Brisbane-based Swyftx has exited its CEO and executive chair Jason Titman after less than two years in the role, and is also shedding 15% of the cryptocurrency exchange’s headcount.
Cofounder Alex Harper and chief financial officer Andrea Yuen, who took on the role in early 2025, have been appointed acting co-CEOs.
Director Cathryn Lyall, who has stepped in as acting chair said the duo are “uniquely placed” to lead the company.
“They have a formidable team behind them and I’m confident that under their combined leadership Swyftx will continue to thrive,” she said.
A company spokesperson said that after the business “increased in size and complexity” over the past year following the $33 million acquisition of New Zealand exchange Easy Crypto in March 2025, and US-focused digital assets brokerage Caleb & Brown, for more than $100 million six months ago, “we needed to restructure the business to remove duplication, simplify our operations and capture efficiencies”.
The Caleb and Brown merger gave the business a headcount of 300.
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The number of job losses have yet to be finalised, but Startup Daily understands that discussions on the restructure began last month and have yet to be finalised, although it’s likely that more than 35 roles will go.
“The restructure will allow us to prioritise investment in innovation,” the spokesperson said.
“Unfortunately, the proposals have resulted in a number of roles being put at risk of redundancy as we bring our teams together. Our primary concern at this moment is for impacted team members and we are offering them our full support.”
Swyftx was founded in 2018 by Harper and friend Angus Goldman. The 31-year-old friends since school are both directors and the largest shareholders of a business with team members in Australia, NZ and the US.
The exchange flirted briefly with Superhero in 2022 about merging to create a fintech unicorn, but that plan ended six months later with a management buyout from Superhero.
Regulation arrives
The latest changes come at a torrid time for cryptocurrency, after many hoped a crypto-friendly US president would herald a new golden age.
Instead, since an all-time high above US$122,000 in October 2025, bitcoin’s price nearly halved by late February to US$63k and it remains volatile. While climbing above $71k, six months on, it’s still down 5% on 12 months ago.
Swyftx has more than 1.3 million customers globally, with monthly trade topping A$1 billion. The company made a $50 million profit last financial year.
Meanwhile, last week, the Australian government’s Digital Assets Framework Bill, which requires crypto exchanges and custody providers to obtain an Australian Financial Services Licences (AFSL) from the corporate regulator, ASIC, became law. There’s a six-month transition period, which means exchanges will need to be registered with an AFSL by around October 2026, or they’ll be operating illegally.
There’s an estimated 400 crypto platforms in Australia, but only around 10% have ASIC registration and SwyftX is not one of them, so Harper and his team have plenty of work to do in the coming months.
“The next stage of the Swyftx journey is one of its most important. The priority right now is to make sure we’re ready to grow in a regulated environment,” Harper said.
“The potential is significant. We expect new crypto laws to significantly increase investor adoption of digital assets. Not just in Australia but also in the US, New Zealand and other markets where we have customers.”
