Nomura's head of crypto derivatives trading swaps Dubai for a prop trading firm in Singapore
As we have reported in the past, trading jobs in Dubai can be short-lived. Recent geopolitical conflicts between the UAE and Iran have only intensified this, but that's not the only reason people are leaving the city. One senior trader in the crypto arm of a bank is leaving for a big new opportunity: to run a new crypto desk for a proprietary trading firm.
💥Follow us on WhatsApp for news alerts.💥
John Kim has joined Chicago-based firm DV Trading in its Singapore office as the head of a new discretionary crypto trading team. He was most recently head of derivatives trading for Laser Digital, the digital asset arm of Japanese bank Nomura. His new team will operate through DV Chain, the firm's dedicated crypto arm, which was founded in 2016 but has historically focused on market making rather than discretionary strategies.
Kim only joined Laser in October 2025, but spent three years before that as head of derivatives trading for crypto investment bank Galaxy Digital. He was hired alongside two other traders in his team. Kim's hiring plans are unknown, but Luca Invernizzi, one of the other two hires, spoke publicly to CoinDesk last month as a Laser Digital representative, suggesting he won't be following Kim out the door again.
DV Trading, meanwhile, has grown its headcount to over 600 employees. CEO Jared Vegosen has been described as a "super smart and nice guy" in a 2016 Chicago Business profile; Vegosen himself started his career as a tech recruiter and real estate agent before getting into trading and told Chicago Business that "being smart was always cool in my life."
Have a confidential story, tip, or comment you’d like to share? Contact: WhatsApp: http://wa.me/442079977910 (+44 20 7997 7910), Telegram: @AlexMcMurray, Signal: @AlexMcMurrayEFC.88 Click here to fill in our anonymous form, or email editortips@efinancialcareers.com.
Bear with us if you leave a comment at the bottom of this article: comments are moderated intermittently by human beings. Sometimes these humans might be asleep, or away from their desks, so it may take a while for your comment to appear. You must take sole responsibility for comments you post on this site. We will take reasonable steps to weed out anything that we consider to be offensive or inappropriate.
