Bitvavo CEO permanently resigns over money laundering, insider trading allegations

Bitvavo CEO Mark Nuvelstijn announced on Friday his resignation from the Dutch cryptocurrency exchange platform, after the Amsterdam-based company and a law office launched an investigation into his work behavior. His decision has immediate effect, coming just a few days after the Financieele Dagblad raised questions about Nuvelstijn, his connection to convicted fraudster Max R., violations of money laundering rules, and insider trading.

Initially, Nuvelstijn said Thursday that he planned to temporarily step down, but that decision became permanent on Friday. He also indicated he does not want to return to a management role at Bitvavo.

The investigation was triggered by questions from the Financieele Dagblad in the run-up to their publication about Nuvelstijn’s private investments. The issue revolves around how Nuvelstijn reported transactions involving millions of euros for investment purposes. Nuvelstijn allegedly told his bank, ING, that the money was part of a loan to Max R., but communications via WhatsApp indicated that Nuvelstijn used aggressive language when he had trouble recovering his investment from R.

This took place several years ago. By reporting the transactions as loans, it could have had the effect of preventing ING from disclosing the transactions to regulatory agencies and financial watchdogs. The newspaper reported that the money was used to purchase options investment instruments involving a publicly-traded company. This turned a sizeable profit due to insider knowledge, the report indicated.

Bitvavo was repeatedly in the news early in 2024 after the collapse of American cryptocurrency platform Genesis threatened to wipe out the equivalent of 280 million euros that Bitvavo kept in assets with the company. The Amsterdam company later said it cut a deal with Genesis parent company Digital Currency Group to recover at least 80 percent of the amount lost in cash, digital assets and convertible notes.

Bitvavo just received a new license from the Dutch financial market regulator, AFM, at the end of June. The regulator would not say whether that license was in jeopardy because of allegations about Nuvelstijn, according to NOS.

“I do not want to burden Bitvavo with a matter from the past concerning my private investments,” Nuvelstijn explained. “I want to use the coming period to account for my actions.” He went on to say this is not possible if he continues in a senior role at Bitvavo due to the perceived “conflict of interest.”

Nuvelstijn called it a “painful decision,” but “the long-term interests of the company and its stakeholders are my top priority.” Bitvavo said in a statement that it respected the decision of its co-founder, and praised the role he played in the company’s development.

Johan van Olffen, who was already the financial director of Bitvavo, has been appointed as interim CEO. He will combine these two roles. “It has been the intention for some time that Nuvelstijn would eventually transfer his tasks to a new CEO, who will lead Bitvavo to the next phase of growth,” the company explained. “Recent developments have accelerated this decision.”