21.co named Edel Bashir chief operating officer of 21Shares in a release GlobeNewswire carried on December 3, 20241. Bashir came from abrdn, where the release said she had served as COO for Alternative and Multi-Asset Investments. The same release split 21Shares from a new sister company, 21.co Technologies. Both stayed under the 21.co holding company.
Executive hires CryptoLately has verified, by year; 2026 through Oct. 2, 2026
- 2024: 39
- 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023, 2025, 2026
Moves: The Moves Ledger, CryptoLately's record of verified leadership moves, Oct. 3, 2016 to Oct. 2, 2026.
Read the chart as a table
| Item | Value |
|---|---|
| 2019 | 11 |
| 2020 | 12 |
| 2021 | 27 |
| 2022 | 37 |
| 2023 | 20 |
| 2024 | 39 |
| 2025 | 59 |
| 2026 | 45 |
Executive hires CryptoLately has verified in 2024, by the sector of the company
Moves: The Moves Ledger, CryptoLately's record of verified leadership moves, Oct. 3, 2016 to Oct. 2, 2026.
Read the chart as a table
| Item | Value |
|---|---|
| Layer 1s & Infrastructure | 8 |
| Institutional Custody & Asset Management | 7 |
| Trading Venues & Brokerage | 6 |
| Capital Markets & Treasury | 3 |
| DeFi Protocols | 2 |
| AI and Crypto | 1 |
| Stablecoins & Payments | 1 |
| Bitcoin & Mining | 1 |
The move
Bashir's hire was one of three the release announced from the same firm. The text credited her with "deep expertise in managing complex operations" at abrdn. There, it said, she had focused on "streamlining operations and improving efficiency"1. Bitget News reported on December 8, 2024, that Bashir would serve as COO. The outlet put abrdn's own assets under management at close to $650 billion2.
Co-founder Ophelia Snyder described what the split would let the founders do next. “This realignment allows us to dedicate even more energy to advancing next-generation products like tokenization, on-chain solutions, and tools that bridge the gap between traditional finance and blockchain,” Snyder said1. The same release named Bashir alongside the firm's new chief executive and president.
21Shares before and after
GlobeNewswire's release put 21Shares' assets under management above $10 billion at the time of the hire. Bitget's report said that figure had grown by two thirds since the middle of 202412. Bashir joined two other abrdn executives at the top of 21Shares, with Russell Barlow taking the chief executive job and Duncan Moir becoming president, Bitget's report said. Bitget's report added that 21Shares had promoted Andres Valencia to executive vice president of investment management.
What came next
FalconX agreed to buy 21Shares on October 22, 2025, less than 11 months after Bashir's hire, FalconX's release on PR Newswire said3. 21Shares managed more than $11 billion in assets across 55 listed products as of September 30, 2025. The release said 21Shares would stay independently managed under the FalconX umbrella. Chief executive Russell Barlow would continue in his role, working with FalconX's leadership team. Bashir's job went unmentioned. FalconX's chief executive, Raghu Yarlagadda, called the acquisition “a deliberate, long-term investment in building durable enterprise value across market cycles”.
Sources
- GlobeNewswire, "21.co Announces Plans for New Operating Structure; 21Shares and 21.co Technologies to Become Separate Entities," December 3, 2024, https://www.manilatimes.net/2024/12/03/tmt-newswire/globenewswire/21co-announces-plans-for-new-operating-structure-21shares-and-21co-technologies-to-become-separate-entities/2015162
- Cointime, "21Shares hires three abrdn executives as CEO, president and COO," Bitget News, December 8, 2024, https://www.bitget.com/news/detail/12560604405434
- FalconX, "FalconX Acquires Leading ETP Provider 21shares, Accelerating the Convergence of Digital Assets and Traditional Finance," PR Newswire, October 22, 2025, https://news.google.com/rss/articles/CBMigwJBVV95cUxPTEhiWUtoOGUtbzN6QlJXN1B4VTdkZ1RuWDUxc1RxM3Nzc0hSQmdoZ3pRNVAzell4M0VVZGV0QndJaGl0TmNDM1k1LTJlWkJmR2ZMUTV4ZUZJNHprQWVUOUthUzVfbzdodzJrT0IyR29mSHB4YURZTkRUdVpETTE1T055WmltU1I0b082RnpPdnFsVkFCSXNzNVNNN0R2ZU1xOXJFY0VuNzNmWURxQ0pkeU5aR192LVZwT29GTFdVTGxWV1BJeEk3bExnZ2pNUkR0Y0ZuTElmT1FUcDFjWmFKLVdQVnU4M012b1ZxbXpPWlcteFNrbDNQR1ZsbUJXbnBkb3Zn?oc=5