Articles
Rules & RiskRegulation & Enforcement
Washington Wrote AI Rules in 60 Days; Crypto Awaits Clarity
The White House finalized a confidential AI rulebook in 60 days, while crypto's public market-structure bill has waited 459 days since the House passed it.
Markets & VenuesInstitutional Custody & Asset Management
XRP Finally Gets Its Own Account on X
XRP picked Monday to open an X account, the same day banks and BlackRock pushed deeper into crypto.
ProtocolsDeFi Protocols
Crypto Lending's Comeback Still Needs the Same Bridges
Lending protocols recovered 55 percent since July, but the bridges and oracles that caused April's $292 million hack still carry every loan.
Markets & VenuesCapital Markets & Treasury
Strategy Fights to Steady STRC Near $100
Strategy spent $193 million trying to keep its preferred stock near $100, as Solana and Circle also posted big numbers.
Markets & VenuesTrading Venues & Brokerage
CoinPaprika Finds a Sevenfold Gap in Bitcoin's Volume
A single day's trading data put Bitcoin's reported volume nearly seven times above the market's real turnover, raising doubts about September's record rebound.
Markets & VenuesCapital Markets & Treasury
The Crypto Brief, Oct. 18: Nine Firms Resist Tokens
Nine companies blocked OKXICE from tokenizing their stock this week, while Circle, Hacken and Cardano's founder each made their own case in public.
Markets & VenuesTrading Venues & Brokerage
Nine Companies Stop Cuomo's Tokenized Stock Push
Nine listed companies used a 30-day SEC window to block OKXICE from tokenizing their shares, even after a federal exemption cleared the venue to trade.
Rules & RiskSecurity & Incident Response
World's New Tool Hunts Deepfakes on Video Calls
World sold banks a badge that checks if a video caller is real. Its loudest critic says the fraud rides in on the audio.
Payments & ConsumerStablecoins & Payments
Jeremy Allaire Pitches Circle's Arc as Money for Machines
Circle's chief executive told a16z crypto, which led Arc's token presale, that AI will likely be the chain's main users.
Rules & RiskRegulation & Enforcement
The Crypto Brief, Oct. 17: Smith Fills Washington's Empty Seat
Kristin Smith starts atop crypto's biggest lobby as the White House's own crypto council sits with zero staff.
Rules & RiskRegulation & Enforcement
Turkey Confirms HEX Founder Richard Heart's Arrest
Turkey's justice minister confirmed Richard Heart's arrest, and HEX's price fell fast as the news spread.
Rules & RiskSecurity & Incident Response
Ledger's CEO Tells Mt. Gox's Ex-CEO: Get Real
Ledger's chief dismissed a security warning from Mt. Gox's old CEO about a $93 million wallet hack.
ProtocolsProtocol Research
Bitcoin Skipped the NIST Curve a 1997 Clock Just Explained
Claude traced NIST's curve seeds to a Unix clock in 1997, and Bitcoin has run all along on secp256k1, a curve built a different way.
Markets & VenuesTrading Venues & Brokerage
Musk's Flying Car Sends Crypto Traders Into Overdrive
A car that flies moved more crypto money than any blockchain news did Friday.
ProtocolsAI and Crypto
An OpenAI Agent Spends a Stranger's Wallet
OpenAI says its research model found a public key and spent test coins owned by someone else.
ProtocolsLayer 1s & Infrastructure
CZ Doubts Solana Organizers After Shanghai Police Visit
Binance's CZ questioned Solana's planning after police visited its first Shanghai tour stop this week.
Markets & VenuesInstitutional Custody & Asset Management
Crypto's Big Names Tease Plans, Skip the Details
A bank, a founder and a stablecoin chief all teased big crypto news, and all left out the hard numbers.
Markets & VenuesCapital Markets & Treasury
Ripple's David Schwartz Turns a Billboard Mix-Up Viral
A wrong billboard photo from Ripple's David Schwartz turned into crypto Twitter's biggest joke of the day.
Payments & ConsumerStablecoins & Payments
Ripple and Mastercard Wire Stablecoins Into Bank Rails
Ripple put RLUSD inside Cross River's core system, and Mastercard linked stablecoins to its card network through BVNK.
Rules & RiskSecurity & Incident Response
Banks Push Deeper Into Crypto As Quantum Fears Simmer
A bank added Ripple's stablecoin to its core, and Google's quantum chip renewed old fears.
Payments & ConsumerStablecoins & Payments
Polygon Completes Coinme Deal and Claims 48 States
Polygon announced its Coinme completion on October 14, 2026, and 11 of the 48 states rest on exemptions.
Markets & VenuesCapital Markets & Treasury
Ondo Hits $4 Billion; Meet the Team Behind Its Stocks
Ondo's $4 billion checks out on RWA.xyz. Ian De Bode, Ben Grossman and colleagues built the stock tokens behind its newest growth.
Markets & VenuesTrading Venues & Brokerage
MNX Swaps Funding Rates for a 2027 Expiry
MNX went live Oct. 13 on MegaETH with dated futures on four private AI labs and a settlement plan that ends with MNX.
Markets & VenuesCapital Markets & Treasury
Saylor Pitches a Private Central Bank at the World Bank
Michael Saylor pitched bitcoin-backed credit at the World Bank, after Strategy's preferred dividends reached $400.7 million in one quarter and critics questioned the model.
Payments & ConsumerStablecoins & Payments
PwC Cuts EOS Securitization Payouts to One Day on Stellar
PwC Germany built a smart contract system for EOS Group that pays securitization investors in a regulated euro stablecoin within a day.
Markets & VenuesCapital Markets & Treasury
OKX Raises From Circle, Ripple, Standard Chartered at $25 Billion
The exchange says a round extending its March financing values it at $25 billion before the new capital comes in.
Markets & VenuesExits and Removals
Coinbase Chief Accounting Officer Jennifer Jones Plans to Retire
Jennifer Jones told Coinbase on Sept. 29, 2026 that she will retire as chief accounting officer, and the company disclosed her decision in a Form 8-K filed Oct. 2, 2026.
Rules & RiskRegulation & Enforcement
Friday Filings: Banks Sue the OCC, Peirce Leaves the SEC
On Oct. 2, 2026, community bankers sued the OCC over crypto trust charters, Hester Peirce served her last day at the SEC, and Coinbase disclosed its chief accounting officer's retirement.
Markets & VenuesExecutive Hires
CoinShares Appoints Matt Morris Chief Financial Officer
CoinShares named Matt Morris chief financial officer effective immediately on Oct. 1, 2026, succeeding Richard Nash, who had held the post since 2019.
ProtocolsExecutive Hires
BNB Chain Names Thomas Chen Chief Business Officer
BNB Chain announced on September 28, 2026, that it had appointed Thomas Chen, the former CEO of the Bitcoin yield protocol Function, as its first chief business officer.
Rules & RiskCEO Changes
Kristin Smith Returns to Run Crypto's Lobby
She starts as Washington's crypto council sits empty, a week after its third director in fourteen months quit.
Payments & ConsumerExits and Removals
Circle's CFO Jeremy Fox-Geen to Step Down
Circle Internet Group said Chief Financial Officer Jeremy Fox-Geen will step down after more than five years in the role, staying through December 2026 to help find a successor.
Markets & VenuesExecutive Hires
Core Scientific Names Jay Elms Chief Commercial Officer
Core Scientific hired Jay Elms away from CyrusOne as chief commercial officer on September 25, 2026, to run customer relationships as the bitcoin miner builds out AI data centers.
Payments & ConsumerCEO Changes
Bridge Co-Founder Zach Abrams Departs Stripe
Zach Abrams announced on X on September 24, 2026 that he was leaving Stripe to run Open Standard full time, six days before its OUSD stablecoin launched with $1 billion in committed liquidity.
ProtocolsExecutive Hires
Solana Foundation Names Rachel Conlan Strategy Chief
Solana Foundation hired former Binance marketing chief Rachel Conlan as chief strategy officer on September 24, 2026, as the network pushes to bring institutional payments and tokenized assets onchain.
Markets & VenuesExecutive Hires
BitGo Names Alex Rozman Chief Compliance Officer
BitGo named Exodus compliance veteran Alex Rozman its chief compliance officer on September 17, 2026, handing him oversight of a company that reported $65.2 billion in client assets that June.
Markets & VenuesBoard Seats
Coincheck Group Names Pascal St-Jean Executive Chairperson
Pascal St-Jean added executive chairperson to his chief executive and president titles at Coincheck Group on September 17, 2026, the same day Takashi Oyagi gave up the role.
Markets & VenuesBoard Seats
Coincheck Group Names Satoshi Hasuo Temporary Executive Director
Satoshi Hasuo, Coincheck Group's chief stakeholder officer, became the company's temporary replacement executive director on September 17, 2026, the day Takashi Oyagi resigned from the seat.
Markets & VenuesBoard Seats
Coincheck Group's Takashi Oyagi Resigns as Executive Chairperson
Takashi Oyagi resigned as Coincheck Group's executive director and executive chairperson on September 17, 2026, pulling his own re-election off the agenda eight days before the shareholder vote that was due to decide it.
Markets & VenuesCEO Changes
Bitpanda CEO Enzersdorfer-Konrad to Step Down in 2027
Lukas Enzersdorfer-Konrad told Bitpanda's board on September 15, 2026, that he intends to step down as chief executive in the first quarter of 2027, with co-founder Christian Trummer becoming co-CEO alongside him immediately.
Markets & VenuesCEO Changes
Bitpanda Names Christian Trummer Co-CEO
Bitpanda made co-founder Christian Trummer co-CEO on September 15, 2026, the same day it said Lukas Enzersdorfer-Konrad intends to step down as chief executive in the first quarter of 2027.
ProtocolsCEO Changes
Michael Weisz Becomes CEO of the Solana Lender Kamino
Yieldstreet co-founder Michael Weisz became CEO of the Solana lending protocol Kamino on Sept. 15, 2026.
Markets & VenuesExecutive Hires
Polymarket Names Warren Jenson Its First CFO
Polymarket hired Warren Jenson, a former chief financial officer of Amazon, Electronic Arts, Delta Air Lines and NBC, as its first chief financial officer on Sept. 10, 2026, reporting to founder Shayne Coplan.
Rules & RiskExecutive Hires
Ledger Names Oded Blatman Chief Information and Security Officer
Ledger merged its technology and security leadership into one role on September 9, 2026, naming former Fireblocks security chief Oded Blatman to run both as the industry lost $1.4 billion to hacks and exploits over the prior year.
ProtocolsCEO Changes
William Herkelrath Replaces Staci Warden at the Algorand Foundation
The Algorand Foundation swapped its chief executive and two of its five directors on Sept. 9, and Adam Back's decade-long quantum timeline frames the case against its new pitch.
Markets & VenuesBoard Seats
Backpack US Appoints Kyle Samani to Its Board
Backpack announced on September 2, 2026, that it had appointed Multicoin Capital co-founder Kyle Samani to its board of directors as the exchange expanded its tokenized equity trading.
ProtocolsExits and Removals
Ava Labs' John Wu Steps Down as President
John Wu moved himself from president to senior advisor at Ava Labs on Aug. 18, 2026, handing the title to Charley Cooper after seven years building the company from ten Cornellians in Brooklyn.
ProtocolsExecutive Hires
John Wu Hands the Ava Labs Presidency to Charley Cooper
Ava Labs' John Wu appointed Charley Cooper president on Aug. 18, 2026, moved himself to senior advisor, and named interim CFO Lydia Chiu to the role on a permanent basis.
ProtocolsExecutive Hires
Ava Labs Names Lydia Chiu Permanent Chief Financial Officer
Ava Labs promoted Lydia Chiu from interim to permanent chief financial officer on August 18, 2026, as John Wu moved to senior advisor and handed the presidency to Charley Cooper.
ProtocolsExecutive Hires
Compound Foundation Names a COO, CPO and CTO
Compound Foundation named a COO, a CPO and a CTO on Aug. 17, 2026.
Markets & VenuesExecutive Hires
Fireblocks Names Elad Roisman Chief Regulatory Officer
Fireblocks appointed former SEC acting chairman Elad Roisman chief regulatory and policy officer on August 17, 2026, to lead the digital asset infrastructure firm's engagement with regulators as stablecoin rules take shape.
Markets & VenuesExits and Removals
Karen Alexander Departs as Bakkt Chief Financial Officer
Bakkt said Aug. 17, 2026, that Karen Alexander had transitioned out of the CFO role effective Aug. 14, replaced by CoreCard veteran Matt White as the company pushes into stablecoin infrastructure.
Markets & VenuesExecutive Hires
Matt White Named Bakkt Chief Financial Officer
Bakkt named former CoreCard finance chief Matt White its CFO on August 17, 2026, succeeding Karen Alexander as the company pivots toward stablecoin infrastructure.
ProtocolsCEO Changes
Alexander Urbelis Becomes the ENS Foundation's First Executive Director
ENS tokenholders voted 1.27 million to 480,690 on Aug. 8, 2026 to seat Alexander Urbelis and three independent directors.
ProtocolsExecutive Hires
Adam Schlisman and Allison Parent Join Ondo Finance's Executive Ranks
Ondo Finance hired Adam Schlisman as chief financial officer on August 5, 2026, and Allison Parent as chief policy officer on August 28, 2026, three months after founder Nathan Allman's death opened a Delaware court fight over who runs the company.
Markets & VenuesBoard Seats
Barbara Humpton Steps Down From MARA Holdings Board
MARA Holdings announced on August 4, 2026, that Barbara Humpton had left its board effective July 31, in a planned transition the Bitcoin miner disclosed alongside two new independent directors.
Markets & VenuesBoard Seats
Georges Antoun Steps Down From MARA Holdings Board
MARA Holdings announced on August 4, 2026, that Georges Antoun had left its board effective July 31, the same day as fellow director Barbara Humpton, in what the Bitcoin miner called a planned transition.
Markets & VenuesBoard Seats
MARA Adds Craig Hart and Nancy Novak to Its Board
MARA Holdings named energy investor Craig Hart and data center veteran Nancy Novak as independent directors on Aug. 4, 2026, after two sitting directors stepped down the week before.
Markets & VenuesBoard Seats
MARA Holdings Appoints Nancy Novak to Its Board
MARA Holdings named data center veteran Nancy Novak an independent director effective August 1, 2026, as the Bitcoin miner builds out its energy and infrastructure strategy.
Markets & VenuesExits and Removals
American Bitcoin President Matt Prusak Departs for Giga Energy
American Bitcoin disclosed in a filing on Aug. 3, 2026, that Matt Prusak would step down as president and interim chief financial officer the next day to become Giga Energy's chief business officer.
Markets & VenuesExecutive Hires
Bybit Names Peter Loo Chief Legal and Compliance Officer
Bybit appointed Peter Loo, formerly a regulator at Dubai's Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority, as chief legal and compliance officer on August 3, 2026.
ProtocolsLayoffs
Noah Tweedale Fires Dozens at Pump.fun Before Tokens Vest
Pump.fun cut more than 40 staff in two rounds starting in early April 2026, weeks before the first quarter of their PUMP token grants was due to vest in June. The company's own team and investors collected a $102 million unlock in July.
Markets & VenuesBoard Seats
Core Scientific Appoints Mark Adams to Its Board
Core Scientific named Mark Adams a director on July 29, 2026, expanding its board to seven seats with a technology executive who spent six years running Penguin Solutions.
Markets & VenuesExits and Removals
Coinbase's Lawrence Brock Steps Down as People Chief
Lawrence Brock told Coinbase on July 22, 2026 that he would step down as chief people officer, effective Aug. 17, 2026, weeks after leading a restructuring that cut about 700 jobs.
Markets & VenuesExecutive Hires
MEXC Names Robert MacDonald Chief Compliance Officer
MEXC hired Robert MacDonald as chief compliance officer on July 22, 2026, pulling him from the top legal and compliance post at rival exchange Bybit as MEXC pushes into equities-linked products.
Markets & VenuesExecutive Hires
Grayscale Names Sebastian Pulido Onchain Asset Management Head
Sebastian Pulido left Aave Labs to become Grayscale's first Head of Onchain Asset Management on July 21, 2026, arriving at a firm whose Bitcoin ETP led every US issuer in year-to-date inflows.
Markets & VenuesCEO Changes
Jack Mallers Steps Down as Twenty One Capital CEO
Twenty One Capital named Raphael Zagury chief executive effective July 20, 2026, after Jack Mallers stepped down and Tether's plan to merge Twenty One with his company Strike fell apart.
Markets & VenuesCEO Changes
Twenty One Capital Names Raphael Zagury Chief Executive
Twenty One Capital's board appointed Raphael Zagury chief executive effective July 20, 2026, moving him from the board's audit committee to the top job as Jack Mallers departed.
Payments & ConsumerLayoffs
Exodus Movement Cuts a Quarter of Its Workforce
Exodus Movement cut about 25 percent of its global workforce on July 17, 2026, a move CEO JP Richardson tied to the company's shift into stablecoin payments.
Payments & ConsumerLayoffs
Gnosis Cuts Its Gnosis App Team, Spins Out the Product
Gnosis Ltd reduced the team behind its consumer wallet, Gnosis App, and told its community on July 17, 2026, that the product would leave the company entirely by the third quarter.
ProtocolsExits and Removals
1inch Confirms Co-Founder Anton Bukov's Exit From Operations
1inch confirmed on July 16, 2026, that co-founder Anton Bukov had stopped contributing to the project since December 2025, after Bukov said on X that he had been fired in late November 2025.
Markets & VenuesBoard Seats
ProCap Financial Elects Benjamin Buchanan Independent Director
ProCap Financial named Benjamin Buchanan an independent director effective July 15, 2026, restoring its audit committee to three members under Nasdaq rules.
Markets & VenuesBoard Seats
Galaxy Digital Names Steven Bandrowczak to Its Board
Galaxy Digital appointed former Xerox chief executive Steven Bandrowczak an independent director and Audit Committee member on July 13, 2026, adding three decades of enterprise technology leadership to its board.
Markets & VenuesExecutive Hires
Coinbase Names Molly Abraham General Counsel
Coinbase said on July 9, 2026 that it expects to appoint Molly Abraham, its vice president of legal since March 2021, as general counsel and secretary once Paul Grewal's resignation takes effect.
Markets & VenuesExits and Removals
Coinbase's Paul Grewal Steps Down as Chief Legal Officer
Paul Grewal told Coinbase on July 8, 2026 that he would step down as chief legal officer and secretary, effective July 31, 2026, closing a six-year tenure that ran through the company's fight with the SEC.
Markets & VenuesExecutive Hires
Keel Infrastructure Names Ganesh Aiyer President
Keel Infrastructure, the company built from Bitfarms' Bitcoin mining sites, named former Digital Realty Trust executive Ganesh Aiyer president on July 6, 2026, to run its commercial pipeline.
Markets & VenuesExits and Removals
Grayscale's Chief Financial Officer Edward McGee Steps Down
Grayscale said Edward McGee left his chief financial officer role on July 2, 2026, for personal reasons, splitting the job between two senior finance executives on an interim basis.
Markets & VenuesLayoffs
BitGo Cuts 15% of Staff to Focus on AI, Stablecoins
BitGo chief executive Mike Belshe cut nearly 15% of the company's workforce on June 25, 2026, five months after its IPO, to concentrate staff on security, trading, stablecoins, settlement, and AI infrastructure.
ProtocolsBoard Seats
Andre Cronje Resigns From the Sonic Labs Board
Sonic Labs announced on June 19, 2026, that Andre Cronje would resign from its board with two other longtime directors.
ProtocolsBoard Seats
Michael Kong Resigns From Sonic Labs Board
Michael Kong left the Sonic Labs board on June 19, 2026, eight years after joining Fantom, as Crowdfund Insider reported the S token down 97 percent from its all-time high.
