain games, they largely center on the buying, trading and selling of virtual assets backed by nonfungible tokens, or NFTs. The games are considered an early foray into the metaverse, a more immersive future version of the internet where people are expected to work, learn and be entertained.

The move comes after Sky Mavis said in March that hackers stole more than $500 million worth of cryptocurrency from its flagship “Axie Infinity” product. Some of the funds lost in the hack have since been recovered by U.S. authorities, investigators said. The firm also raised $150 million in April to help it reimburse victims of the attack.

Write to Mengqi Sun at [email protected]