21.co named Russell Barlow chief executive officer of 21Shares in a release GlobeNewswire carried on December 3, 20241. Barlow joined from abrdn, where he had served as Global Head of Alternative and Multi-Asset Investments, the release said. He oversaw more than $200 billion in assets there. Co-founders Hany Rashwan and Ophelia Snyder moved into co-chair roles at 21Shares and shifted their focus to a new sister company, 21.co Technologies, the same release said.
CEO appointments CryptoLately has verified, by year; 2026 through Oct. 2, 2026
- 2024: 26
- 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 | 8 |
| 2020 | 7 |
| 2021 | 6 |
| 2022 | 18 |
| 2023 | 17 |
| 2024 | 26 |
| 2025 | 35 |
| 2026 | 18 |
CEO appointments 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 |
|---|---|
| Trading Venues & Brokerage | 4 |
| Capital Markets & Treasury | 3 |
| Bitcoin & Mining | 2 |
| AI and Crypto | 2 |
| Layer 1s & Infrastructure | 2 |
| Institutional Custody & Asset Management | 2 |
| Wallets & Consumer Apps | 1 |
| Security & Incident Response | 1 |
The move
Barlow's appointment arrived as part of a larger restructuring. 21.co's release said the firm would split into two units, 21Shares and 21.co Technologies. Both stayed under the 21.co holding company1. Rashwan gave the reason for the split in the same release. “This transition formalizes a structure we've been building toward over the past year, allowing each division to grow independently,” said Rashwan, 21Shares' co-founder. He pointed to the practical effect of the split. “With dedicated leadership in place for both asset management and technology, we're setting up 21Shares and 21.co Technologies for even greater success,” Rashwan said.
The hire pulled more than one executive from abrdn. Ledger Insights reported on December 5, 2024, that Barlow's colleague Duncan Moir joined as president, part of what the outlet called 21Shares luring "abrdn's core digital asset team"2. abrdn itself managed almost $650 billion in assets, Ledger Insights reported, against the more than $200 billion Barlow had overseen there1.
21Shares before and after
Assets under management at 21Shares had crossed $10 billion by the time of the announcement, the release said1. Ledger Insights put the rise since the middle of 2024 at two thirds2. 21Shares credited that growth partly to its 2024 launches of spot Bitcoin and spot Ethereum ETPs in the United States. 21Shares also pointed to its May 2024 entry into the UK market, where it listed four exchange traded notes on the London Stock Exchange. Barlow would oversee 21Shares' asset management and ETP business worldwide and report directly to co-chairs Rashwan and Snyder, the release said. 21.co Technologies took on tokenization and risk management products instead.
What came next
Barlow was still 21Shares' chief executive on October 22, 2025, when FalconX agreed to buy the company, FalconX's release on PR Newswire said3. FalconX is an institutional digital asset prime brokerage. 21Shares managed more than $11 billion in assets across 55 listed products as of September 30, 2025. Barlow spoke in that release as 21Shares' chief executive, ten and a half months after his December 3, 2024 appointment. “Our goal has been to make crypto investing available to everyone through industry-leading exchange-traded products,” said Barlow. “Now FalconX will enable us to move faster and expand our reach,” he said. The release said Barlow would continue as CEO of 21Shares under the FalconX umbrella, with the existing ETPs' structure staying as it was.
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
- "21shares lures asset manager abrdn's core digital asset team," Ledger Insights, December 5, 2024, https://www.ledgerinsights.com/21shares-lures-asset-manager-abrdns-core-digital-asset-team/
- 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