ProtocolsBoard Seats
pcaversaccio Joins the Ethereum Foundation Board After 54 Job Cuts
Hsiao-Wei Wang left on June 18, 2026, the Ethereum Foundation cut 54 jobs on June 23, and pcaversaccio joined its board on July 29.
Markets & VenuesBoard Seats
Hut 8 Names E. Stanley O'Neal Board Chair
Hut 8 named E. Stanley O'Neal chair of its board on June 11, 2026, succeeding founding chair William Tai, who had held the role since November 2023.
Markets & VenuesBoard Seats
Backpack US Appoints Michael Piwowar to Its Board
Backpack US announced on June 9, 2026, that it had appointed former SEC Commissioner and Acting Chairman Michael Piwowar to its board of directors as the exchange expands its regulated U.S. business.
Markets & VenuesExecutive Hires
Bitpanda Promotes Barbara Edelmann to Chief Financial Officer
Bitpanda promoted Barbara Edelmann from within to Chief Financial Officer effective June 12, 2026, succeeding Jonas Larsen, who left the exchange by mutual agreement.
Markets & VenuesBoard Seats
Twenty One Capital Appoints Paul Lalljie Independent Director
Twenty One Capital named Paul S. Lalljie an independent director and audit committee member on June 8, 2026, filling a seat SoftBank's departing representative had left vacant.
ProtocolsCEO Changes
Amir Haleem Steps Down as Helium CEO
Nova Labs, the company behind Helium, said on June 4, 2026, that founder Amir Haleem would move to chairman while Mario Di Dio takes over as chief executive.
ProtocolsCEO Changes
Helium Names Mario Di Dio Chief Executive
Nova Labs, the company behind Helium, promoted network operations veteran Mario Di Dio to chief executive on June 4, 2026, as founder Amir Haleem moved to chairman.
Markets & VenuesExecutive Hires
Bitdeer Names Michael Potter Chief Financial Officer
Bitdeer's board approved Michael Potter as chief financial officer effective May 26, 2026, succeeding Jianchun Liu, ten weeks before the Singapore-based Bitcoin miner announced a $4.7 billion AI colocation lease.
ProtocolsCEO Changes
Ian De Bode Succeeds Nathan Allman at Ondo Finance
Ondo Finance named its president CEO in the post that announced founder Nathan Allman's death on May 25, 2026.
ProtocolsLayoffs
Dune Cuts a Quarter of Its Staff, CEO Says
Dune co-founder and CEO Fredrik Haga said on May 14, 2026 that the crypto data firm had let 25 percent of its team go that week, pointing to AI tools and institutional demand as the reasons to restructure.
Markets & VenuesExecutive Hires
OnRe Names Ben Fortune Chief Underwriting Officer
OnRe named Ben Fortune chief underwriting officer on May 12, 2026, pulling him from The Fidelis Partnership to run underwriting at a reinsurer managing $170 million onchain.
ProtocolsExits and Removals
MetaMask Co-Founder Dan Finlay Leaves Consensys
Dan Finlay announced on X that April 22, 2026, was his last day at Consensys, ending more than ten years building MetaMask and citing burnout and family time.
Markets & VenuesCEO Changes
Trump Media Names Kevin McGurn Interim Chief Executive
Trump Media appointed Kevin J. McGurn interim chief executive on April 21, 2026, moving him from a board advisory role he had held since December 2024 into the seat Devin Nunes vacated.
Markets & VenuesCEO Changes
Trump Media Replaces Devin Nunes as Chief Executive
Trump Media replaced Devin Nunes as chief executive on April 21, 2026.
Payments & ConsumerCEO Changes
Greg Solano Steps Down as Yuga Labs CEO
Greg Solano told followers on April 16, 2026, that he was moving into the role of chairman of the board at Yuga Labs after about two years as chief executive, handing the job to Michael Figge.
Payments & ConsumerCEO Changes
Yuga Labs Names Michael Figge Chief Executive
Greg Solano announced on April 16, 2026, that Michael Figge, who had worked at Yuga Labs since 2021, would become chief executive while Solano moved to chairman of the board.
ProtocolsExits and Removals
Oren Katz Leaves StarkWare as It Splits Into Two Units
Oren Katz, StarkWare's chief operating officer, resigned on April 13, 2026, the day CEO Eli Ben-Sasson told staff the company would cut jobs and split into two business units.
Markets & VenuesBoard Seats
Copper Names John Meserve to Its Board
Copper added former Bank of New York executive John Meserve as a director on April 10, 2026, succeeding Jim Turley on its audit, risk and compliance committee.
Markets & VenuesBoard Seats
Copper Names Mike Kuehnel Chairman
Copper named former Flow Traders CEO Mike Kuehnel chairman on April 10, 2026, succeeding Lord Hammond as the digital asset custody firm pushed deeper into the United States.
Markets & VenuesBoard Seats
Lord Hammond Steps Down as Copper Chairman
Lord Hammond stepped down as Copper's chairman on April 10, 2026, three years after joining the digital asset custody firm's board, handing the role to former Flow Traders CEO Mike Kuehnel.
Markets & VenuesExecutive Hires
Securitize Names Brett Redfearn President
Securitize named former SEC trading-and-markets director Brett Redfearn president and a board member on April 9, 2026, as the tokenization platform prepares for a public listing through Cantor Equity Partners II.
Markets & VenuesCEO Changes
MEXC Names Vugar Usi Chief Executive Officer
MEXC promoted Chief Operating Officer Vugar Usi to chief executive officer on April 8, 2026, the exchange's eighth anniversary, after a year in which MEXC says it returned $1 billion in fees to users.
Markets & VenuesExits and Removals
Blake Janover Departs as DeFi Development Corp's Commercial Chief
DeFi Development Corp. and Blake Janover signed a separation agreement effective March 31, 2026, ending his run as chief commercial officer while he keeps his board seat and a $692,500 payment.
Payments & ConsumerCEO Changes
BC.Game Appoints Kar Kheng Giam as Chief Executive Officer
BC.Game named Kar Kheng Giam, known as KK, chief executive officer on March 25, 2026, as the crypto gaming platform pushes into licensed markets in Anjouan, Nigeria, Kenya, Mexico and Tanzania.
Payments & ConsumerExecutive Hires
Ledger Names John Andrews Chief Financial Officer
Ledger hired former Circle executive John Andrews as chief financial officer on March 20, 2026, alongside a new New York office, as the hardware wallet maker eyes a public listing.
ProtocolsCEO Changes
Messari Names Diran Li Chief Executive Officer
Messari CEO Eric Turner handed the role to seven-year CTO Diran Li on March 16, 2026, alongside a round of layoffs the firm tied to an AI-first pivot.
ProtocolsCEO Changes
Ajit Tripathi Takes Over the Eigen Foundation From Robert Drost
The Eigen Foundation named Tripathi executive director on March 13, 2026 and moved founding director Drost to senior adviser.
Payments & ConsumerExits and Removals
Tether Investment Chief Richard Heathcote Steps Down
Richard Heathcote stepped down as Tether's chief investment officer on March 12, 2026, moving into an advisory role as deputy Zachary Lyons took over the position.
Payments & ConsumerExecutive Hires
Tether Names Zachary Lyons Chief Investment Officer
Tether promoted deputy chief investment officer Zachary Lyons to the top investment role on March 12, 2026, as Richard Heathcote moved into an advisory position.
Markets & VenuesCEO Changes
Binance.US Names Stephen Gregory Chief Executive Officer
Binance.US replaced CEO Norman Reed with compliance lawyer Stephen Gregory effective March 9, 2026, as rival U.S. exchanges raced into tokenized stocks and prediction markets.
Markets & VenuesCEO Changes
Bybit Co-CEO Helen Liu to Depart the Exchange
Bybit announced on March 7, 2026, that Co-CEO Helen Liu would leave the exchange on April 30, 2026, after five years in roles spanning human resources to the top office.
ProtocolsExecutive Hires
Bruno Martins Replaces Nik Bougalis as Algorand's CTO Before Layoffs
The Algorand Foundation named Bruno Martins acting CTO on March 1, 2026, cut a quarter of its staff on March 18, and absorbed Algorand Technologies on March 19.
Payments & ConsumerLayoffs
Block Cuts 40% of Staff, Citing AI Tools
Block told shareholders on February 26, 2026, that it was cutting its workforce by more than 40 percent, from over 10,000 employees to under 6,000, with CEO Jack Dorsey saying intelligence tools let a smaller team do more.
Markets & VenuesExecutive Hires
Gemini Names Danijela Stojanovic Interim CFO
Gemini's board promoted Danijela Stojanovic from chief accounting officer to interim chief financial officer effective Feb. 17, 2026, the same day it removed Dan Chen from the job.
Markets & VenuesExecutive Hires
Gemini Names Kate Freedman Interim General Counsel
Gemini's board promoted Kate Freedman from associate general counsel to interim general counsel effective Feb. 17, 2026, the same day it removed chief legal officer Tyler Meade.
Markets & VenuesExits and Removals
Gemini Parts Ways With CFO Dan Chen
Gemini removed Dan Chen as chief financial officer effective Feb. 17, 2026, in a filing that also ousted its chief operating officer and chief legal officer.
Markets & VenuesExits and Removals
Gemini Parts Ways With Chief Legal Officer Tyler Meade
Gemini removed Tyler Meade as chief legal officer effective Feb. 17, 2026, 12 days after it said it would exit the UK, EU and Australian exchange markets, and named Kate Freedman interim general counsel.
Markets & VenuesExits and Removals
Gemini Parts Ways With COO Marshall Beard
Gemini disclosed in a regulatory filing that chief operating officer Marshall Beard was leaving effective immediately, CoinDesk reported on February 17, 2026, days after the exchange cut a quarter of its staff.
ProtocolsCEO Changes
Bastian Aue Replaces Tomasz Stańczak as Ethereum Foundation Co-Director
Tomasz Stańczak announced on February 13, 2026 that he would leave his Ethereum Foundation co-executive director post at the end of the month, and the Foundation's board named Bastian Aue interim co-executive director the same day.
ProtocolsCEO Changes
Const and ShibShib Give Up Opentensor's Two Top Titles
Bittensor's two co-founders left the CEO and COO jobs at the Opentensor Foundation on Feb. 12, 2026, and a subnet team later accused Const of keeping the control that came with them.
Payments & ConsumerCEO Changes
Felix Fan Succeeds Eowyn Chen as Trust Wallet CEO
Trust Wallet's chief executive handover came 49 days after a poisoned Chrome extension drained 2,520 wallets, and the successor ran product at OKX.
Markets & VenuesExecutive Hires
Justin Wales Replaces Nick Lundgren as Crypto.com's Chief Legal Officer
Crypto.com named Justin Wales chief legal officer on April 16, 2026, the day Nick Lundgren resigned and a court heard its Nevada appeal, 28 days after a 12 percent staff cut.
Markets & VenuesLayoffs
Gemini Cuts 25% of Staff, Exits UK, EU and Australia
Gemini announced on February 5, 2026, that it would cut a quarter of its global workforce and shut down trading in the UK, the European Union and Australia to focus on the US and prediction markets, CoinDesk reported the same day.
ProtocolsExecutive Hires
Chainalysis Names Sebastien Giroux Chief Financial Officer
Chainalysis named Sebastien Giroux chief financial officer the week of February 3, 2026, bringing in an executive who had spent more than three years as CFO of Productboard.
Payments & ConsumerCEO Changes
PayPal Appoints HP's Enrique Lores as CEO
PayPal's board named former HP chief executive Enrique Lores as its next president and CEO on February 3, 2026, replacing Alex Chriss effective March 1, 2026, after citing slow execution.
ProtocolsExits and Removals
Luigi D'Onorio DeMeo Steps Down as Ava Labs Strategy Chief
Luigi D'Onorio DeMeo posted his exit as Ava Labs chief strategy officer on Jan. 15, 2026, after nearly five years, and said he will finish his term on the Avalanche Foundation board.
ProtocolsBoard Seats
Bill Barhydt Chairs the Algorand Foundation's New Delaware Board
The Algorand Foundation moved its headquarters from Singapore to Delaware and seated four outside directors on January 14, 2026.
Markets & VenuesExecutive Hires
BitMine Names Young Kim CFO and COO
BitMine Immersion Technologies appointed Axiom Investors partner Young Kim as chief financial officer and chief operating officer on Jan. 9, 2026.
ProtocolsCEO Changes
Josh Swihart Quits Electric Coin Company With Its Whole Team
Electric Coin Company's chief executive announced on Jan. 7, 2026 that its entire team had left the nonprofit that governed it.
Markets & VenuesExits and Removals
Riot Platforms' Colin Yee to Step Down as CFO
Riot Platforms announced on January 2, 2026, that Jason Chung would replace Colin Yee as chief financial officer effective March 1, 2026, as the bitcoin miner leans further into AI data centers.
Markets & VenuesExecutive Hires
Riot Platforms Names Jason Chung Chief Financial Officer
Riot Platforms promoted corporate development chief Jason Chung to chief financial officer effective March 1, 2026, succeeding Colin Yee as the miner pivots toward data centers.
Markets & VenuesCEO Changes
Rob Phythian Steps Down as SharpLink Co-Chief Executive
SharpLink Gaming said on December 17, 2025, that Rob Phythian had stepped down as co-chief executive and director and that its board had made Joseph Chalom sole chief executive officer, effective December 15, completing a planned transition.
Payments & ConsumerBoard Seats
Animoca Brands Appoints John Madden to Board of Directors
Animoca Brands said on December 15, 2025, that John Madden, its company secretary since 2019, had become a director on December 10, a day before director David Brickler resigned.
Payments & ConsumerBoard Seats
David Brickler Resigns From Animoca Brands Board
Director David Brickler resigned from Animoca Brands' board effective December 11, 2025, one day after John Madden's appointment took effect, the company announced on December 15, 2025.
Markets & VenuesExecutive Hires
MEXC Names Vugar Usi Chief Operating Officer
MEXC named Vugar Usi chief operating officer on December 3, 2025, hiring a Bitget veteran to run its global expansion four months before promoting him to chief executive.
Markets & VenuesCEO Changes
Hyperliquid Strategies Names David Schamis Chief Executive Officer
Hyperliquid Strategies named David Schamis chief executive officer on December 2, 2025, the day its merger with Sonnet BioTherapeutics closed and its stock began trading as a HYPE treasury vehicle.
ProtocolsExits and Removals
Sushi Labs Managing Director Jared Grey Steps Down
Jared Grey announced on Dec. 1, 2025 that he would step down as Sushi's Head Chef and Sushi Labs managing director for an advisory role, as Synthesis founder Alex McCurry took over and invested in the protocol.
ProtocolsCEO Changes
Sushi Names Alex McCurry Chief Executive
PANews reported on December 1, 2025, that Jared Grey would step down as Sushi's top leader, and PR Newswire carried Sushi's own announcement that Alex McCurry had joined as chief executive on December 16, 2025.
Markets & VenuesCEO Changes
Blockchain.com Names Lane Kasselman Co-Chief Executive
Blockchain.com promoted president Lane Kasselman to co-CEO on November 17, 2025, to run a new Dallas headquarters while founder Peter Smith stays chief executive from London.
Markets & VenuesBoard Seats
BitMine Immersion Names Jason Edgeworth Independent Director
BitMine Immersion Technologies seated JPD Family Holdings asset manager Jason Edgeworth as an independent director on Nov. 14, 2025, the same day it named Chi Tsang chief executive.
Markets & VenuesBoard Seats
BitMine Immersion Names Olivia Howe Independent Director
BitMine Immersion Technologies seated RigUp chief legal officer Olivia Howe as an independent director on Nov. 14, 2025, the same day it named Chi Tsang chief executive.
Markets & VenuesBoard Seats
BitMine Immersion Names Robert Sechan Independent Director
BitMine Immersion Technologies seated Robert Sechan, founder of NewEdge Capital Group, as an independent director on Nov. 14, 2025, the same day the firm named Chi Tsang chief executive.
Markets & VenuesCEO Changes
BitMine CEO Jonathan Bates Departs
Jonathan Bates left BitMine Immersion Technologies as chief executive on Nov. 14, 2025, the same day the company named Chi Tsang to replace him.
Markets & VenuesCEO Changes
BitMine Names Chi Tsang Chief Executive
BitMine Immersion Technologies named Chi Tsang CEO on Nov. 14, 2025, replacing Jonathan Bates as the firm pushed its Ethereum treasury past 2.9 percent of the token's supply.
ProtocolsExecutive Hires
Danika Delano Becomes Chief Operating Officer at the Zcash Foundation
The Zcash Foundation promoted Danika Delano from operations director to chief operating officer on November 11, 2025.
Markets & VenuesCEO Changes
Bitpanda's Eric Demuth Steps Down as CEO for Executive Chairman
Eric Demuth handed Bitpanda's chief executive title to Lukas Enzersdorfer-Konrad on November 3, 2025, after more than a decade as co-CEO, and moved into the role of Executive Chairman and President of the Board.
ProtocolsExecutive Hires
Zcash Foundation Names Alex Bornstein Executive Director
The Zcash Foundation's board appointed Alex Bornstein executive director effective November 1, 2025, making permanent the role he had held on an interim basis since March.
ProtocolsExecutive Hires
Alchemy Names AWS Veteran Bill Platt Chief Operating Officer
Alchemy announced on October 28, 2025, that it had hired Bill Platt, a former Amazon Web Services executive, as chief operating officer to scale its blockchain infrastructure for institutional demand.
Markets & VenuesCEO Changes
Evernorth Names Asheesh Birla Chief Executive
Evernorth Holdings announced on October 20, 2025, that Asheesh Birla, a former Ripple executive, would lead the company as it seeks over $1 billion in gross proceeds through a Nasdaq listing.
Markets & VenuesExecutive Hires
Bitfarms Names Jonathan Mir Chief Financial Officer
Bitfarms named Jonathan Mir chief financial officer on October 14, 2025, succeeding Jeff Lucas as the Nasdaq-listed miner builds data centers for high-performance computing in Pennsylvania, Quebec and Central Washington.
Markets & VenuesExecutive Hires
Cipher Mining Names Gregory Mumford Chief Financial Officer
Cipher Mining Inc. named Gregory Mumford, a Keefe, Bruyette & Woods digital assets banker, as its second chief financial officer in a release dated October 6, 2025.
Markets & VenuesExits and Removals
Cipher Mining's Edward Farrell Retires as Chief Financial Officer
Cipher Mining Inc. announced on October 6, 2025, that Edward Farrell, its first chief financial officer, would retire effective October 14, 2025, and move into a senior advisor role.
Markets & VenuesExecutive Hires
Strive Names Ben Werkman Chief Investment Officer
Ben Werkman left Swan Bitcoin to become Strive's chief investment officer on October 6, 2025, three weeks after Strive's board had listed him as a director tied to Swan.
Markets & VenuesExecutive Hires
Bitpanda Names Markus Dorner Chief Technology Officer
Bitpanda promoted Markus Dorner, a three-year employee who rose from director to VP of engineering, to chief technology officer effective October 1, 2025.
ProtocolsExecutive Hires
TON Foundation Names Gerardo Carucci Chief Marketing Officer
TON Foundation hired former Apple and Nike marketing executive Gerardo Carucci as chief marketing officer on October 1, 2025, seven months before Telegram founder Pavel Durov said Telegram would take over the foundation's role.
ProtocolsBoard Seats
0G Foundation Appoints Jonathan Chang to Its Board
0G Foundation named Dr. Jonathan Chang a director on September 30, 2025, after 0G announced the launch of Aristotle Mainnet, its decentralized AI network, to advance policy ties for the project.
Payments & ConsumerExecutive Hires
David Schwartz Hands the Ripple CTO Job to Dennis Jarosch
David Schwartz, Ripple's chief technology officer since 2018, told the XRP community on September 30, 2025 that he would step back at the end of the year, and Ripple's senior vice president of engineering, Dennis Jarosch, would take the title.
