Austin Hill stepped down as Blockstream's chief executive officer on October 3, 2016. By then he had also left its board. Blockstream's own release said Hill "recently stepped down from the board to pursue other opportunities," and named co-founder Adam Back as his replacement1.
Four leadership moves at Blockstream on the record since 2016
Every move CryptoLately has verified there, by the day it became public
Moves: The Moves Ledger, CryptoLately's record of verified leadership moves, Oct. 3, 2016 to Oct. 2, 2026.
Read the chart as a table
| Date | Event |
|---|---|
| Oct. 3, 2016 | Back became CEO. Adam Back was named Chief Executive Officer of Blockstream |
| Oct. 3, 2016 | Hill left as CEO. Austin Hill left as Chief Executive Officer of Blockstream |
| March 1, 2022 | Mow left as Chief Strategy Officer. Samson Mow left as Chief Strategy Officer of Blockstream |
| Oct. 15, 2024 | Minkevich became COO. Michael Minkevich was named Chief Operating Officer of Blockstream |
Two CEO exits on the record in 2016
CEO exits CryptoLately has verified, by year
- 2016: 2
- 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023
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 |
|---|---|
| 2016 | 2 |
| 2017 | 3 |
| 2018 | 2 |
| 2019 | 7 |
| 2020 | 9 |
| 2021 | 5 |
| 2022 | 18 |
| 2023 | 11 |
The exit
CoinDesk's independent report confirmed the timing and the reason Blockstream gave for it. “As part of Hill's exit from the firm, he has also stepped down from the board,” the outlet wrote. “Blockstream said that Hill was leaving the company to 'pursue other opportunities'”2. Back's own statement covers the handoff instead. Both pages quote Back about the move and leave Hill unquoted. Back called the moment "an important phase in the company's growth" in the same release that announced Hill's departure1. Blockstream's board had voted to make the switch unanimously, the release said, rather than splitting over the decision.
Blockstream before and after
Hill had run Blockstream as its first CEO since the company's founding in late 2014. In that stretch, the company raised $76 million across two funding rounds, from investors including Digital Currency Group and Reid Hoffman1. Blockstream had also bought the Bitcoin wallet startup GreenAddress in the summer of 2016. CoinDesk said the deal had "further boosted its employee base"2. Back moved up from president and chief operating officer. In that job, the release says, he “oversaw daily operations for a distributed team of 40 across ten countries” under Hill.
What came next
Back still ran Blockstream on October 15, 2024, eight years later. That day's release on a $210 million financing round named him "Blockstream Co-Founder and CEO." That release also introduced Michael Minkevich as the company's new chief operating officer under Back3. The same release said Blockstream's Liquid Network had carried more than $1.8 billion in assets by then, including stablecoins and tokenized bonds.
Sources
- "Blockstream Appoints Hashcash Inventor Dr. Adam Back as CEO," Blockstream, October 3, 2016, https://blockstream.com/press-releases/2016-10-03-blockstream-appoints-hashcash-inventor-dr-adam-back-as-ceo/
- "Adam Back Appointed Blockstream CEO in Leadership Shake-Up," CoinDesk, October 3, 2016, https://www.coindesk.com/markets/2016/10/03/adam-back-appointed-blockstream-ceo-in-leadership-shake-up
- "Blockstream Secures $210M Led by Fulgur Ventures to Drive Layer-2 Growth and Expand Bitcoin Treasury," Blockstream, October 15, 2024, https://blockstream.com/press-releases/2024-10-15-blockstream-secures-210m-dollars-led-fulgur-ventures-drive-layer-2-growth-expand-bitcoin-treasury/