ProtocolsCEO Changes
Mitchell Demeter Runs Sonic Labs for 145 Days
Sonic Labs named Mitchell Demeter CEO on Sept. 28, 2025, when Michael Kong became chief information officer.
Payments & ConsumerExecutive Hires
Tether Names Benjamin Habbel Chief Business Officer
Tether appointed former Google and Limestone Capital executive Benjamin Habbel chief business officer on September 24, 2025, to lead growth, finance and investments.
Markets & VenuesExecutive Hires
Argo Blockchain Promotes Charlotte Proctor-Worrall to CFO
Argo Blockchain promoted group financial controller Charlotte Proctor-Worrall to chief financial officer on September 22, 2025, in the same filing that said Nasdaq had granted the mining company a reprieve on its listing requirements.
Markets & VenuesBoard Seats
Bakkt Appoints Mike Alfred to Its Board of Directors
Bakkt named fintech investor Mike Alfred to its board on Sept. 22, 2025, as the company leaned into digital asset trading, stablecoin payments and Bitcoin.
Markets & VenuesExecutive Hires
MEXC Names Cecilia Hsueh Chief Strategy Officer
MEXC announced Cecilia Hsueh as chief strategy officer on September 22, 2025, adding a former Phemex and Morph executive as the exchange pushes to become a broader Web3 platform.
Payments & ConsumerExecutive Hires
Anjali George Takes Paxos Labs From Bid to Funded Spin-Off
Paxos Labs' head of marketing arrived mid-bid in September 2025, after years as a TRON press contact, and the venture has since raised $12 million while bank groups contest its yield products.
Markets & VenuesExecutive Hires
Strive Names Jeff Walton Chief Risk Officer
Strive named True North founder Jeff Walton its chief risk officer on September 16, 2025, the same day it acquired his Bitcoin media platform in a de minimis cash deal.
Markets & VenuesExecutive Hires
Thesis* Names Victoria Chan Chief Operating Officer
Thesis* announced on September 16, 2025, that it had hired former Coinbase and Google executive Victoria Chan as chief operating officer to run day-to-day operations across its Bitcoin product lineup.
ProtocolsExecutive Hires
Polygon Labs Names John Egan Chief Product Officer
Stripe's head of crypto, John Egan, announced on Sept. 15, 2025, that he had joined Polygon Labs as its first chief product officer, starting the next day.
Markets & VenuesBoard Seats
Strive Names Pierre Rochard to Its Board of Directors
Pierre Rochard, CEO of The Bitcoin Bond Company, joined Strive's board on September 15, 2025, as the newly public company disclosed a $750 million raise and 69 Bitcoin in initial holdings.
Rules & RiskExecutive Hires
Ondo Finance Names Peter Curley Regulatory Affairs Chief
Ondo Finance hired former SEC and Treasury official Peter Curley as its Head of Global Regulatory Affairs on September 10, 2025.
Markets & VenuesExecutive Hires
IREN Names Anthony Lewis Chief Financial Officer
IREN promoted Anthony Lewis to chief financial officer on September 8, 2025, two months after he joined as chief capital officer, succeeding Belinda Nucifora after her 3.5 years in the role.
Markets & VenuesExits and Removals
IREN's Belinda Nucifora Departs as Chief Financial Officer
Belinda Nucifora left as IREN's chief financial officer on September 8, 2025, after 3.5 years in the role, and the company credited her with its transition to U.S. GAAP reporting.
Payments & ConsumerCEO Changes
Paradigm's Matt Huang Named Chief Executive of Tempo
Stripe and the venture firm Paradigm announced the stablecoin blockchain Tempo on September 4, 2025, naming Paradigm managing partner Matt Huang as chief executive while he kept his seat at the venture firm.
Payments & ConsumerCEO Changes
Stable Names Matthew Tabbiner Chief Executive Officer
Stable announced on August 28, 2025, that Matthew Tabbiner had joined the USDT-focused layer 1 as chief executive officer, alongside three other new chief officers; by October 3, 2026, Stable's own team page named a different chief executive.
ProtocolsExecutive Hires
Stable Names Sam Kazemian Chief Technology Officer
Frax Finance founder Sam Kazemian said on X on Aug. 28, 2025, that he had joined stablecoin network Stable as chief technology officer while staying on as Frax's chief executive.
Payments & ConsumerCEO Changes
Robby Yung Takes The Sandbox From Its Co-Founders
Animoca Brands' investments chief became CEO of The Sandbox on Aug. 28, 2025, with both co-founders moved out of executive roles.
Markets & VenuesCEO Changes
Amber International Names Michael Wu Chief Executive
Amber International's board appointed Michael Wu chief executive on August 21, 2025, stacking the role onto his chairmanship as the Nasdaq-listed firm added two new directors the same day.
Markets & VenuesExecutive Hires
Amber International Names Vicky Wang President
Amber International's board named Vicky Wang president on August 21, 2025, the same day it handed Michael Wu the chief executive title and seated her on the board.
Markets & VenuesCEO Changes
Wayne Huo Steps Down as Amber International CEO
Wayne Huo left the chief executive seat at Amber International on August 21, 2025, when the board replaced him with chairman Michael Wu and thanked him in a single sentence for his tenure.
Payments & ConsumerCEO Changes
CoinGecko Names Co-Founder Bobby Ong Chief Executive Officer
CoinGecko promoted co-founder Bobby Ong from chief operating officer to chief executive officer on August 18, 2025, as fellow co-founder TM Lee moved into a new president role.
Payments & ConsumerCEO Changes
TM Lee Steps Down as CoinGecko's Chief Executive Officer
CoinGecko co-founder TM Lee moved from chief executive officer to a new president role on August 18, 2025, handing the top job to his fellow co-founder Bobby Ong.
Markets & VenuesExecutive Hires
Bitso Names Luis Urrutia General Counsel
Bitso announced on August 15, 2025, that it had hired Luis Urrutia, Mexico's former financial intelligence chief and a past president of the global anti-money-laundering body FATF, as general counsel.
ProtocolsCEO Changes
Gavin Wood Takes Parity Technologies Back From Björn Wagner
Parity's co-founder announced on Aug. 13, 2025 that he would resume the CEO role in late August, and a year later the Polkadot treasury spends $7.4 million a quarter.
Markets & VenuesCEO Changes
CleanSpark Names Matt Schultz CEO a Second Time
CleanSpark's board returned co-founder Matt Schultz to the chief executive seat on August 11, 2025, nearly six years after he first handed the title to Zachary Bradford.
Markets & VenuesCEO Changes
CleanSpark's Zachary Bradford Resigns as Chief Executive
Zachary Bradford resigned as CleanSpark's officer and director on August 11, 2025, ending nearly six years as chief executive of the Nasdaq-listed bitcoin miner.
Markets & VenuesExits and Removals
Galaxy's General Counsel Andrew Siegel Departs the Company
Galaxy said on August 11, 2025, that Andrew Siegel, its general counsel since 2017, was leaving, and named former Cognizant executive Matt Friedrich chief legal officer in his place.
Markets & VenuesBoard Seats
Grayscale Founder Barry Silbert Returns as Board Chairman
Grayscale Investments returned founder Barry Silbert to its board as chairman on Aug. 4, 2025, replacing Mark Shifke as the firm expanded its management team ahead of a planned public listing.
ProtocolsLayoffs
Lido Cuts 15% of Its Contributor Teams
Lido co-founder Vasiliy Shapovalov said on August 1, 2025, that Lido Labs, Lido Ecosystem and Lido Alliance would cut 15% of their contributor teams to control costs despite a market upswing.
Markets & VenuesExecutive Hires
Nexo Names Lorenzo Pellegrino Chief Banking Officer
Nexo named Lorenzo Pellegrino chief banking officer on July 31, 2025, handing the former Skrill and NETELLER chief executive the task of connecting the lender's digital asset platform to the banking system.
Markets & VenuesExits and Removals
BlackRock's Joseph Chalom Departs for SharpLink
Joseph Chalom left a 20-year career at BlackRock on July 25, 2025 to become co-chief executive of SharpLink Gaming, a company that holds Ether as its treasury asset.
Markets & VenuesCEO Changes
SharpLink Names Joseph Chalom Co-Chief Executive Officer
SharpLink Gaming named former BlackRock executive Joseph Chalom co-chief executive officer on July 25, 2025, effective the day before, pairing him with Rob Phythian atop the company's ether treasury.
Rules & RiskCEO Changes
Crypto Council for Innovation Names Ji Hun Kim CEO
The Crypto Council for Innovation named its chief legal and policy officer, Ji Hun Kim, chief executive officer on July 24, 2025, and added SoFi as a member the same day.
Payments & ConsumerBoard Seats
Circle Appoints Adam Selipsky to Its Board
Circle Internet Group named former Amazon Web Services chief executive Adam Selipsky to its board of directors on July 22, 2025, expanding the board to nine members.
ProtocolsCEO Changes
SY Lee Rebuilds Story Protocol's Leadership Around AI Data
Within 30 days in 2025, Story Protocol lost co-founder Jason Zhao and gave SY Lee, Andrea Muttoni and Sandeep Chinchali the top seats, a reset aimed at AI training data.
ProtocolsExecutive Hires
Stellar Names Jason Karsh Chief Marketing Officer
The Stellar Development Foundation hired Jason Karsh, a former Block and Blockchain.com marketing executive, as chief marketing officer on July 16, 2025, its own blog and CoinDesk both reported that day.
ProtocolsExecutive Hires
Stellar Names José Fernández da Ponte President
The Stellar Development Foundation named José Fernández da Ponte, PayPal's former blockchain lead, president and chief growth officer on July 16, 2025, CoinDesk and the foundation's own blog both reported that day.
ProtocolsExecutive Hires
ASI Alliance Names David Taylor Chief Marketing Officer
The Artificial Superintelligence Alliance and SingularityNET named former Cardano Foundation marketing chief David Taylor to a newly created chief marketing officer role on July 15, 2025, as the Alliance marked its first anniversary.
ProtocolsExits and Removals
Mary-Catherine Lader Quits as Uniswap Labs' President and COO
Mary-Catherine Lader, Uniswap Labs' first chief operating officer, left the role on July 15, 2025, after four years.
ProtocolsExecutive Hires
Aptos Labs Names Solomon Tesfaye Chief Business Officer
Solomon Tesfaye moved up from Aptos Labs' head of capital markets to chief business officer on July 10, 2025, as the network said its tokenized real-world assets had passed $540 million.
Markets & VenuesBoard Seats
eToro Appoints Laura Unger to Its Board of Directors
eToro Group Ltd. named former SEC commissioner Laura Unger to its board of directors on July 3, 2025, alongside Wix chief financial officer Lior Shemesh.
ProtocolsExecutive Hires
Safe Foundation Names Rahul Rumalla CEO of Safe Labs
Safe Ecosystem Foundation named Rahul Rumalla chief executive of its new subsidiary Safe Labs on June 5, 2025, and CoinDesk reported the entity would take over development work the wallet had outsourced for years.
Markets & VenuesExecutive Hires
Riot Platforms Hires Jonathan Gibbs as Data Center Chief
Riot Platforms hired Jonathan Gibbs as its first Chief Data Center Officer on June 2, 2025, to lead a new data center platform beyond its Bitcoin mining business.
ProtocolsCEO Changes
Sandeep Nailwal Becomes the Polygon Foundation's First CEO
Mihailo Bjelic left the Polygon Foundation board on May 23, 2025, and Sandeep Nailwal became its first CEO on June 11.
Markets & VenuesBoard Seats
Core Scientific Appoints Elizabeth Crain to Its Board
Core Scientific named Moelis & Company co-founder Elizabeth Crain to its board of directors on May 16, 2025, putting her in the chair of its audit committee.
Markets & VenuesBoard Seats
Jarrod Patten Leaves Core Scientific's Board
Jarrod Patten gave up the chairman's seat on Core Scientific's board on May 16, 2025, after skipping reelection at the company's annual meeting.
Rules & RiskCEO Changes
Blockchain Association Names Summer Mersinger CEO
The Blockchain Association, a crypto trade group, announced on May 14, 2025 that CFTC Commissioner Summer Mersinger would become its chief executive, succeeding Kristin Smith.
Markets & VenuesBoard Seats
Core Scientific Board Member Todd Becker Steps Down
Todd Becker left Core Scientific's board of directors effective immediately on May 13, 2025, ending a term in which he chaired the audit committee through two capital raises.
ProtocolsExecutive Hires
Midnight Foundation Names Fahmi Syed President
The Midnight Foundation launched on May 13, 2025, naming Fahmi Syed president of the organization that guides the Midnight blockchain's path to decentralization.
Markets & VenuesCEO Changes
Strive Names Matt Cole CEO and Chairman
Strive Asset Management named former $70 billion bond manager Matt Cole CEO and chairman on May 7, 2025, as part of a reverse merger that turned Asset Entities into a publicly traded Bitcoin treasury company.
ProtocolsCEO Changes
Torab Torabi Takes Movement After a $38 Million Token Dump
Torab Torabi became chief executive of Move Industries on May 7, 2025, a week after CoinDesk's token-dump report, and the dispute over who answers for the launch has since reached Delaware's courts.
Markets & VenuesExits and Removals
Bruce Rosenbloom Steps Down as DeFi Development Corp's CFO
DeFi Development Corp. disclosed on April 23, 2025, that Bruce Rosenbloom had stepped down as chief financial officer effective April 17, six days earlier, and named John Han as his successor.
Markets & VenuesExecutive Hires
DeFi Development Corp Names John Han Chief Financial Officer
GlobeNewswire reported on April 23, 2025, that DeFi Development Corporation appointed Fei 'John' Han chief financial officer, a role he took after serving as CFO at Provable and holding senior finance posts at Binance.
ProtocolsCEO Changes
io.net Promotes Gaurav Sharma to Chief Executive
io.net named its chief technology officer, Gaurav Sharma, chief executive on April 23, 2025, the same day it named co-founder Tory Green chairperson of the io.net Foundation.
ProtocolsCEO Changes
io.net's Tory Green Trades the CEO Job for Foundation Chair
io.net announced on April 23, 2025, that co-founder Tory Green would chair the io.net Foundation while chief technology officer Gaurav Sharma took over as chief executive.
Markets & VenuesCEO Changes
Tether and SoftBank Name Jack Mallers CEO of Twenty One
Twenty One Capital named Strike founder Jack Mallers as its co-founder and chief executive on April 23, 2025, the day Tether and SoftBank Group announced the Bitcoin treasury company's launch through a business combination with Cantor Equity Partners.
Markets & VenuesCEO Changes
OKX Names Roshan Robert CEO of Its US Exchange
OKX named Roshan Robert CEO of its US operations on April 16, 2025, less than two months after the exchange pleaded guilty to running an unlicensed money-transmitting business and paid more than $504 million in penalties.
ProtocolsLayoffs
Safe Cuts 14 Jobs in Restructuring After Bybit Hack
Safe co-founder Lukas Schor announced on April 16, 2025, that the self-custody wallet had laid off 14 employees and would split into three teams following February's $1.43 billion Bybit hack.
Markets & VenuesExecutive Hires
Grayscale Names Diana Zhang Chief Operating Officer
Grayscale Investments hired Diana Zhang as chief operating officer on April 9, 2025, succeeding Hugh Ross and reporting to Chief Executive Officer Peter Mintzberg starting May 6.
Markets & VenuesCEO Changes
Blake Janover Departs as DeFi Development Corp's CEO
Blake Janover stopped being chief executive of Janover Inc., the company he founded, on April 7, 2025, when former Kraken executives bought majority ownership and named Joseph Onorati chairman and CEO.
Markets & VenuesCEO Changes
DeFi Development Corp Names Joseph Onorati Chairman and CEO
GlobeNewswire reported on April 7, 2025, that a group of former Kraken executives led by Joseph Onorati took majority ownership of Janover Inc. and installed him as chairman and chief executive.
Markets & VenuesExecutive Hires
DeFi Development Corp Names Parker White CIO and COO
GlobeNewswire reported on April 7, 2025, that Parker White, a former Kraken engineering director, became chief investment officer and chief operating officer as part of the Janover takeover.
Markets & VenuesExecutive Hires
Jito Foundation Names Thomas Uhm Chief Commercial Officer
Jito Foundation hired Jane Street veteran Thomas Uhm as chief commercial officer on April 7, 2025, to pull institutional money toward the Solana staking protocol.
ProtocolsExecutive Hires
Sei Development Foundation Names Justin Barlow Director
The Sei Development Foundation launched in Manhattan on April 2, 2025, with Justin Barlow as its executive director, built to grow the Sei blockchain's presence inside the United States.
Rules & RiskCEO Changes
Kristin Smith Steps Down as Blockchain Association CEO
Kristin Smith told followers on April 1, 2025 that she would leave the Blockchain Association on May 16 for the top job at the Solana Policy Institute.
Markets & VenuesExits and Removals
OKX Chief Legal Officer Mauricio Beugelmans Leaves the Exchange
OKX announced on April 1, 2025, that chief legal officer Mauricio Beugelmans had left and that Linda Lacewell would succeed him, weeks after the exchange paid over $500 million to settle with the U.S. Department of Justice.
Markets & VenuesExecutive Hires
OKX Names Linda Lacewell Chief Legal Officer
OKX appointed board member Linda Lacewell chief legal officer on April 1, 2025, bringing in the former head of the New York Department of Financial Services to lead its expansion into Europe and the UAE.
Markets & VenuesCEO Changes
Argo Blockchain Appoints Justin Nolan Chief Executive Officer
Argo Blockchain named Justin Nolan chief executive officer effective March 22, 2025, bringing back its former chief growth officer as the miner reported a widening quarterly loss.
Rules & RiskCEO Changes
Digital Chamber Founder Perianne Boring Steps Down as CEO
Perianne Boring stepped down as chief executive of the Digital Chamber on March 19, 2025, after more than a decade running the group she founded, moving into the chair of its board as Cody Carbone took over.
Rules & RiskCEO Changes
Digital Chamber Names Cody Carbone Chief Executive Officer
The Digital Chamber named President Cody Carbone chief executive officer on March 19, 2025, handing him the top job at the oldest U.S. crypto advocacy group as founder Perianne Boring moved to chair its board.
Markets & VenuesExecutive Hires
Gemini Names Dan Chen Chief Financial Officer
Dan Chen announced on X on March 17, 2025, that he had joined Gemini as chief financial officer, a hire CoinDesk reported the same day as the exchange prepared for a potential IPO.
Payments & ConsumerExecutive Hires
Animoca Brands Names Jamii Quoc General Counsel
Animoca Brands promoted Jamii Quoc to general counsel and its Executive Committee on March 6, 2025; she had joined the company's legal team in 2022.
ProtocolsExits and Removals
Jack Gavigan Steps Down as Zcash Foundation Executive Director
Jack Gavigan stepped down as Zcash Foundation executive director on March 4, 2025, after four years in the role, handing interim leadership to Chief Operating Officer Alex Bornstein.
Markets & VenuesExecutive Hires
Securitize Names Georgia Quinn Chief Legal Officer
Securitize announced on March 4, 2025, that Georgia Quinn would join the tokenization platform as chief legal officer after four years as general counsel at Anchorage Digital.
Markets & VenuesExecutive Hires
Core Scientific Names Jim Nygaard Chief Financial Officer
Core Scientific named Jim Nygaard chief financial officer on March 3, 2025, succeeding Denise Sterling, who had guided the Bitcoin miner through its 2022 Chapter 11 bankruptcy.
ProtocolsCEO Changes
Aya Miyaguchi Hands the Ethereum Foundation to Two Co-Directors
Aya Miyaguchi moved from executive director to president on Feb. 25, 2025, two co-directors took over on March 1.
ProtocolsExecutive Hires
0G Labs Names Conflux Co-Founder Ming Wu CTO
0G Labs named Conflux Network co-founder Dr. Ming Wu its chief technology officer on February 13, 2025, putting a veteran of the blockchain trilemma debate in charge of its decentralized AI stack.
Markets & VenuesBoard Seats
Riot Platforms Director Hannah Cho Retires From Its Board
Riot Platforms director Hannah Cho retired from its board on Feb. 12, 2025, the same filing in which the Bitcoin miner added three directors with data center and real estate backgrounds.
Markets & VenuesBoard Seats
Riot Platforms Director Hubert Marleau Retires From Its Board
Riot Platforms director Hubert Marleau retired from its board on Feb. 12, 2025, as two activist investors pushed the Bitcoin miner to pursue AI and high-performance computing deals.
Markets & VenuesBoard Seats
Riot Platforms Names Doug Mouton to Its Board
Riot Platforms appointed former Meta and Microsoft data center executive Doug Mouton to its board of directors on Feb. 12, 2025, as part of a pivot toward AI and high-performance computing.
Markets & VenuesBoard Seats
Riot Platforms Names Jaime Leverton to Its Board
Riot Platforms appointed former Hut 8 chief executive Jaime Leverton to its board of directors on Feb. 12, 2025, alongside two other new directors, as part of its pivot toward AI and high-performance computing.
Markets & VenuesBoard Seats
Riot Platforms Names Michael Turner to Its Board
Riot Platforms appointed former Oxford Properties Group president Michael Turner to its board of directors on Feb. 12, 2025, as it lined up advisers for a shift toward AI and high-performance computing.
ProtocolsExecutive Hires
Mantle Network Names Brian Trunzo Chief Growth Officer
Brian Trunzo left his post as Polygon Labs' global head of business development to become Mantle Network's chief growth officer on February 11, 2025, one of five executive hires the network announced the same day.
Payments & ConsumerBoard Seats
Block Names Afterpay's Anthony Eisen to Its Board
Block appointed Afterpay co-founder Anthony Eisen to its board of directors on February 6, 2025, growing the board to ten members and seating a founder of the business it bought in 2022.
ProtocolsExecutive Hires
Walrus Foundation Names Rebecca Simmonds Managing Executive
Walrus Foundation appointed former Vega Protocol executive Rebecca Simmonds as Managing Executive on February 5, 2025, four months after the decentralized storage network's October 2024 testnet launch.
Markets & VenuesExecutive Hires
Bitpanda Names Mer Sánchez de Rojas Chief Operating Officer
Bitpanda promoted Mer Sánchez de Rojas, its vice president of group operations, to chief operating officer on February 4, 2025, five years after she joined the exchange.
Markets & VenuesExecutive Hires
Kraken Names Ben Gray Chief Legal Officer
Kraken named former Paxos general counsel Ben Gray as chief legal officer on Feb. 4, 2025, three weeks after Marco Santori stepped down, with Gray reporting to co-chief executives Arjun Sethi and David Ripley.
Markets & VenuesExits and Removals
KuCoin Co-Founder Eric Tang Steps Down From Every Role
Eric Tang left every role at KuCoin on January 27, 2025, as part of a settlement in which the exchange agreed to pay nearly $300 million and co-founder Michael Gan also stepped down.
Markets & VenuesExits and Removals
KuCoin Founder Michael Gan Steps Down From Every Role
Michael Gan stepped down from every role at KuCoin on January 27, 2025, as part of a deferred prosecution agreement that resolved a U.S. Justice Department case against him.
ProtocolsCEO Changes
Edge & Node Names Rodrigo Coelho Chief Executive Officer
Edge & Node named Rodrigo Coelho, The Graph's first hire, as chief executive officer on Jan. 23, 2025, succeeding Tegan Kline after she led the ecosystem's Sunrise of Decentralized Data initiative.
Markets & VenuesCEO Changes
Argo Blockchain CEO Thomas Chippas to Step Down
Argo Blockchain announced on January 21, 2025, that Thomas Chippas would step down as chief executive effective February 28, with chief financial officer Jim MacCallum named interim CEO while the board searched for a successor.
Markets & VenuesCEO Changes
BC Wong Succeeds Johnny Lyu as KuCoin CEO
KuCoin's chief legal officer became CEO on Jan. 20, 2025.
Markets & VenuesExits and Removals
Kraken Chief Legal Officer Marco Santori Steps Down
Marco Santori announced on Jan. 15, 2025, that he was leaving Kraken's chief legal officer post after almost five years, moving into an advisory role as the exchange prepared to name his successor.
ProtocolsCEO Changes
Manuel Stotz Replaces Steve Yun as TON Foundation President
The TON Foundation named Kingsway Capital founder Manuel Stotz its president on Jan. 14, 2025.
ProtocolsExecutive Hires
Mysten Labs Promotes Kevin Boon to President
Mysten Labs promoted its chief legal officer Kevin Boon to president on January 9, 2025, as the Sui blockchain developer prepared to launch Walrus Protocol's mainnet and named a new general counsel weeks later.
ProtocolsExecutive Hires
Offchain Labs Names Ira Auerbach Head of Tandem
Offchain Labs appointed Ira Auerbach, Nasdaq's former head of digital assets, to lead Tandem, its partner studio and venture capital arm, on January 9, 2025.
ProtocolsCEO Changes
Hedera Foundation Names Charles Adkins Chief Executive
The HBAR Foundation rebranded itself Hedera Foundation on Dec. 20, 2024, and named Charles Adkins chief executive effective Jan. 1, 2025, moving him from president of Hedera Hashgraph into the new role.
ProtocolsCEO Changes
Avery Ching Succeeds Mo Shaikh as Aptos Labs CEO
Aptos Labs' chief technology officer became its chief executive on Dec. 19, 2024, the day co-founder Mo Shaikh stepped down, and a crypto outlet has since pressed the case that the exit came at a convenient time.
Markets & VenuesExits and Removals
Galaxy Digital's Alex Ioffe Steps Down as CFO
Galaxy Digital named former Point72 finance chief Tony Paquette its new chief financial officer on December 13, 2024, with Alex Ioffe transitioning into a senior advisor role after nearly four years in the seat.
Rules & RiskCEO Changes
Sheila Warren Steps Down as Crypto Council for Innovation CEO
Sheila Warren told the Crypto Council for Innovation she would leave as CEO effective Jan. 6, 2025, after close to three years leading the Washington crypto lobbying group.
ProtocolsExecutive Hires
Interchain Foundation Names Barry Plunkett to Lead Interchain Inc.
Interchain Foundation named Skip co-founder Barry Plunkett co-lead of its new subsidiary, Interchain Inc., on December 10, 2024, the same day it acquired Skip and Ethan Buchman left the foundation's council.
ProtocolsExecutive Hires
Interchain Foundation Names Maghnus Mareneck to Lead Interchain Inc.
Interchain Foundation named Skip co-founder Maghnus Mareneck co-lead of its new subsidiary, Interchain Inc., on December 10, 2024, the same day it acquired Skip and Ethan Buchman stepped down from its council.
ProtocolsBoard Seats
Interchain Foundation's Ethan Buchman Resigns From Foundation Council
Cosmos co-founder Ethan Buchman stepped down from the Interchain Foundation's Foundation Council on December 10, 2024, as the foundation acquired Skip, and he formally confirmed the resignation in a February 19, 2025 letter.
ProtocolsCEO Changes
Chainalysis Co-Founder Michael Gronager Steps Down as CEO
Chainalysis named co-founder Jonathan Levin chief executive officer on December 5, 2024, after Michael Gronager, the company's other co-founder, agreed with the board to step down from the role and the board itself.
Rules & RiskCEO Changes
Chainalysis Names Co-Founder Jonathan Levin Chief Executive
Chainalysis' board named co-founder Jonathan Levin chief executive on Dec. 5, 2024, two months after longtime CEO Michael Gronager went on leave and later stepped down.
Markets & VenuesExits and Removals
HashKey Group Chief Operating Officer Livio Weng Resigns
Livio Weng resigned as HashKey Group's chief operating officer and HashKey Exchange's chief executive officer, the company said on December 5, 2024, citing personal family reasons and a transition plan it had reported to Hong Kong's securities regulator in advance.
Markets & VenuesExecutive Hires
Figure Appoints Macrina Kgil Chief Financial Officer
Figure Technology Solutions named Macrina Kgil to its newly created chief financial officer role on December 4, 2024, hiring a former Blockchain.com and OneMain Holdings finance chief as quarterly originations crossed $1.5 billion.
Markets & VenuesExecutive Hires
21Shares Names Duncan Moir President
21.co's December 3, 2024 announcement named Duncan Moir, formerly of abrdn, president of 21Shares as 21.co split into two separate businesses.
Markets & VenuesExecutive Hires
21Shares Names Edel Bashir Chief Operating Officer
21.co's December 3, 2024 announcement named Edel Bashir, previously of abrdn, chief operating officer of 21Shares as 21.co split into two separate businesses.
Markets & VenuesCEO Changes
21Shares Names Russell Barlow Chief Executive Officer
21.co announced on December 3, 2024, that Russell Barlow, formerly of the asset manager abrdn, would become chief executive of 21Shares as the firm split into two separate businesses.
Payments & ConsumerLayoffs
Trung Nguyen Cuts 21 Percent of Sky Mavis Staff
Sky Mavis laid off 21 percent of its staff on November 23, 2024.
Markets & VenuesExecutive Hires
OSL Group Names Ivan Wong Chief Financial Officer
OSL Group announced on November 21, 2024, that Ivan Wong, who had joined the Hong Kong digital asset firm as chief investment officer two months earlier, would become chief financial officer.
ProtocolsExecutive Hires
1inch Names Hedi Navazan Chief Compliance Officer
1inch Group announced on November 6, 2024, that it had hired Hedi Navazan, a former HSBC financial crime executive, as chief compliance officer to oversee its legal and security teams.
ProtocolsLayoffs
Consensys Cuts 20 Percent of Its Workforce
Consensys cut 162 employees on October 29, 2024, a cut it put at 20 percent of its team, as CEO Joe Lubin told Cointelegraph the firm was moving to decentralize MetaMask, Linea and its other Ethereum products.
Markets & VenuesExecutive Hires
Bitget Names Min Lin Chief Business Officer
Bitget appointed former Binance Latin America vice president Min Lin as chief business officer on October 28, 2024, the same day it said it served over 45 million users.
Markets & VenuesCEO Changes
GSR Co-Founder Rich Rosenblum Steps Down as Co-CEO
Rich Rosenblum left his co-CEO post at GSR on October 23, 2024, four months after taking it, to pursue new ventures, and GSR said chief technology officer John MacDonald would also leave the firm.
ProtocolsExecutive Hires
Blockstream Names Michael Minkevich Chief Operating Officer
Blockstream appointed Michael Minkevich chief operating officer on October 15, 2024, the same day it announced a $210 million convertible note round led by Fulgur Ventures.
Markets & VenuesCEO Changes
Copper Founder Dmitry Tokarev Steps Down as Chief Executive
Dmitry Tokarev stepped back from the chief executive role at Copper on October 14, 2024, after seven years, staying on as the board's founder director.
Markets & VenuesCEO Changes
Copper Names Amar Kuchinad Global Chief Executive Officer
Copper named former SEC policy advisor Amar Kuchinad its global chief executive on October 14, 2024, taking over from founder Dmitry Tokarev after seven years.
Markets & VenuesExecutive Hires
OKX Names Yuri Mushkin Global Chief Risk Officer
OKX appointed Yuri Mushkin its Global Chief Risk Officer on October 14, 2024, pulling a 20-year capital markets veteran from McKinsey Investment Office Partners into a seat reporting to the CEO and board.
ProtocolsCEO Changes
Antonio Juliano Retakes dYdX Trading and Lays Off 35 Percent
Antonio Juliano resumed the CEO role at dYdX Trading on Oct. 10, 2024 and cut 35 percent of the core team on Oct. 29. Open interest on the dYdX chain tripled in 58 days, then fell 75.1 percent below its level on the day he returned.
ProtocolsExecutive Hires
Thesis Names Katherine Snow General Counsel
Thesis, the Bitcoin-focused venture studio behind Threshold Network and Fold, named Katherine Snow general counsel on October 3, 2024, hiring her away from crypto data platform Messari.
ProtocolsExecutive Hires
Quant Network Names Lenna Russ Chief Commercial Officer
Quant Network named Lenna Russ to the newly created role of chief commercial officer on September 10, 2024, pulling her from three years as chief revenue officer at the trade-finance marketplace Tradeteq.
Markets & VenuesExits and Removals
Core Scientific CFO Denise Sterling to Step Down
Core Scientific announced on Sept. 6, 2024, that chief financial officer Denise Sterling would step down effective May 1, 2025, after leading the company's finances through its bankruptcy exit.
Markets & VenuesExecutive Hires
Figure Appoints Ronald Chillemi Chief Legal Officer
Figure Technology Solutions named Ronald Chillemi its first chief legal officer and corporate secretary on September 4, 2024, hiring a former federal prosecutor who had most recently served as general counsel at the lender Aven.
Markets & VenuesCEO Changes
OKX Names Gracie Lin CEO of Its Singapore Unit
OKX SG named Gracie Lin chief executive on September 1, 2024, the same day it announced that the Monetary Authority of Singapore had granted the unit a full Major Payment Institution license.
Markets & VenuesBoard Seats
Bitfarms Adds CEO Ben Gagnon to Its Board
Bitfarms put chief executive Ben Gagnon on its board of directors on August 13, 2024, the same day chairman Nicolas Bonta stepped down in the middle of Riot Platforms' hostile takeover push.
Markets & VenuesBoard Seats
Bitfarms Founder Nicolas Bonta Steps Down From the Board
Bitfarms founder and chairman Nicolas Bonta stepped down from the company's board on August 13, 2024, as Riot Platforms pressed a hostile bid to replace its directors.
Markets & VenuesExecutive Hires
Bitfarms Names Liam Wilson Chief Operating Officer
Bitfarms hired Liam Wilson as chief operating officer on August 13, 2024, effective August 26, after six months of consulting for the Bitcoin miner.
Markets & VenuesExecutive Hires
Robinhood Welcomes Jeff Pinner as Chief Technology Officer
Robinhood hired Jeff Pinner, formerly Lyft's chief technology officer and a distinguished engineer at Cruise, as its own chief technology officer on Aug. 12, 2024.
Markets & VenuesCEO Changes
OSL Group Names Kevin Cui Group Chief Executive
OSL Group said Chairman Pan Zhiyong would hand the chief executive role to Kevin Cui on August 5, 2024, as the Hong Kong-listed digital asset firm reshaped its senior leadership.
ProtocolsExecutive Hires
June Ou Named Interim Executive Director at Provenance
Provenance Blockchain Foundation named June Ou interim executive director on August 2, 2024, as it carved out Provenance Blockchain Labs and moved Anthony Moro into the new unit's CEO seat.
Markets & VenuesBoard Seats
Chris Lehane Joins Coinbase Board of Directors
Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong named Chris Lehane, Paul Clement and Christa Davies to the company's board on July 25, 2024, pairing an OpenAI policy executive with a former U.S. Solicitor General.
ProtocolsExecutive Hires
aelf Names Brian Liang Its First Chief Operating Officer
aelf named Brian Liang its first chief operating officer on July 24, 2024, a Web3 finance executive who also sits on the board of Singapore exchange Coinhako.
ProtocolsCEO Changes
Jayson Hobby Steps Down as Compound Labs Chief Executive
Jayson Hobby posted on X on July 10, 2024, that he was stepping down as Compound Labs' chief executive, and Bitget reported two days later that he had founded a new DeFi protocol called Legend.
Markets & VenuesCEO Changes
Bitfarms Appoints Ben Gagnon Chief Executive
Bitfarms promoted chief mining officer Ben Gagnon to chief executive on July 8, 2024, in the middle of Riot Platforms' attempt to take the bitcoin miner over.
Markets & VenuesCEO Changes
GSR Names Xin Song Co-Chief Executive Officer
GSR split its top job on June 26, 2024, naming Xin Song and co-founder Rich Rosenblum co-CEOs while Jakob Palmstierna, CEO for two and a half years, moved to president.
Markets & VenuesCEO Changes
GSR's Jakob Palmstierna Steps Down as CEO, Becomes President
Jakob Palmstierna gave up the chief executive job at GSR on June 26, 2024, after two and a half years in the role, moving to president as Xin Song and Rich Rosenblum took over as co-CEOs.
ProtocolsExecutive Hires
Ben Grossman Sells Tokenized Stocks From His Own Feed
Ondo Finance's VP of Marketing posted his way to a billion-dollar tokenized-stock book while Hester Peirce and Benjamin Schiffrin pressed the case that the old rules still apply.
Markets & VenuesExits and Removals
Kanav Kariya Departs as Jump Crypto President
Kanav Kariya announced his exit from Jump Crypto on X on June 24, 2024, days after Fortune reported a Commodity Futures Trading Commission investigation into Jump Trading's crypto dealings.
ProtocolsCEO Changes
Polymesh Association Names Bill Papp Chief Executive
The Polymesh Association named Bill Papp chief executive officer and executive director on June 20, 2024, succeeding Graeme Moore, who had led the group for eight months and stayed on as head of tokenization.
ProtocolsExits and Removals
Uniswap Labs Chief Legal Officer Marvin Ammori Hands Off Role
Marvin Ammori announced on June 10, 2024, that he was handing the Uniswap Labs chief legal officer post to Katherine Minarik, a former Coinbase deputy general counsel, as the firm faced a possible SEC lawsuit.
ProtocolsCEO Changes
io.net Names Co-Founder Tory Green Chief Executive
io.net co-founder Tory Green took over as chief executive on June 9, 2024, two days before the network's token launch, after Ahmad Shadid stepped down, citing allegations about his past.
Payments & ConsumerExecutive Hires
SoFi Names Stephen Simcock General Counsel
SoFi named JPMorgan Chase veteran Stephen Simcock general counsel on June 3, 2024, succeeding retiring chief legal officer Rob Lavet.
Payments & ConsumerExits and Removals
SoFi's Rob Lavet Retires as Chief Legal Officer
Rob Lavet retired as SoFi's chief legal officer on June 3, 2024, after 12 years building the company's legal department, and moved into an advisory role.
Markets & VenuesExecutive Hires
Bullish Names David Bonanno Chief Financial Officer
Bullish moved its chief strategy officer David Bonanno into the chief financial officer role on May 28, 2024, succeeding Steve Ellis, the exchange's press release said.
Markets & VenuesExits and Removals
Bullish's Steve Ellis Steps Down as CFO
Bullish chief executive Tom Farley announced on May 28, 2024, that Steve Ellis had stepped down as chief financial officer, with David Bonanno succeeding him in the role.
Markets & VenuesCEO Changes
Gracy Chen Succeeds Sandra Lou as Bitget CEO
Bitget's managing director became CEO on May 21, 2024, when Sandra Lou left.
Markets & VenuesCEO Changes
Grayscale CEO Michael Sonnenshein Steps Down
Grayscale announced on May 20, 2024, that Michael Sonnenshein was leaving the chief executive job after guiding the firm through its spot Bitcoin ETF conversion, with Goldman Sachs veteran Peter Mintzberg set to replace him.
Markets & VenuesCEO Changes
Grayscale Names Peter Mintzberg Chief Executive Officer
Grayscale hired Goldman Sachs veteran Peter Mintzberg as chief executive on May 20, 2024, with his start date set for August 15 and a board seat attached to the role.
Payments & ConsumerExits and Removals
Gala Games Blockchain President Jason Brink Steps Down
Jason Brink resigned as Gala Games' president of blockchain on May 17, 2024, after four years at the company, and formed an outside group called LFG to keep working on its GalaChain infrastructure.
Payments & ConsumerBoard Seats
Paxos Adds J. Christopher Giancarlo to Its Board
Paxos announced on May 14, 2024, that it had added J. Christopher Giancarlo, the former Commodity Futures Trading Commission chairman known as CryptoDad, to its board of directors.
Markets & VenuesCEO Changes
Bitfarms Fires CEO Geoffrey Morphy After He Sues the Company
Bitfarms fired President and CEO Geoffrey Morphy effective immediately on May 13, 2024, three days after he filed a $27 million breach-of-contract lawsuit against the company.
ProtocolsCEO Changes
Ivo Crnkovic-Rubsamen Leads dYdX Trading for 150 Days
dYdX Trading's operating partner became CEO on May 13, 2024, when founder Antonio Juliano moved to chairman. Juliano resumed the job on Oct. 10.
ProtocolsExecutive Hires
Venice AI Names Teana Baker-Taylor Chief Operating Officer
Teana Baker-Taylor, formerly Circle's vice president of policy and regulatory strategy, joined Erik Voorhees's Venice as chief operating officer in a venture DL News reported on May 10, 2024.
ProtocolsExecutive Hires
Cardano Foundation Names Giorgio Zinetti Chief Technology Officer
The Cardano Foundation named Giorgio Zinetti its first chief technology officer on May 8, 2024, putting the Procivis AG co-founder in charge of the Foundation's product pipeline.
Markets & VenuesExecutive Hires
DCG Names Aimie Killeen Chief Legal Officer
Digital Currency Group announced on April 25, 2024, that Aimie Killeen would join as chief legal officer on May 1, bringing two decades of fintech legal experience to the firm.
Markets & VenuesCEO Changes
Figure Names Michael Tannenbaum Chief Executive Officer
Figure Technology Solutions hired Brex and SoFi veteran Michael Tannenbaum as CEO on April 23, 2024, moving founder Mike Cagney into the role of executive chair as the HELOC lender pursued a public listing.
Markets & VenuesExecutive Hires
Anchorage Digital Names Aaron Schnarch Chief Operating Officer
Anchorage Digital named former Coinbase Custody chief executive Aaron Schnarch its first company-wide chief operating officer on April 22, 2024, after the company topped $50 billion in assets under custody.
Markets & VenuesBoard Seats
Katie Haun Leaves Coinbase's Board After Seven Years
Katie Haun announced on April 20, 2024 that she would step off Coinbase's board after more than seven years, the end of her third term, so she could focus on her venture firm Haun Ventures.
ProtocolsCEO Changes
Artificial Superintelligence Alliance Names Ben Goertzel CEO
Fetch.ai, SingularityNET and Ocean Protocol announced on March 27, 2024 that their merger into the Artificial Superintelligence Alliance would carry a combined value of $7.5 billion, with SingularityNET's Ben Goertzel as chief executive.
Markets & VenuesExecutive Hires
Backpack Exchange Names Oliver Sleafer Chief Financial Officer
Backpack Exchange announced on March 21, 2024, that it had promoted Oliver Sleafer, its head of treasury and a former Stripe and Credit Suisse liquidity executive, to chief financial officer.
Markets & VenuesExits and Removals
Robinhood Co-Founder Baiju Bhatt Steps Down as Creative Chief
Baiju Bhatt left his executive role as Robinhood's chief creative officer on March 21, 2024, after more than ten years in leadership, while staying on the company's board.
Markets & VenuesCEO Changes
Andy Main Named Bakkt Chief Executive Officer
Bakkt named board member Andy Main president and CEO effective March 26, 2024, succeeding Gavin Michael, who had warned the company's ability to keep operating was in doubt.
Markets & VenuesCEO Changes
Gavin Michael Steps Down as Bakkt Chief Executive
Bakkt said March 18, 2024, that Gavin Michael would step down as president and CEO, succeeded by board member Andy Main, as the company fought to ease doubts about its ability to keep operating.
Markets & VenuesExecutive Hires
Anchorage Digital Names SEC Veteran TuongVy Le General Counsel
Anchorage Digital hired former SEC senior counsel TuongVy Le as general counsel on March 13, 2024, replacing Georgia Quinn, who had held the role for three and a half years.
ProtocolsCEO Changes
Zac Prince Leaves BlockFi for Real Estate Startup
BlockFi founder Zac Prince posted on X on March 10, 2024, that he was leaving the bankrupt crypto lender, and CoinDesk reported the next day he had joined a real estate tax startup, Re Cost Seg.
Markets & VenuesExecutive Hires
Fireblocks Names Madan Gadde Chief Customer Officer
Fireblocks named Madan Gadde chief customer officer on March 7, 2024, hiring him from FIS as CoinDesk independently reported the same day.
Markets & VenuesExecutive Hires
Fireblocks Names Michael Levine Chief Financial Officer
Fireblocks named Michael Levine chief financial officer on March 7, 2024, hiring him from Payoneer's finance team as CoinDesk reported the same day.
Markets & VenuesExecutive Hires
Fireblocks Names Michal Ferguson Chief Marketing Officer
Fireblocks named Michal Ferguson chief marketing officer on March 7, 2024, hiring her from the cybersecurity platform Snyk as CoinDesk reported the same day.
ProtocolsBoard Seats
R3 Appoints UK Finance Chairman Bob Wigley to Its Board
Bob Wigley, chairman of the UK Finance trade body, joined the board of enterprise blockchain firm R3 as an outside director, R3 announced on February 22, 2024, after a tokenization taskforce he led published its own report the year before.
Payments & ConsumerCEO Changes
Yuga Labs CEO Daniel Alegre Departs
Daniel Alegre, the former Activision Blizzard chief operating officer who ran Yuga Labs for about ten months, told employees on February 21, 2024, that co-founder Greg Solano was taking over as chief executive.
Payments & ConsumerCEO Changes
Yuga Labs Names Greg Solano Chief Executive
Greg Solano, the Yuga Labs co-founder known as Garga, wrote on February 21, 2024, that he was stepping back in as chief executive after Daniel Alegre's ten months in the role.
Markets & VenuesCEO Changes
Hut 8 Appoints Asher Genoot Chief Executive
Hut 8 named president Asher Genoot chief executive on February 7, 2024, effective immediately, replacing Jaime Leverton three months after he joined the board through a merger with his own mining company.
Markets & VenuesCEO Changes
Jaime Leverton Departs as Hut 8 Chief Executive
Hut 8 said on February 7, 2024, that Jaime Leverton had departed as chief executive after three years in the job, with president Asher Genoot taking over effective immediately, weeks after a short-seller report targeted the miner.
Payments & ConsumerLayoffs
PayPal Cuts 9 Percent of Its Global Workforce
PayPal CEO Alex Chriss told employees on January 30, 2024, that the company would cut about 9 percent of its global workforce, a cut PYMNTS put at roughly 2,500 positions.
ProtocolsExecutive Hires
Reserve Names Thomas Mattimore CEO of ABC Labs
Reserve co-founder Nevin Freeman named Thomas Mattimore chief executive of ABC Labs on Jan. 25, 2024, splitting protocol development from the new fund Confusion Capital inside the Reserve ecosystem.
ProtocolsCEO Changes
Uri Kolodny Steps Down as StarkWare Chief Executive
Uri Kolodny told followers on X on January 11, 2024, that he was stepping down as StarkWare's chief executive to care for a family member, and The Block confirmed the move the same day.
Markets & VenuesExits and Removals
Argo Blockchain's Seif El-Bakly Steps Down as COO
Argo Blockchain said on January 8, 2024, that Seif El-Bakly left his chief operating officer role effective January 5, ten months after his term as interim CEO ended, with operations reporting to chief strategy officer Sebastien Chalus.
Markets & VenuesCEO Changes
B2C2 Appoints Thomas Restout Group CEO
B2C2 named Thomas Restout Group CEO on January 8, 2024, replacing Nicola White, and Ledger Insights reported the same day that he had served as the market maker's EMEA CEO since 2022.
ProtocolsCEO Changes
Josh Swihart Named Electric Coin Company Chief Executive
Electric Coin Company's parent board announced on December 18, 2023, that Josh Swihart would replace Zooko Wilcox as chief executive, a move Blockchain.News confirmed two days later.
ProtocolsCEO Changes
Zooko Wilcox Steps Down as Electric Coin Company CEO
Electric Coin Company's parent board named Josh Swihart chief executive on December 18, 2023, ending Zooko Wilcox's eight years running the firm behind Zcash.
ProtocolsBoard Seats
Hedera Council Names Charles Adkins President
The Hedera Council appointed Charles Adkins president on December 13, 2023, bringing in an executive with prior roles at Aptos, Polygon Labs and the U.S. Treasury Department.
Markets & VenuesBoard Seats
CZ Steps Down as Binance.US Board Chairman
Changpeng Zhao stepped down as chairman of Binance.US's board of directors on Nov. 28, 2023, days after settling criminal charges with the U.S. Justice Department over Binance's global exchange.
Markets & VenuesCEO Changes
Richard Teng Replaces Changpeng Zhao as Binance Pleads Guilty
Binance named Richard Teng CEO on Nov. 21, 2023, the day Changpeng Zhao stepped down and both pleaded guilty.
Markets & VenuesCEO Changes
CZ Steps Down as Binance Chief Executive
Changpeng Zhao stepped down as Binance CEO on November 21, 2023, naming Richard Teng as his successor the same day he pleaded guilty to U.S. criminal charges.
ProtocolsLayoffs
Emin Gün Sirer Cuts 12 Percent of Ava Labs Staff
Ava Labs founder and CEO Emin Gün Sirer confirmed a 12 percent staff cut on November 7, 2023, calling it a move to double down on growth.
ProtocolsCEO Changes
Illia Polosukhin Replaces Chris Donovan as NEAR Foundation CEO
NEAR's co-founder became Foundation CEO on Nov. 7, 2023 and Chris Donovan moved to COO.
Markets & VenuesExits and Removals
Fred Ehrsam Steps Down as Paradigm Managing Partner
Paradigm co-founder Fred Ehrsam stepped down as managing partner on October 24, 2023, moving to a general partner role to spend more time on science.
Payments & ConsumerExecutive Hires
The Sandbox Names Nicola Sebastiani Chief Content Officer
The Sandbox announced on October 17, 2023, that it had hired former PlayStation and Apple executive Nicola Sebastiani as chief content officer to lead its creator economy push.
Payments & ConsumerCEO Changes
Tether Promotes Paolo Ardoino to Chief Executive
Tether named Paolo Ardoino chief executive on October 13, 2023, handing him the role as outgoing CEO Jean-Louis van der Velde moved into an advisory position.
ProtocolsExits and Removals
Polygon Co-Founder Jaynti Kanani Steps Back
Jaynti Kanani told followers on Oct. 4, 2023, that he had quietly left Polygon's day-to-day work about six months earlier, closing out his run as one of the network's three founders.
Markets & VenuesExecutive Hires
Galaxy Digital Names Leon Marshall CEO of Europe
Galaxy Digital created a new Chief Executive Officer of Europe role on September 21, 2023, and gave it to Leon Marshall, its global head of sales, as the firm pushed to scale operations in the U.K. and continental Europe.
ProtocolsCEO Changes
Chris Donovan Takes Over NEAR Foundation From Marieke Flament
Chris Donovan, NEAR Foundation's general counsel, became CEO on September 21, 2023, the day Marieke Flament resigned, and held the job 47 days before NEAR co-founder Illia Polosukhin replaced him on November 7, 2023.
Payments & ConsumerExits and Removals
Alyssa Henry Retires as Square CEO, Dorsey Returns
Block told the SEC on September 18, 2023, that Square CEO Alyssa Henry would leave on October 2, handing the merchant business back to co-founder Jack Dorsey after a two-day payment outage that began September 7.
Payments & ConsumerCEO Changes
PayPal Names Intuit's Alex Chriss as Next CEO
PayPal's board announced on August 14, 2023, that it had appointed Intuit executive Alex Chriss as president and CEO, effective September 27, 2023, succeeding retiring CEO Dan Schulman.
LeadershipLeadership & Talent
Ryan Dennis Pitches TON to Telegram's 800 Million Users
A court blocked Telegram's Gram tokens in 2020; from 2023, Ryan Dennis spoke for the TON Foundation as a TON wallet opened inside Telegram.
Markets & VenuesCEO Changes
Core Scientific Names Adam Sullivan Chief Executive
Core Scientific promoted President Adam Sullivan to chief executive officer on August 4, 2023, while the bitcoin miner worked through Chapter 11 bankruptcy proceedings.
Payments & ConsumerExecutive Hires
Stripe Names Steffan Tomlinson Chief Financial Officer
Stripe hired Steffan Tomlinson away from Confluent as chief financial officer on Aug. 2, 2023, pulling in a finance chief who had already taken three companies through an IPO process.
Markets & VenuesExecutive Hires
DCG Names Mark Shifke Chief Financial Officer
Digital Currency Group hired Mark Shifke as chief financial officer on July 31, 2023, filling the role Michael Kraines left open in April and later naming him Grayscale's board chairman too.
ProtocolsCEO Changes
Chris Amani Replaces Do Kwon as Terraform Labs CEO
Chris Amani became Terraform Labs CEO in March 2023, the news broke July 19.
Markets & VenuesExecutive Hires
Binance Names Eleanor Hughes General Counsel
Binance appointed Eleanor Hughes general counsel on July 13, 2023, putting her in charge of an 85-lawyer legal team as the exchange faced what Bloomberg Law called a web of regulatory probes.
Payments & ConsumerLayoffs
Roham Gharegozlou Cuts 51 More Jobs at Dapper Labs
Dapper Labs CEO Roham Gharegozlou confirmed the company's third round of layoffs in eight months on July 13, 2023, calling the result leaner.
ProtocolsCEO Changes
Marc Boiron Replaces Ryan Wyatt as Polygon Labs CEO
Polygon Labs promoted its chief legal officer to CEO on July 7, 2023, and by 2026 the company called itself a payments business while a token holder asked what holders own.
Markets & VenuesExits and Removals
Patrick Hillmann Leaves Binance Eight Days Before 1,000 Jobs Go
Patrick Hillmann, Binance's chief strategy officer, announced his exit on July 6, 2023, and CoinDesk reported on July 14 that the exchange had cut more than 1,000 jobs.
ProtocolsCEO Changes
Jayson Hobby Takes Over Compound Labs From Robert Leshner
Compound Labs' VP of Product became CEO on June 28, 2023, the day founder Robert Leshner announced Superstate.
Payments & ConsumerExecutive Hires
Circle Names Heath Tarbert Chief Legal Officer
Circle Internet Financial named former CFTC chairman Heath Tarbert as chief legal officer and head of corporate affairs on June 8, 2023, succeeding general counsel Flavia Naves.
Markets & VenuesExecutive Hires
Gate Names Kevin Lee Chief Executive Officer of Gate.HK
Gate Group named Kevin Lee, a former BNP Paribas director, chief executive officer of its Hong Kong exchange Gate.HK on May 30, 2023, after eFinancialCareers reported the hire eight days earlier.
Payments & ConsumerBoard Seats
Ripple Appoints Warren Jenson to Its Board of Directors
Ripple named former Nielsen CFO Warren Jenson to its board on May 19, 2023, and made him chair of the audit committee overseeing the firm's financial reporting.
Markets & VenuesExecutive Hires
Argo Blockchain Appoints Jim MacCallum Chief Financial Officer
Argo Blockchain named Jim MacCallum chief financial officer on April 4, 2023, with a start date of April 5, as the miner reported a 10 percent drop in Bitcoin mined during March.
ProtocolsCEO Changes
IOG Names Eran Barak Chief Executive of Midnight
Input Output Global named Eran Barak, formerly chief operating officer at Symphony, as chief executive of Midnight on March 27, 2023, handing the Cardano builder's new data-protection blockchain its first dedicated leader.
Markets & VenuesCEO Changes
Luno Elevates COO James Lanigan to Chief Executive
James Lanigan, Luno's chief operating officer for five years, became chief executive on March 22, 2023, as founder Marcus Swanepoel moved to executive chairman to court investors for a future listing.
Markets & VenuesCEO Changes
Luno's Marcus Swanepoel Steps Down as Chief Executive
Luno co-founder Marcus Swanepoel moved into an executive chairman role on March 22, 2023, and Chief Operating Officer James Lanigan, with the company for five years, became CEO.
Markets & VenuesExecutive Hires
Cipher Mining Promotes William Iwaschuk to Co-President
Cipher Mining Inc. promoted chief legal officer William Iwaschuk to co-president alongside Patrick Kelly on March 20, 2023, while keeping both men in their existing executive roles.
Payments & ConsumerCEO Changes
FDIC Names Greg Carmichael CEO of Signature Bridge Bank
The FDIC named former Fifth Third Bancorp chief executive Greg D. Carmichael CEO of Signature Bridge Bank on March 12, 2023, the day New York regulators closed Signature Bank and placed it under federal receivership.
ProtocolsBoard Seats
Stellar Development Foundation Names Asiff Hirji to Its Board
The Stellar Development Foundation appointed MoonPay president Asiff Hirji to its board of directors on March 9, 2023, adding a former Coinbase president and chief operating officer to the nonprofit's governance.
Payments & ConsumerExecutive Hires
Immutable Names David Bicknell Chief Financial Officer
Immutable announced on March 8, 2023, that David Bicknell, a former Meta and Twitter finance leader, was its chief financial officer, alongside a new chief marketing officer from Ava Labs.
Payments & ConsumerExecutive Hires
Immutable Names Devon Ferreira Chief Marketing Officer
Immutable announced on March 8, 2023, that it had hired Avalanche's former marketing chief Devon Ferreira as chief marketing officer, alongside a new chief financial officer and a promoted chief commercial officer.
Markets & VenuesInstitutional Custody & Asset Management
Donald Verrilli Wins Grayscale's Bitcoin ETF Case
Verrilli argued Grayscale v. SEC on March 7, 2023, and spot bitcoin ETFs later drew $57.2 billion net while $27.9 billion left Grayscale's fund.
ProtocolsExecutive Hires
Algorand Names Matthew Commons Chief Financial Officer
Algorand named Matthew Commons its first chief financial officer on March 1, 2023, effective Feb. 22, giving the Harvard Business School graduate and Cambridge Blockchain co-founder control of day-to-day finances and capital management.
Markets & VenuesBoard Seats
Anchorage Digital Bank Adds Julie Williams to Its Board
Anchorage Digital Bank named Julie L. Williams, twice the acting head of the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, to its board on Feb. 28, 2023, her first seat on a privately held company's board.
Payments & ConsumerExits and Removals
Joseph DePaolo Steps Down as Signature Bank President
Signature Bank announced on Feb. 16, 2023, that co-founder Joseph J. DePaolo would transition out of the president role into a senior advisor position, with Chief Operating Officer Eric Howell succeeding him.
Payments & ConsumerExecutive Hires
Signature Bank Names Eric Howell President
Signature Bank named Chief Operating Officer Eric R. Howell its president on Feb. 16, 2023, succeeding co-founder Joseph DePaolo, who planned to move into a senior advisor role during 2023.
Markets & VenuesCEO Changes
Argo Blockchain CEO Peter Wall Steps Down
Argo Blockchain announced on February 9, 2023, that Peter Wall was stepping down as chief executive and interim chairman after three years, with chief operating officer Seif El-Bakly named interim CEO.
Payments & ConsumerCEO Changes
PayPal CEO Dan Schulman to Retire at Year-End
PayPal announced on February 9, 2023, that President and CEO Dan Schulman would retire on December 31, 2023, after eight and a half years leading the company since its split from eBay.
ProtocolsExecutive Hires
Polygon Labs Names Rebecca Rettig Chief Policy Officer
Rebecca Rettig left Silvergate Bank's board on Feb. 9, 2023, to become Polygon Labs' first chief policy officer, the same day the bank told regulators her exit was an amicable one.
Markets & VenuesBoard Seats
Sarah Gow Resigns From Argo Blockchain Board
Sarah Gow stepped down from Argo Blockchain's board on Feb. 9, 2023, the same day CEO Peter Wall's resignation became public and eight days after CFO Alex Appleton's, as the Bitcoin miner faced a shareholder lawsuit.
Markets & VenuesExecutive Hires
FalconX Hires Baris Cetinok as Chief Product Officer
FalconX named Baris Cetinok chief product officer on Feb. 7, 2023, pulling a 25-year product veteran from Robinhood's brokerage platform into the institutional crypto broker.
Markets & VenuesCEO Changes
SEBA Bank Names Amy Yu Chief Executive for Asia-Pacific
SEBA Bank, the Swiss crypto bank now called AMINA Bank AG, named Amy Yu chief executive of its Asia-Pacific division on February 7, 2023, after she led regional sales at the collapsed lender Genesis Trading.
Markets & VenuesExits and Removals
Argo Blockchain CFO Alex Appleton Resigns
Alex Appleton resigned as Argo Blockchain's chief financial officer on Feb. 1, 2023, after the Bitcoin miner closed the sale of its Helios mining facility to Galaxy Digital for debt relief.
Markets & VenuesLayoffs
Luno Cuts 35 Percent of Its Staff in Crypto Winter
Luno chief executive Marcus Swanepoel told employees on January 25, 2023, that the exchange would cut 35 percent of its roughly 960-person staff, following layoffs at sibling firm Genesis and rivals Kraken and Coinbase.
Payments & ConsumerExecutive Hires
Circle Names Brian Christman Chief People Officer
Circle Internet Financial hired Brian Christman as its first Chief People Officer on Jan. 24, 2023, pulling him from supply chain technology company Transfix.
Markets & VenuesCEO Changes
Frank Holmes Hands HIVE's CEO Role to Aydin Kilic
HIVE Blockchain Technologies named Aydin Kilic president and chief executive on January 17, 2023, ending Frank Holmes's run as interim CEO and moving him to executive chairman.
Markets & VenuesCEO Changes
HIVE Digital Technologies Names Aydin Kilic Chief Executive
HIVE Blockchain's board appointed Aydin Kilic president and chief executive on January 17, 2023, promoting him from the chief operating officer role he had held since 2021.
Payments & ConsumerCEO Changes
Trezor Names Matěj Žák Chief Executive
SatoshiLabs announced on January 12, 2023, that Matěj Žák would succeed co-founder Marek Palatinus as chief executive of the hardware wallet maker Trezor.
Markets & VenuesCEO Changes
Bitfarms Co-Founder Emiliano Grodzki Resigns as CEO
Emiliano Grodzki resigned as Bitfarms' chief executive effective immediately on December 29, 2022, staying on as a director while the board promoted COO Geoffrey Morphy in his place.
Markets & VenuesCEO Changes
Bitfarms Promotes Geoffrey Morphy to Chief Executive
Bitfarms elevated President and COO Geoffrey Morphy to president and CEO on December 29, 2022, replacing co-founder Emiliano Grodzki after more than two years building out the company's operations.
Payments & ConsumerCEO Changes
Nicole Muniz Steps Down as Yuga Labs CEO
Nicole Muniz told her followers on December 19, 2022, that Daniel Alegre, then president and chief operating officer of the $60 billion gaming company Activision Blizzard, would succeed her as Yuga Labs' chief executive.
Markets & VenuesLayoffs
Kraken Cuts 1,100 Jobs as Crypto Winter Deepens
Kraken cut about 1,100 jobs, or 30 percent of its workforce, on Nov. 30, 2022, after the collapse of FTX, with CEO Jesse Powell citing slower trading volumes and fewer new clients.
Markets & VenuesCEO Changes
Prime Trust's Tom Pageler Is Out as CEO
Prime Trust replaced chief executive Tom Pageler on November 29, 2022, naming board member Jor Law interim CEO the same day, seven months before a Nevada court petition said the custodian held $82.8 million less in fiat than it owed clients.
Markets & VenuesCEO Changes
Prime Trust Names Jor Law Interim CEO
Prime Trust's board named longtime director Jor Law interim chief executive on November 29, 2022, the same day it replaced Tom Pageler, and Nevada petitioned to put the custodian into receivership seven months later.
Markets & VenuesCEO Changes
B2C2 Appoints Nicola White Group CEO
B2C2 named Nicola White Group CEO on November 11, 2022, and CoinDesk reported the same day that she replaced Phillip Gillespie, who moved to a venture capital role at SBI.
Markets & VenuesCEO Changes
John J. Ray III Replaces Sam Bankman-Fried at FTX
John J. Ray III became FTX's chief executive at about 4:30 a.m. EST on Nov. 11, 2022 and filed for Chapter 11 that day.
Payments & ConsumerLayoffs
Stripe Cuts 14 Percent of Its Workforce
Stripe laid off around 14 percent of its roughly 8,000 employees on Nov. 3, 2022, with CEO Patrick Collison telling staff the company had 'overhired for the world we're in.'
ProtocolsCEO Changes
Björn Wagner Succeeds Gavin Wood as Parity Technologies CEO
Wagner became Parity's CEO on Oct. 21, 2022, the day Gavin Wood gave up the title.
ProtocolsCEO Changes
Matt Dyer Succeeds Ben Livshits as Zilliqa Research's Interim CEO
Zilliqa Research's chief of staff became interim CEO on Oct. 19, 2022.
ProtocolsExecutive Hires
Sushi DAO Elects Jared Grey as Head Chef
Sushi's governance token holders elected Jared Grey as Head Chef on Oct. 3, 2022, with 83 percent of 13 million votes cast, filling a role that had sat open for a year after 0xMaki's departure.
ProtocolsCEO Changes
Jared Grey Serves 1,155 Days as Sushi's Head Chef
Sushi's token holders elected Jared Grey Head Chef on Oct. 3, 2022, and he led until Dec. 1, 2025.
Markets & VenuesCEO Changes
Chris Ferraro Replaces Alex Mashinsky at Celsius Network
Celsius Network's founder resigned as CEO on Sept. 27, 2022.
Markets & VenuesCEO Changes
Komainu Names Nicolas Bertrand Chief Executive
Komainu, the Nomura-backed digital asset custodian, put Nicolas Bertrand in the CEO seat on September 26, 2022, pulling in a former Borsa Italiana derivatives chief to steer the firm through a falling market.
Markets & VenuesExits and Removals
Voyager Digital CFO Ashwin Prithipaul Resigns
Voyager Digital said on September 23, 2022, that Chief Financial Officer Ashwin Prithipaul was resigning after four months in the job, with CEO Stephen Ehrlich taking over his duties during the firm's bankruptcy.
ProtocolsExecutive Hires
Algorand Names Michele Quintaglie Chief Marketing Officer
Algorand named Michele Quintaglie chief marketing officer on Sept. 21, 2022, effective Sept. 19, hiring a former Visa and Fidelity Asset Management communications chief to lead its brand.
Markets & VenuesCEO Changes
Jesse Powell Steps Down as Kraken Chief Executive
Kraken co-founder Jesse Powell announced on September 21, 2022, that chief operating officer Dave Ripley would succeed him as CEO after a yearlong search, with Powell becoming board chairman.
Markets & VenuesCEO Changes
Kraken Names Dave Ripley Chief Executive Officer
Kraken named chief operating officer Dave Ripley as its next chief executive officer on Sept. 21, 2022, as co-founder Jesse Powell moved to chairman after 11 years running the exchange.
ProtocolsLayer 1s & Infrastructure
Danny Ryan Steers the Merge That Unplugged Ethereum's Miners
Danny Ryan coordinated Ethereum's switch to proof of stake on Sept. 15, 2022; CCRI found it cut the network's electricity use by 99.988 percent.
Payments & ConsumerExecutive Hires
Paxos Names Carolina Ceballos Its First Chief Compliance Officer
Paxos announced on September 8, 2022, that it hired Carolina Ceballos, a 15-year compliance veteran from Facebook Payments, as the company's first dedicated chief compliance officer.
Markets & VenuesExecutive Hires
Copper Names Tim Neill Chief Risk Officer
Crypto custodian Copper hired Mastercard risk executive Tim Neill as chief risk officer on September 5, 2022, reporting to Chief Operating Officer Sabrina Wilson.
Markets & VenuesExits and Removals
Sam Trabucco Steps Down as Alameda Research Co-CEO
Sam Trabucco announced on X on Aug. 24, 2022 that he was stepping down as Alameda Research co-CEO, leaving Caroline Ellison as the firm's sole chief executive.
Markets & VenuesLayoffs
Hodlnaut Lays Off 40 Employees Amid Singapore Police Action
Hodlnaut cut 80 percent of its staff, about 40 employees, on August 19, 2022, as it sought judicial management in Singapore while police pursued separate proceedings against the lender.
Markets & VenuesCEO Changes
Genesis CEO Michael Moro Steps Down as Firm Cuts Staff
Michael Moro stepped down as Genesis chief executive officer on Aug. 17, 2022, the day the firm cut 20 percent of its workforce after losses tied to the collapse of Three Arrows Capital.
Markets & VenuesCEO Changes
Genesis Names Derar Islim Interim Chief Executive Officer
Genesis named Chief Operating Officer Derar Islim interim chief executive officer on August 17, 2022, the same day Michael Moro stepped down after leading the lender for nearly a decade.
Markets & VenuesExecutive Hires
Genesis Names Matthew Johnson Chief Technology Officer
Genesis named former Bakkt chief technology officer Matthew Johnson to the same role on August 17, 2022, alongside a new chief risk officer and chief compliance officer, the day CEO Michael Moro stepped down.
Payments & ConsumerExecutive Hires
Dapper Labs Names Former Meta Executive Nick Grudin Business Chief
Nick Grudin left Meta's content partnerships team to become Dapper Labs' chief business officer on August 11, 2022, then returned to his old Meta job seven months later.
Markets & VenuesExecutive Hires
Binance Names Co-Founder Yi He Head of Binance Labs
Binance put co-founder Yi He in charge of its $7.5 billion venture arm Binance Labs on August 3, 2022, a role chief executive Changpeng Zhao said matched her founding-team history with the unit.
Markets & VenuesExecutive Hires
BitGo Promotes Chen Fang to Chief Operating Officer
BitGo elevated Chen Fang from chief product officer to chief operating officer on August 2, 2022, the same day it named Victor Tsou, a 20-year engineering veteran from Affirm, vice president of engineering.
Markets & VenuesCEO Changes
Michael Saylor Moves From MicroStrategy CEO to Executive Chairman
MicroStrategy split its chairman and chief executive roles on Aug. 2, 2022, naming Michael Saylor executive chairman and promoting President Phong Le to chief executive.
Markets & VenuesCEO Changes
MicroStrategy Names Phong Le Chief Executive Officer
MicroStrategy split its chairman and CEO roles on Aug. 2, 2022, naming President Phong Le as chief executive while founder Michael Saylor became executive chairman, the same day the company disclosed a $917.8 million bitcoin impairment.
ProtocolsCEO Changes
Sean Ford Replaces Steven Kokinos as Algorand Inc. Interim CEO
Algorand's chief operating officer became interim CEO on July 27, 2022, when Steven Kokinos left.
Rules & RiskExecutive Hires
Crypto Council for Innovation Names Linda Jeng General Counsel
The Crypto Council for Innovation named former Federal Reserve staffer Linda Jeng chief global regulatory officer and general counsel on July 26, 2022, as the advocacy group expanded its Washington policy team.
Payments & ConsumerExecutive Hires
Animoca Brands Names Alan Lau Chief Business Officer
Animoca Brands named Alan Lau, Tencent WeSure's former CEO, chief business officer on July 21, 2022, when it valued its portfolio at more than $1.5 billion across 340 investments.
Payments & ConsumerLayoffs
OpenSea Lays Off About 20 Percent of Its Staff
OpenSea CEO Devin Finzer told the company's staff on July 14, 2022, that the NFT marketplace was letting go of roughly 20 percent of its team to prepare for a prolonged crypto winter.
Markets & VenuesExecutive Hires
Amber Group Names Benjamin Bai Chief Legal Officer
Benjamin Bai left Ant Group's legal team to become Amber Group's chief legal officer on July 4, 2022, arriving as the digital asset platform secured a dozen regulatory licenses across five jurisdictions.
ProtocolsCEO Changes
Peng Zhong Leaves Ignite as Layoffs Pass Half the Staff
Ignite's CEO announced his last day on July 1, 2022, the day CoinDesk reported cuts above 50 percent of the Cosmos builder's staff.
Payments & ConsumerExits and Removals
OpenSea Co-Founder Alex Atallah Steps Away From the Company
Alex Atallah told his team on July 1, 2022, that his last day at OpenSea would be July 30, after handing off every function he ran to new leaders since NFTs took off.
Markets & VenuesCEO Changes
Bittrex Global Names Oliver Linch Chief Executive
Bittrex Global's boards named general counsel Oliver Linch chief executive on June 27, 2022, the same day Stephen Stonberg stepped down after 13 months as chief executive.
Markets & VenuesCEO Changes
Bittrex Global's Stephen Stonberg Steps Down as CEO
Bittrex Global's boards announced on June 27, 2022, that Stephen Stonberg had stepped down as chief executive after 13 months in the job and three years in its leadership, with general counsel Oliver Linch named his successor the same day.
Markets & VenuesLayoffs
Bitpanda Lays Off Staff to Scale Down to 730 Employees
Bitpanda told staff on June 24, 2022, that it would scale down to a target of about 730 people, citing a hiring pace its own founders called unsustainable.
Markets & VenuesExecutive Hires
Hut 8 Mining Names Aniss Amdiss Chief Legal Officer
Hut 8 Mining Corp. named Aniss Amdiss chief legal officer on June 21, 2022, effective July 11, 2022, reporting to chief executive officer Jaime Leverton.
Markets & VenuesLayoffs
Coinbase Cuts 18% of Its Workforce in First Layoff Round
Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong announced on June 14, 2022 that the exchange would cut 18% of its staff, about 1,100 employees, after what he called four times growth in 18 months left its costs too high for a down market.
Markets & VenuesExecutive Hires
Compute North Names Satyen Yadav Chief Technology Officer
Compute North named Satyen Yadav chief technology officer on June 6, 2022, and the bitcoin mining host filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy 108 days later, on September 22, 2022.
Markets & VenuesExecutive Hires
Paradigm Names Katie Biber Chief Legal Officer
Paradigm announced on June 6, 2022, that Katie Biber would join the crypto venture firm as chief legal officer after roles at Brex and Anchorage Digital.
Markets & VenuesExits and Removals
Riot's Jeff McGonegal Retires as Chief Financial Officer
Jeff McGonegal, Riot Blockchain's chief financial officer, announced his retirement on June 1, 2022, after twenty years with the company, with Colin Yee set to succeed him on Aug. 15, 2022.
ProtocolsExecutive Hires
Chainlink Labs Names Former Google TensorFlow Lead Chief Product Officer
Chainlink Labs hired Kemal El Moujahid, the former director of product management for Google's TensorFlow, as chief product officer on May 16, 2022.
Markets & VenuesExecutive Hires
TeraWulf Names Patrick Fleury Chief Financial Officer
TeraWulf appointed Patrick Fleury chief financial officer on May 16, 2022, a hire CFO Dive detailed two years later as he steered the bitcoin miner out of a debt crunch and into AI-driven data centers.
Markets & VenuesExecutive Hires
HashKey Group Names David Leahy Chief Operating Officer
HashKey Group named J.P. Morgan veteran David Leahy chief operating officer of its exchange business on May 13, 2022, alongside a new senior risk advisor, as the group pursued trading licenses in three jurisdictions.
Markets & VenuesCEO Changes
Bitstamp Names JB Graftieaux Global Chief Executive
Bitstamp appointed JB Graftieaux global chief executive on May 9, 2022, replacing Julian Sawyer, after Graftieaux spent a year rebuilding the exchange's European business.
Markets & VenuesExecutive Hires
MicroStrategy Names Andrew Kang Chief Financial Officer
MicroStrategy named Andrew Kang its new chief financial officer on May 3, 2022, pulling him from the same post at Greensky, and shifted then-CFO Phong Le into the company presidency once Kang started that May 9.
ProtocolsCEO Changes
Mance Harmon Dissolves His Hedera CEO Job for Swirlds Labs
Hedera Hashgraph, LLC dissolved its CEO and chief scientist roles on April 29, 2022.
Markets & VenuesExecutive Hires
Kraken Names Mayur Gupta Chief Marketing Officer
Kraken hired Mayur Gupta, the former Gannett and Spotify marketing chief, as chief marketing officer on April 19, 2022, the exchange's second executive hire that spring.
Payments & ConsumerExits and Removals
PayPal CFO John Rainey Departs for Walmart
PayPal announced on April 12, 2022, that Chief Financial Officer John Rainey would leave after almost seven years to become Walmart's next CFO, starting June 6, 2022, according to CFO Dive.
ProtocolsExecutive Hires
Chainlink Labs Hires Dahlia Malkhi as Research Chief
Chainlink Labs named former Diem Association chief technology officer Dahlia Malkhi its chief research officer on March 29, 2022, CEO Sergey Nazarov's company announced.
Markets & VenuesBoard Seats
Robinhood Welcomes Meyer Malka to Its Board of Directors
Robinhood Markets added Ribbit Capital founder Meyer "Micky" Malka, an early investor in the brokerage, to its board on March 23, 2022.
Markets & VenuesExecutive Hires
Kraken Appoints Carrie Dolan Chief Financial Officer
Kraken named Carrie Dolan, a Lending Club and Charles Schwab veteran, chief financial officer on March 22, 2022, after she had settled SEC charges over fund returns Lending Club reported.
Payments & ConsumerBoard Seats
Ripple Appoints Michael Warren to Board of Directors
Ripple named Michael Warren, a former Obama White House senior adviser, to its board of directors on March 16, 2022, as the company kept adding Washington veterans while it fought the SEC.
Markets & VenuesCEO Changes
SEBA Bank Co-Founder Guido Buehler Steps Down as CEO
Guido Buehler, who co-founded SEBA Bank and ran it for four years, stepped down as chief executive on March 7, 2022, handing the role to Franz Bergmueller effective April 1, 2022.
ProtocolsExits and Removals
Blockstream's Samson Mow Departs as Chief Strategy Officer
Samson Mow left Blockstream on March 1, 2022, after five years as chief strategy officer, saying he would turn to nation-state Bitcoin adoption work instead.
ProtocolsLayer 1s & Infrastructure
Protolambda's Blobs Cut Rollup Fees and Ethereum's Rent
Protolambda's EIP-4844 dropped Base's median fee from $0.59 to under a cent in March 2024, and cut what Base pays Ethereum.
Markets & VenuesExecutive Hires
Celsius Network Names Rod Bolger Chief Financial Officer
Rod Bolger left RBC, Canada's largest bank, to become Celsius Network's Chief Financial Officer on February 22, 2022, replacing a predecessor Finance Magnates said was arrested in November in an unrelated Israeli fraud case.
ProtocolsLayer 1s & Infrastructure
Superphiz Takes On Prysm, and Lighthouse Inherits the Majority
A February 2022 post named Coinbase and Kraken as the biggest Prysm operators; by October 2026, Lighthouse ran 52.66 percent of consensus nodes.
ProtocolsCEO Changes
Algorand Foundation Names Staci Warden Chief Executive
The Algorand Foundation named Staci Warden chief executive on February 10, 2022, and CoinDesk reported the same day that she replaced Sean Lee, who had led the foundation for 18 months.
ProtocolsCEO Changes
Sean Lee Steps Down as Algorand Foundation CEO
The Algorand Foundation named Staci Warden chief executive on February 10, 2022, after Sean Lee decided to leave the role he had held for more than 18 months.
ProtocolsExecutive Hires
Maple Finance Names Katherine Kirkpatrick General Counsel
Maple Finance named Katherine Kirkpatrick general counsel on February 7, 2022, putting a King & Spalding partner over the legal side of a lending platform chasing $5 billion in loans.
ProtocolsExits and Removals
True Names Limited Removes Brantly Millegan as Operations Director
True Names Limited terminated Brantly Millegan's contract as director of operations on February 7, 2022, after ENS DAO delegates voted over the weekend to remove him as a steward over a 2016 tweet.
ProtocolsCEO Changes
Hiro Names Alex Miller Chief Executive Officer
Hiro promoted Chief Operating Officer Alex Miller to chief executive officer on Feb. 3, 2022, as founder Muneeb Ali moved to Executive Chairman and launched Trust Machines with $150 million in new funding.
ProtocolsCEO Changes
Muneeb Ali Steps Down as Hiro Chief Executive Officer
Muneeb Ali stepped down as Hiro's chief executive officer on Feb. 3, 2022, becoming Executive Chairman and launching Trust Machines, a new Stacks ecosystem entity, with $150 million in funding.
Payments & ConsumerExecutive Hires
Paxos Names Ben Gray Global General Counsel
Paxos announced on February 3, 2022, that it had appointed Ben Gray, formerly Block's deputy general counsel, as its global general counsel to scale the company's compliance and legal teams.
Rules & RiskCEO Changes
Crypto Council for Innovation Names Sheila Warren CEO
The Crypto Council for Innovation named Sheila Warren its first chief executive officer on Jan. 31, 2022, pulling her from a digital assets post at the World Economic Forum.
ProtocolsBoard Seats
Chris Giancarlo Joins Digital Asset's Board
Digital Asset named former CFTC chairman Chris Giancarlo to its board of directors on Jan. 25, 2022, the year before its Canton Network blockchain began trading real-world assets for banks.
Markets & VenuesExecutive Hires
Gemini Names Pravjit Tiwana Chief Technology Officer
Gemini's co-founders welcomed Pravjit Tiwana as chief technology officer on January 24, 2022, a hire Crowdfund Insider independently reported the next day, and Bloomberg reported his exit 22 months later.
Markets & VenuesExecutive Hires
BitMEX Names Rupertus Rothenhaeuser Commercial Chief
BitMEX hired Rupertus Rothenhaeuser as chief commercial officer on Jan. 3, 2022, to run an expansion beyond derivatives into spot trading, brokerage and custody.
Markets & VenuesBoard Seats
Rain Management Names Talal Al Zain to Its Board
Talal Al Zain, the former chief executive of Bahrain's sovereign wealth fund, joined the board of crypto exchange Rain Management on December 29, 2021, four years after four co-founders launched the company.
ProtocolsCEO Changes
Justin Sun Trades the TRON Foundation for Grenada's WTO Seat
TRON's founder gave up the Foundation's CEO role on December 17, 2021 to become Grenada's WTO ambassador.
Markets & VenuesExits and Removals
Katie Haun Leaves A16z Crypto to Launch Her Own Fund
Katie Haun told a16z crypto's team on December 15, 2021, that she would launch her own crypto and web3 fund in early 2022, ending four years as a general partner at the firm.
Payments & ConsumerExecutive Hires
Immutable Names Gill Findlay Chief Operating Officer
Immutable appointed Gill Findlay to the newly created role of chief operating officer on December 9, 2021, pulling her from venture firm AirTree as the NFT platform reached a $12 billion token valuation.
Payments & ConsumerExecutive Hires
Immutable Names Katherine Rau Chief People Officer
Immutable hired Katherine Rau from Culture Amp as its first chief people officer on December 9, 2021, the same day it named two other senior executives during its IMX token launch.
Markets & VenuesExecutive Hires
Celsius Network Names Tushar Nadkarni Growth and Product Chief
Tushar Nadkarni, who had built growth teams at Facebook and Uber, became Celsius Network's Chief Growth & Product Officer on November 2, 2021, seven months before the lender froze customer withdrawals in June 2022.
Payments & ConsumerBoard Seats
Circle Names Danita Ostling to Board, Audit Chair
Circle Internet Financial appointed retired EY partner Danita Ostling to its board of directors and named her chair of the audit committee on Oct. 21, 2021.
ProtocolsCEO Changes
David Washburn Departs as nChain Chief Executive
nChain replaced David Washburn as chief executive with Hakan Yuksel on October 20, 2021, thanking Washburn for launching the Kensei data integrity platform during his two and a half years.
ProtocolsCEO Changes
nChain Appoints Hakan Yuksel Chief Executive Officer
nChain named Hakan Yuksel chief executive officer on October 20, 2021, bringing in a 20-year enterprise software veteran of Oracle and SAP to succeed David Washburn in Zug, Switzerland.
Markets & VenuesExecutive Hires
Alameda Research Names Caroline Ellison Co-Chief Executive
Alameda Research named Caroline Ellison and Sam Trabucco co-chief executive officers on Oct. 12, 2021, as founder Sam Bankman-Fried shifted his time to running FTX.
Markets & VenuesCEO Changes
Binance.US Promotes Brian Shroder to Chief Executive
Binance.US promoted president Brian Shroder to chief executive on Oct. 8, 2021, after predecessor Brian Brooks left following four months in the job, and named Eric Segal interim chief financial officer the same day.
Payments & ConsumerExecutive Hires
Flexa Hires Michelle Gitlitz as General Counsel
Flexa named Michelle Gitlitz general counsel effective Oct. 1, 2021, bringing in a lawyer with more than 20 years of experience to lead its legal and regulatory work.
Markets & VenuesBoard Seats
Bit Digital Appoints Brock Pierce to Board of Directors
Bit Digital named Bitcoin Foundation chairman Brock Pierce to its board on Sept. 28, 2021, effective Oct. 31, 2021, and shareholders reelected him nearly five years later.
ProtocolsExits and Removals
Sushi's 0xMaki Steps Down Into Advisory Role
Sushi core contributor 0xMaki announced on September 18, 2021, that he was leaving day-to-day operations at the decentralized exchange for an advisory role.
ProtocolsCEO Changes
Shayne Higdon Becomes the HBAR Foundation's First CEO
Hedera named Shayne Higdon first CEO of the HBAR Foundation on September 16, 2021. He left in August 2024, and the Foundation's grants, funds and on-chain activity followed a separate path.
Markets & VenuesExecutive Hires
Jump Trading Names Kanav Kariya President of Jump Crypto
Jump Trading Group named Kanav Kariya president of its newly launched Jump Crypto division in September 2021, The TRADE reported on Sept. 15, four years after he joined the firm as an intern.
ProtocolsExecutive Hires
Injective Labs Names Brandon Ferrick First General Counsel
Injective Labs hired Sullivan & Cromwell associate Brandon Ferrick as its first general counsel, Bloomberg Law reported Sept. 3, 2021, giving the decentralized trading protocol its first in-house lawyer.
ProtocolsBoard Seats
BlockFi Names Ellen-Blair Chube to Board
BlockFi announced on September 1, 2021, that William Blair managing director Ellen-Blair Chube had joined its board of directors, taking the seat left by former CFTC chairman Christopher Giancarlo.
ProtocolsBoard Seats
Christopher Giancarlo Steps Down From BlockFi Board
BlockFi said on September 1, 2021, that former CFTC chairman Christopher Giancarlo was leaving its board after four months, replaced by William Blair executive Ellen-Blair Chube.
Markets & VenuesExecutive Hires
Bitso Names Vaughan Smith Its First Chief Operating Officer
Bitso hired former Facebook executive Vaughan Smith as its first chief operating officer, CoinDesk reported on August 30, 2021, to help drive its expansion into Brazil after a $250 million funding round.
Markets & VenuesBoard Seats
Fireblocks Adds Former SEC Chair Jay Clayton to Advisory Board
Fireblocks named Jay Clayton to its seven-member advisory board on Aug. 19, 2021, a month after the custody firm raised $310 million at a $2 billion valuation.
Markets & VenuesCEO Changes
Brian Brooks Resigns as Binance.US Chief Executive
Brian Brooks announced on X on August 6, 2021, that he had resigned as Binance.US chief executive after four months, citing differences over strategic direction.
Markets & VenuesExecutive Hires
Canaan Names James Jin Cheng Chief Financial Officer
Canaan appointed James Jin Cheng chief financial officer effective immediately on Aug. 2, 2021, filling a seat its previous finance chief had vacated in February.
Payments & ConsumerExecutive Hires
Gala Games Names John Osvald President of Games
Gala Games hired former Electronic Arts product head John Osvald as president of games on June 10, 2021, as the blockchain gaming platform worked to onboard 15 titles.
ProtocolsBoard Seats
Jillian MacNab Succeeds Nathan Kaiser as Cardano Foundation Chairperson
A Swiss financial lawyer took the Cardano Foundation Council's chair on June 9, 2021, and by Sept. 8 the members who preceded her had recruited their own successors.
Markets & VenuesExits and Removals
Wei Zhou Leaves Binance as Chief Financial Officer
Wei Zhou, Binance's chief financial officer, left the exchange on June 9, 2021, after nearly three years.
ProtocolsExecutive Hires
Ava Labs Names Lee Schneider Its First General Counsel
Ava Labs hired Lee Schneider, the former general counsel of Block.one, as its first general counsel on May 27, 2021, to run legal matters and government affairs for the Avalanche blockchain.
Markets & VenuesExits and Removals
Lee Schneider Departs as Block.one General Counsel
Lee Schneider's move from Block.one's general counsel to the first general counsel at Ava Labs became public on May 27, 2021, in Ava Labs' own Medium post.
Markets & VenuesCEO Changes
Bittrex Global Names Stephen Stonberg Interim CEO
Bittrex Global's boards named chief financial officer and chief operating officer Stephen Stonberg interim chief executive on May 18, 2021, the same day Tom Albright stepped down from the role.
Markets & VenuesCEO Changes
Bittrex Global's Tom Albright Steps Down as CEO
Bittrex Global's boards announced on May 18, 2021, that Tom Albright had stepped down as chief executive, with CFO and COO Stephen Stonberg named interim CEO the same day.
Markets & VenuesExecutive Hires
FTX.US Names Brett Harrison Its First President
West Realm Shires Services said on May 13, 2021, that it had appointed Brett Harrison, a former Jane Street and Citadel Securities technologist, as the first president of FTX.US.
Payments & ConsumerBoard Seats
Rosie Rios Joins Ripple's Board as Kristina Campbell Becomes CFO
Ripple named Rosie Rios to its board and Kristina Campbell as chief financial officer on May 4, 2021, five months into a Securities and Exchange Commission lawsuit over XRP.
Markets & VenuesBoard Seats
Galaxy Digital Names Michael Daffey Chair of the Board
Galaxy Digital named former Goldman Sachs Global Markets chairman Michael Daffey as senior advisor and chair of its board on April 16, 2021, ahead of a planned U.S. stock listing.
Markets & VenuesExecutive Hires
Cipher Mining Names William Iwaschuk Chief Legal Officer
Cipher Mining Technologies announced on March 18, 2021, that it had hired William Iwaschuk, who spent more than seven years at Tower Research Capital, as chief legal officer ahead of its Nasdaq listing.
Markets & VenuesExecutive Hires
Bitwise Names Katherine Dowling General Counsel
Bitwise Asset Management's hire of former federal prosecutor Katherine Dowling as general counsel became public on March 3, 2021, as the crypto fund manager passed $1 billion in assets.
Payments & ConsumerBoard Seats
Stripe Welcomes Mark Carney to Its Board of Directors
Stripe added Mark Carney, the former Governor of the Bank of England and the Bank of Canada, to its board of directors on Feb. 21, 2021, citing his experience in sustainable finance.
Markets & VenuesExits and Removals
Canaan CFO Quanfu Hong Resigns, Cites Personal Reasons
Canaan Inc. announced on February 9, 2021, that Chief Financial Officer Quanfu Hong had resigned for personal reasons, with Tong He stepping in as acting CFO the same day.
Markets & VenuesCEO Changes
Riot Blockchain Names Board Member Jason Les Chief Executive
Riot Blockchain's board elevated director Jason Les to chief executive on Feb. 8, 2021, and returned Jeff McGonegal to the finance post he held from 2003 to 2019.
Markets & VenuesExecutive Hires
Hut 8 Names Tanya Woods General Counsel
Hut 8 appointed Tanya Woods as general counsel and executive vice president of regulatory affairs on January 26, 2021, effective February 1, reporting to newly named chief executive Jaime Leverton.
Markets & VenuesExecutive Hires
BitGo Names Jeff Horowitz Chief Compliance Officer
BitGo hired Jeff Horowitz, Coinbase's former chief compliance officer, on Jan. 13, 2021, weeks after BitGo paid $93,830 to settle 183 apparent sanctions violations with the U.S. Treasury.
Markets & VenuesExits and Removals
Dan Larimer Resigns as Block.one's Chief Technology Officer
Dan Larimer left the job on December 31, 2020, and announced it on January 10, 2021, calling the EOS block producer elections a system of kickbacks.
Markets & VenuesCEO Changes
Barry Silbert Steps Down as Grayscale CEO
Barry Silbert, Grayscale's founder, handed the chief executive job to seven-year veteran Michael Sonnenshein on January 7, 2021, as the firm's assets under management passed $20 billion.
Markets & VenuesCEO Changes
Grayscale Names Michael Sonnenshein Chief Executive Officer
Grayscale promoted seven-year veteran Michael Sonnenshein to chief executive on January 7, 2021, succeeding founder Barry Silbert as the firm's assets topped $20 billion.
Markets & VenuesBoard Seats
Coinbase Adds Ex-Cisco CFO Kelly Kramer to Its Board
Coinbase named Kelly Kramer, who spent nine years at Cisco and rose to chief financial officer there, to its board of directors on Dec. 16, 2020, putting her in charge of the Audit and Compliance Committee four months before the exchange's own public listing.
Payments & ConsumerExecutive Hires
BitPay Names Jagruti Solanki Chief Financial Officer
BitPay announced on December 1, 2020, that it had hired Jagruti Solanki, a former Aprio assurance partner, as chief financial officer alongside a new product vice president.
Markets & VenuesExecutive Hires
Bittrex Global Names Jeff Baron Chief Compliance Officer
Bittrex Global announced on November 12, 2020, that it had hired former Bermuda national security minister Jeff Baron as chief compliance officer for its Bermuda entity, starting the following month.
Markets & VenuesCEO Changes
Hut 8 Appoints Jaime Leverton Chief Executive
Hut 8 named technology executive Jaime Leverton as chief executive on November 2, 2020, effective December 1, ending a search that began when co-founder Andrew Kiguel stepped down in April 2020.
Markets & VenuesCEO Changes
Bitstamp Names Julian Sawyer Chief Executive Officer
Bitstamp named Julian Sawyer chief executive officer on October 22, 2020, making him the exchange's second CEO in the nine years since Nejc Kodrič founded it in a garage with 1,000 euros.
Markets & VenuesCEO Changes
Bitstamp's Kodrič Steps Down as CEO, Joins Board
Nejc Kodrič stepped down as Bitstamp's chief executive on October 22, 2020, nine years after he founded the exchange in a garage with 1,000 euros, and moved into a seat on the company's board.
Markets & VenuesCEO Changes
BitMEX Co-Founder Arthur Hayes Steps Down as CEO
Arthur Hayes stepped back as chief executive of BitMEX's parent, 100x Group, on Oct. 8, 2020, seven days after U.S. regulators and prosecutors charged him and two co-founders.
Markets & VenuesExecutive Hires
Galaxy Digital Names Damien Vanderwilt Co-President
Galaxy Digital appointed 20-year Goldman Sachs veteran Damien Vanderwilt co-president and head of global markets on September 29, 2020, pairing him with existing co-president Christopher Ferraro.
Rules & RiskSecurity & Incident Response
samczsun Answers Crypto's 911 Calls
samczsun started a $9.6 million white-hat rescue in 2020, protected $350 million at SushiSwap in 2021, then founded SEAL's emergency hotline.
ProtocolsCEO Changes
Frederik Gregaard Becomes the Cardano Foundation's First CEO
The Cardano Foundation named Frederik Gregaard its first CEO on September 21, 2020, when it employed 30 people.
Payments & ConsumerCEO Changes
CoinMarketCap's Interim CEO Carylyne Chan Departs
Carylyne Chan left CoinMarketCap on Aug. 30, 2020, and CoinDesk reported the next day that four more executives left the Binance-owned site the same week.
Payments & ConsumerExecutive Hires
Stripe Names Dhivya Suryadevara Chief Financial Officer
Stripe named Dhivya Suryadevara, General Motors' former chief financial officer, as its own CFO on Aug. 11, 2020, after the payments company launched in 15 new countries over the prior year.
Markets & VenuesBoard Seats
Canaan Names Wenjun Zhang Independent Director
Wenjun Zhang and three other new independent directors joined Canaan Inc.'s board effective August 1, 2020, The Block reported on August 3, a day before Canaan's own release, replacing three directors whose terms had expired.
ProtocolsExits and Removals
Josh Cincinnati Resigns as Zcash Foundation Executive Director
Josh Cincinnati announced on July 31, 2020, that he was resigning as the Zcash Foundation's executive director, citing a broken relationship with the Electric Coin Company's leadership.
ProtocolsCEO Changes
Josh Cincinnati Resigns as the Zcash Foundation's First Executive Director
The Zcash Foundation's executive director resigned on July 31, 2020, citing lost trust with the Electric Coin Company.
Markets & VenuesBitcoin & Mining
Alex Gladstein Turns Human Rights Money Into Bitcoin Code
HRF's Bitcoin Development Fund began with a gift of close to $50,000 in June 2020 and counted 383 projects in 70 countries by August 2026.
ProtocolsBoard Seats
Hubertus Thonhauser Takes the Tezos Foundation Chair From Ryan Jesperson
The Tezos Foundation announced on May 18, 2020 that its president would leave the Council and Hubertus Thonhauser would chair it.
Markets & VenuesExecutive Hires
Robinhood Names Dan Gallagher Chief Legal Officer
Robinhood hired board member and former SEC commissioner Dan Gallagher as chief legal officer on May 5, 2020, about seven months after he joined the board and four years after he left the agency he would now help Robinhood answer to.
Markets & VenuesCEO Changes
Bakkt CEO Mike Blandina Steps Down After Four Months
Intercontinental Exchange named David Clifton interim CEO of Bakkt on April 23, 2020, replacing Mike Blandina four months after he took the role.
ProtocolsExecutive Hires
Input Output Global Names Romain Pellerin Chief Technology Officer
IOHK, the company behind Cardano, announced on April 7, 2020, that Romain Pellerin would become its chief technology officer alongside a new chief commercial officer.
Markets & VenuesCEO Changes
Johnny Lyu Becomes KuCoin CEO as Michael Gan Becomes Chairman
KuCoin co-founder Johnny Lyu became CEO of KuCoin Global on March 17, 2020, the day Michael Gan became chairman of the new KuGroup.
Rules & RiskRegulation & Enforcement
Hester Peirce Waits Six Years for a Token Safe Harbor
Peirce proposed a three-year token safe harbor on Feb. 6, 2020; the SEC proposed its own on Aug. 18, 2026, weeks before she left.
ProtocolsCEO Changes
Jae Kwon Steps Down as Tendermint CEO After Six Years
Jae Kwon, Tendermint Inc.'s founder, gave up the chief executive title on February 4, 2020, promising a company run by a decentralized 'Process' instead of one person.
Markets & VenuesExecutive Hires
Figure Names Former Coinbase COO Asiff Hirji President
Figure Technologies named former Coinbase president and COO Asiff Hirji its new president on Jan. 29, 2020, to build a merchant bank on its blockchain platform.
Markets & VenuesCEO Changes
Andrew Kiguel Steps Down as Hut 8 CEO
Hut 8 co-founder Andrew Kiguel said on January 28, 2020, that he would step down as chief executive once the board found a successor, the same day the miner renegotiated its debt with Bitfury.
Markets & VenuesExecutive Hires
Bitpanda Names Oliver Stauber Chief Legal Officer
Oliver Stauber left a Vienna law firm specializing in Bitcoin and blockchain work to become Bitpanda's chief legal officer on January 14, 2020, when the Austrian exchange counted more than 1 million users.
Markets & VenuesCEO Changes
Bakkt Names Mike Blandina Chief Executive Officer
Intercontinental Exchange named Mike Blandina chief executive officer of Bakkt on December 23, 2019, promoting him from chief product officer after founding CEO Kelly Loeffler left for the U.S. Senate.
Markets & VenuesCEO Changes
Kelly Loeffler Departs as Bakkt Chief Executive
Intercontinental Exchange said on December 23, 2019, that founding CEO Kelly Loeffler had left Bakkt for the U.S. Senate seat of retiring Sen. Johnny Isakson, and named Mike Blandina to succeed her.
Payments & ConsumerExecutive Hires
Ledger Names Charles Guillemet Chief Technology Officer
Ledger appointed Charles Guillemet chief technology officer on December 5, 2019, keeping the security researcher who founded its Donjon lab in charge of its hardware wallet technology.
Markets & VenuesCEO Changes
Franklin Resources Names Jennifer Johnson CEO
Franklin Resources named 31-year company veteran Jennifer M. Johnson president and chief executive officer on November 21, 2019, moving Gregory Johnson to executive chairman.
Markets & VenuesCEO Changes
Gregory Johnson Steps Down as Franklin Templeton CEO
Franklin Resources named Jennifer Johnson president and CEO on Nov. 21, 2019, moving Gregory Johnson to executive chairman while he kept the board chairman title.
ProtocolsExits and Removals
ConsenSys Strategy Chief Sam Cassatt Steps Down to Launch Fund
Sam Cassatt left his post as ConsenSys chief strategy officer on Nov. 15, 2019 to start Aligned Capital, a venture fund backed by ConsenSys founder Joe Lubin that aimed to raise $50 million.
Markets & VenuesCEO Changes
CleanSpark Names Zach Bradford Chief Executive Officer
CleanSpark's move of Zach Bradford from president and chief financial officer into the chief executive seat became public on October 9, 2019, in a summary of its filing, as founder Matthew Schultz stepped back to chairman of the board.
Markets & VenuesCEO Changes
Matthew Schultz Steps Down as CleanSpark Chief Executive
CleanSpark co-founder Matthew Schultz's move from chief executive to chairman of the board became public on October 9, 2019, handing the CEO title to president and finance chief Zach Bradford.
Payments & ConsumerWallets & Consumer Apps
Mike Peterson Pays El Zonte in Bitcoin and Tags Bukele
Bitcoin Beach paid El Zonte's river cleaners in bitcoin in September 2019, and El Salvador passed its Bitcoin Law in June 2021.
Markets & VenuesExecutive Hires
Gemini Names Noah Perlman Chief Compliance Officer
Tyler Winklevoss announced on September 4, 2019, that Noah Perlman had joined Gemini as chief compliance officer, a hire Compliance Week independently reported the next day.
Markets & VenuesExecutive Hires
Gemini Names David Damato Chief Security Officer
Gemini hired David Damato, formerly chief security officer at Tanium, to lead its security program on August 19, 2019, during what the exchange called a period of rapid growth.
ProtocolsBoard Seats
IOTA Co-Founder Sergey Ivancheglo Resigns From the Board
Sergey Ivancheglo submitted his resignation from the IOTA Foundation board on June 26, 2019, a move co-founder David Sønstebø made public on July 26, 2019, after Ivancheglo said he worked best in a less rigid setting.
ProtocolsDeFi Protocols
Kain Warwick's Synthetix Plants Yield Farming Eleven Months Before COMP
Synthetix paid SNX to Uniswap liquidity providers from July 2019, eleven months before Compound's COMP set off DeFi's yield farming summer.
Markets & VenuesBitcoin & Mining
Michel Rauchs Helps Count Bitcoin's Watts, and Cambridge Recounts Them
Michel Rauchs co-designed Cambridge's Bitcoin electricity index, launched July 2, 2019, and a 2023 revision cut its 2021 estimate from 104.9 to 89.0 terawatt-hours.
Markets & VenuesExecutive Hires
Robinhood Elevates Gretchen Howard to Chief Operating Officer
Robinhood promoted Gretchen Howard, a five-month vice president of operations, to chief operating officer on June 24, 2019, 13 months after the company raised $363 million at a $5.6 billion valuation.
Payments & ConsumerExits and Removals
PayPal COO Bill Ready to Leave at Year's End
PayPal announced on June 20, 2019, that Chief Operating Officer Bill Ready would transition out of the company by the end of the year, closing a six-year run that began with PayPal's 800 million dollar purchase of his startup Braintree.
ProtocolsExecutive Hires
Roman Schnider Replaces Eelco Fiole as Tezos Foundation CFO
The Tezos Foundation named its own outside auditor, Roman Schnider, as chief financial officer on June 11, 2019, five months after Eelco Fiole took the same job.
ProtocolsCEO Changes
Amrit Kumar Takes Over Zilliqa From Xinshu Dong
Zilliqa's chief scientist became President on May 6, 2019, the day co-founder and CEO Xinshu Dong gave up daily operations.
Payments & ConsumerBoard Seats
Ripple Names SBI's Yoshitaka Kitao to Its Board
Ripple announced on April 26, 2019, that Yoshitaka Kitao, chief executive of its Japanese partner SBI Holdings, would join its board of directors, replacing SBI Ripple Asia's own chief executive in the seat.
Payments & ConsumerCEO Changes
Ledger Names President Pascal Gauthier Chief Executive
Ledger named its president, Pascal Gauthier, chief executive officer on April 24, 2019, as founder Eric Larchevêque moved to the role of executive chairman.
ProtocolsProtocol Research
Phil Daian Names MEV, and Flashbots Builds Its Market
A 2019 Cornell Tech paper named the profit in ordering trades; by October 2026, 92 percent of Ethereum slots ran through Flashbots' MEV-Boost.
ProtocolsBoard Seats
Quant Network Adds Guy Dietrich to Its Board
Quant Network named Rockefeller Capital managing director Guy Dietrich to its board on April 10, 2019, the day it said it would expand into the US market.
ProtocolsCEO Changes
AG Gangadhar Steps Down as Digital Asset's Acting CEO
Digital Asset's board voted on March 19, 2019, to name co-founder Yuval Rooz chief executive, ending AG Gangadhar's three-month run as acting CEO and moving him into the role of executive chairman.
ProtocolsCEO Changes
Digital Asset Promotes Co-Founder Yuval Rooz to CEO
Digital Asset's board unanimously voted to name co-founder Yuval Rooz chief executive officer on March 19, 2019, three months after Blythe Masters resigned, promoting its chief operating officer into the permanent role.
Markets & VenuesExits and Removals
Franklin Resources CFO Ken Lewis to Retire
Franklin Resources told the SEC on March 18, 2019, that Chief Financial Officer Ken Lewis would retire May 6 after 30 years at the firm, handing the job to incoming hire Matthew Nicholls.
ProtocolsCEO Changes
Jed McCaleb Steps Down as Stellar Executive Director
The Stellar Development Foundation named Denelle Dixon its executive director and CEO on March 14, 2019, moving co-founder Jed McCaleb into a chief architect role focused on protocol growth.
ProtocolsCEO Changes
Jimmy Nguyen Steps Down as nChain Chief Executive
Jimmy Nguyen left the chief executive job at nChain on March 7, 2019, as the company named David Washburn his successor and moved Nguyen to chair its Strategic Advisory Board.
ProtocolsCEO Changes
nChain Names David Washburn Chief Executive Officer
nChain named David Washburn chief executive officer of its London-based nChain Limited on March 7, 2019, succeeding Jimmy Nguyen, who moved to chair the company's advisory board.
ProtocolsLayer 1s & Infrastructure
Eric Conner Sparks Ethereum's Fee Burn, and Miners Fume
Eric Conner championed Vitalik Buterin's fee-burn plan in 2019; Ethereum has burned 4.6 million ETH since August 2021, though the burn shrank in 2025.
Rules & RiskRegulation & Enforcement
Caitlin Long's Crypto Bank Law Meets the Fed's Third Tier
Wyoming created crypto banks on Feb. 26, 2019; the Fed rejected Caitlin Long's Custodia in 2023 and approved Kraken's bank only in 2026.
ProtocolsExecutive Hires
Hedera Hashgraph Names Lionel Chocron Product Chief
Hedera Hashgraph named Lionel Chocron chief product officer on Feb. 6, 2019, hiring him from Oracle alongside two other senior product and partnership executives.
ProtocolsProtocol Research
Kevin Owocki Squares the Crowd at Gitcoin
Gitcoin ran its first quadratic funding round in February 2019 with a $25,000 match; by 2022 matches topped $3 million, and fake accounts grew alongside.
ProtocolsCEO Changes
Blythe Masters Steps Down as Digital Asset CEO
Blythe Masters resigned as chief executive officer of Digital Asset on December 18, 2018, after three years running the distributed ledger firm, handing the role to board chairman AG Gangadhar on an acting basis.
ProtocolsCEO Changes
Digital Asset Names AG Gangadhar Acting Chief Executive
Digital Asset named board member AG Gangadhar its chairman and acting chief executive on December 18, 2018, after Blythe Masters requested to step down from the role for personal reasons.
Markets & VenuesExecutive Hires
BitGo Names Dick Corcoran CEO of Its Trust Company
BitGo brought banking veteran Dick Corcoran out of retirement on December 6, 2018, to run a new South Dakota trust company built to hold crypto for hedge funds and family offices.
Markets & VenuesCEO Changes
Huobi Group Names Livio Weng CEO of Huobi Global
Huobi Group announced on December 6, 2018, that Livio Weng, an executive with the company since August of that year, had become chief executive of Huobi Global, its flagship exchange.
Markets & VenuesExecutive Hires
Ledger Names Demetrios Skalkotos Global Head of Ledger Vault
Ledger opened a New York office on Nov. 26, 2018 and put Demetrios Skalkotos in charge of Ledger Vault, the custody product the Paris company built for institutions holding multiple cryptocurrencies.
Markets & VenuesExecutive Hires
Fidelity Names Tom Jessop Head of Fidelity Digital Assets
Fidelity Investments launched Fidelity Digital Assets on Oct. 15, 2018 and put Tom Jessop in charge, giving the $7.2 trillion asset manager its own custody and trade execution service for institutional bitcoin and ether holders.
Payments & ConsumerExits and Removals
Sarah Friar Steps Down as Square CFO for Nextdoor
Square announced on October 10, 2018, that Chief Financial Officer Sarah Friar would leave to become chief executive of the social network Nextdoor; CEO Jack Dorsey credited her with steering Square through an IPO.
ProtocolsBoard Seats
Digital Asset Adds AG Gangadhar to Its Board
Digital Asset named former Google and Amazon engineering executive AG Gangadhar to its board on July 18, 2018, five months before the board made him acting chief executive.
ProtocolsBoard Seats
Digital Asset Adds Stephan Leithner to Its Board
Digital Asset named Deutsche Börse Group executive board member Stephan Leithner to its board of directors on July 18, 2018, pairing Deutsche Börse's post-trade expertise with the company's ledger technology.
ProtocolsBoard Seats
Digital Asset Adds Tony James to Its Board
Digital Asset named Blackstone's Tony James to its board of directors on July 18, 2018, alongside two other new directors, as the DAML developer pushed to scale its ledger technology for banks.
Markets & VenuesExecutive Hires
Block.one Names Rob Jesudason Group President and COO
Block.one announced on May 13, 2018, that Rob Jesudason, the outgoing chief financial officer of Commonwealth Bank of Australia, would become its group president and chief operating officer.
Markets & VenuesExecutive Hires
Block.one Names Lee Schneider General Counsel
Block.one appointed FinTech lawyer Lee Schneider as its global general counsel on May 8, 2018, effective June 4, 2018, after he led the fintech and broker-dealer practices at McDermott Will & Emery.
LeadershipLeadership & Talent
Ryan Dennis Questions Token Sales in ICO Alert's Paid Reports
In 2018, Ryan Dennis bylined seven archived ICO Alert reports that disclosed a fee; the SEC later fined two other ICO sites over undisclosed fees.
ProtocolsCEO Changes
Ethereum Foundation Names Aya Miyaguchi Executive Director
Aya Miyaguchi left her post as Kraken Japan's managing director to become the Ethereum Foundation's executive director on February 1, 2018, succeeding Ming Chan.
ProtocolsCEO Changes
Ming Chan Steps Down as Ethereum Foundation's Executive Director
Ming Chan left the Ethereum Foundation's top staff role on January 31, 2018, after two and a half years guiding the organization through the DAO hack and the 2016 denial-of-service attacks.
Payments & ConsumerCEO Changes
SoFi Names Anthony Noto Chief Executive Officer
SoFi's board named Twitter COO Anthony Noto chief executive officer on Jan. 23, 2018, effective March 1, ending Tom Hutton's four-month run as interim CEO.
ProtocolsCEO Changes
nChain Group Names Jimmy Nguyen Chief Executive Officer
nChain Group promoted Jimmy Nguyen from chief business officer to chief executive officer on December 5, 2017, as prior CEO Stefan Matthews moved into the chairman's seat.
Markets & VenuesInstitutional Custody & Asset Management
Christopher Giancarlo Lets Bitcoin Futures Self-Certify
The CFTC let CME and Cboe list bitcoin futures on Dec. 1, 2017, and a court cited that market to overturn the SEC's Grayscale denial.
Payments & ConsumerWallets & Consumer Apps
Dieter Shirley and William Entriken Give Each Cat a Deed
Dieter Shirley drafted Ethereum's NFT standard while building a cat game in 2017; William Entriken finished it, and NFT buyers grew 30-fold in 2021.
Payments & ConsumerCEO Changes
SoFi Co-Founder Mike Cagney Resigns as CEO
SoFi's board accepted Mike Cagney's resignation as CEO and director on Sept. 15, 2017, and named Executive Chairman Tom Hutton interim chief executive the same day.
Rules & RiskSecurity & Incident Response
Kim Nilsson Traces Mt. Gox's Missing Bitcoin to BTC-e
WizSec's Kim Nilsson traced stolen Mt. Gox bitcoin to BTC-e and named Alexander Vinnik his chief suspect the day Vinnik's arrest broke.
ProtocolsLayer 1s & Infrastructure
Nick Johnson Makes a Name for Ethereum's Addresses
Nick Johnson's naming registrar went live on May 4, 2017; .eth fees peaked at $55.40 million in 2022, and squatting has trailed it since launch.
Payments & ConsumerCEO Changes
Dash Founder Evan Duffield Steps Back as Chief Executive
Evan Duffield handed the Dash Core Project's top job to Ryan Taylor on April 18, 2017, moving into a senior advisor role years after he started the cryptocurrency network.
Payments & ConsumerCEO Changes
Dash Names Ryan Taylor CEO as Evan Duffield Steps Back
Ryan Taylor became CEO of the Dash Core Project on April 18, 2017, as founder Evan Duffield moved into an advisory role, and Taylor was still Dash's CEO in May 2020.
ProtocolsExecutive Hires
Chain Names Tom Jessop as President
Chain Inc. named Tom Jessop president on April 17, 2017, pulling a 17-year Goldman Sachs veteran into the enterprise blockchain company CEO Adam Ludwin had built since 2014.
Payments & ConsumerBoard Seats
BitPay Elects Carl Stern to Its Board of Directors
BitPay announced on January 31, 2017, that Carl Stern, a former Boston Consulting Group chief executive, had joined its board as the payments company prepared for growth that year.
Payments & ConsumerCEO Changes
SatoshiLabs' Alena Vranova Steps Down as Chief Executive
Alena Vranova left the CEO post at SatoshiLabs effective January 17, 2017, to pursue independent ventures while continuing to work with the Trezor hardware wallet.
Payments & ConsumerCEO Changes
SatoshiLabs Names Marek Palatinus Chief Executive Officer
SatoshiLabs named co-founder Marek Palatinus chief executive officer effective January 17, 2017, succeeding Alena Vranova as the Trezor hardware wallet maker's top leader.
Payments & ConsumerCEO Changes
Chris Larsen Steps Down as Ripple Chief Executive
Ripple co-founder Chris Larsen told CoinDesk on Nov. 1, 2016, that he would hand the chief executive title to president Brad Garlinghouse, effective Jan. 1, 2017, after four years running the company.
Payments & ConsumerCEO Changes
Ripple Names Brad Garlinghouse Chief Executive Officer
Ripple's board moved Chris Larsen to executive chairman on Nov. 1, 2016, and gave his job to Brad Garlinghouse, the company's president and chief operating officer for the prior year and a half.
ProtocolsCEO Changes
Blockstream Names Co-Founder Adam Back Chief Executive
Blockstream's board unanimously appointed co-founder Adam Back chief executive on October 3, 2016, replacing Austin Hill as he stepped down to pursue other opportunities.
ProtocolsCEO Changes
Blockstream's Austin Hill Steps Down as Chief Executive
Austin Hill left Blockstream's board and the CEO job on October 3, 2016, handing the role to co-founder Adam Back after two years as its first chief executive.
Markets & VenuesBitcoin & Mining
Pieter Wuille Splits the Signature, and Bitcoin Splits Too
Pieter Wuille proposed segregated witness in Hong Kong in December 2015, and 97.5 percent of Bitcoin transactions spent SegWit in September 2026.
ProtocolsLayer 1s & Infrastructure
Fabian Vogelsteller Files Issue 20, and Tokens Follow
Fabian Vogelsteller posted a six-function token standard in 2015; by October 2026, Ethereum and Tron, which matches it, held 77.3 percent of dollar stablecoins.
Rules & RiskSecurity & Incident Response
Tigran Gambaryan Seizes 69,370 Bitcoin, Then Nigeria Seizes Him
IRS agent Tigran Gambaryan traced corrupt agents, BTC-e and Welcome to Video, then spent eight months held in Nigeria as a Binance executive.
Markets & VenuesBitcoin & Mining
Joseph Poon and Thaddeus Dryja Bolt a Network Onto Bitcoin
Joseph Poon and Thaddeus Dryja posted the Lightning Network paper in February 2015, and public channels fell from 81,755 to 32,518 between 2022 and 2026.
Markets & VenuesBitcoin & Mining
Wladimir van der Laan Merges Bitcoin Core, Then Hands Off
Wladimir van der Laan maintained Bitcoin Core from April 2014, made about 24 percent of its merges in 2020, and stepped back in January 2021.
Payments & ConsumerWallets & Consumer Apps
Jordan Kelley's Robocoin Serves Bitcoin in a Vancouver Café
Robocoin's kiosk opened in a Vancouver café on October 29, 2013; FTC data put 2023 losses to Bitcoin ATM scams above $110 million.
Rules & RiskSecurity & Incident Response
Sarah Meiklejohn Follows a Fistful of Bitcoins
Sarah Meiklejohn's 2013 paper used 344 test payments to put names on 1.8 million Bitcoin addresses, and tracing firms now run variants of it.
Markets & VenuesBitcoin & Mining
Slush Pools Bitcoin's Miners, and Pools Win Nearly Every Block
Marek Palatinus proposed pooled mining on November 27, 2010, and mempool.space now lists just 290 of the past year's 52,381 blocks as Unknown.
