CoinGecko named co-founder Bobby Ong chief executive officer on August 18, 2025, moving him up from chief operating officer1. The crypto data company announced the change on its own site. Fellow co-founder and former chief executive TM Lee took on a new president role in the same August 18, 2025, announcement. Fintech News Malaysia reported the reshuffle the next day, August 19, 2025. The outlet confirmed that “co-founder and former CEO TM Lee will take on the role of President”2. Ong had served as chief operating officer for more than a decade before the promotion, CoinGecko's own post states.
35 CEO appointments on the record in 2025, the most of any year
CEO appointments CryptoLately has verified, by year; 2026 through Oct. 2, 2026
- 2025: 35
- 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024, 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 |
Capital Markets & Treasury led CEO appointments in 2025, with five
CEO appointments CryptoLately has verified in 2025, 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 |
|---|---|
| Capital Markets & Treasury | 5 |
| Regulation & Enforcement | 3 |
| Bitcoin & Mining | 3 |
| Trading Venues & Brokerage | 3 |
| Layer 1s & Infrastructure | 2 |
| Stablecoins & Payments | 2 |
| Wallets & Consumer Apps | 1 |
| Institutional Custody & Asset Management | 1 |
The handoff
Ong described the move as a continuation of a partnership that started when he and Lee founded CoinGecko together in 2014. “TM and I started CoinGecko with a shared vision to empower the decentralized future. It's been a privilege to build alongside him from day one, cultivating a user-first culture rooted in transparency and integrity. These values will continue to guide us forward,” Ong said in the announcement1. CoinGecko framed the change as a step in its growth. “We're excited to announce a series of leadership transitions at CoinGecko, marking an important step in our journey from a founder-led startup to a globally trusted crypto data infrastructure provider,” the post states.
CoinGecko before and after
Lee had run CoinGecko as chief executive since the pair founded it. The August 18, 2025, announcement moved him into product and research work instead of daily operations. “As President, TM will advance our long-term product vision and lead zero-to-one R&D initiatives, driving foundational innovation to keep CoinGecko at the forefront of market leadership and shape the next decade of crypto,” the company's post states1. That same announcement named Cedric Chan, CoinGecko's head of engineering since 2021, as chief technology officer. It also promoted Xingyi Ho from head of growth to head of product. Chan's engineering work had already pushed CoinGecko's crypto data API past 677 billion requests in the year before the leadership change, Fintech News Malaysia reported2.
What came next
CoinDesk reported on January 13, 2026, that CoinGecko was exploring a sale at a valuation of around $500 million. The report came five months after Ong took the chief executive title in August 20253. CoinGecko had hired investment bank Moelis to run the sale process, the outlet reported. CoinDesk named Ong as CoinGecko's co-founder in its report and traced the company's history to its 2014 founding by Lee and Ong. The outlet tied the exploration to a wider slide in traffic. CoinGecko's monthly visits fell to about 18.5 million in December 2025 from 43.5 million in 2024, according to Similarweb data cited in the story. CoinGecko left the outlet's request for comment unanswered, and Moelis declined to comment, CoinDesk reported.
Sources
- CoinGecko, "CoinGecko Strengthens Leadership with New CEO, President, and CTO," CoinGecko, August 18, 2025, https://www.coingecko.com/learn/strengthens-leadership
- "CoinGecko Names New CEO, President and CTO in Leadership Reshuffle," Fintech News Malaysia, August 19, 2025, https://fintechnews.my/53659/blockchain/coingecko-leadership/
- Will Canny, "SCOOP: Crypto data platform CoinGecko weighs sale for around $500 million, sources say," CoinDesk, January 13, 2026, https://news.google.com/rss/articles/CBMiwwFBVV95cUxPN3JBM2dEUThkRVcydEY2dmNwUnVOd2t5azNRNXBCM25qa2hBZ3piTWtNcTVhSEtpa01DbElKMGhlcndDbl8wRjNDTWFIR1pId3MtSlpGV19jcUlUV21GemFVOWh3YU1oYUZhTVprMXIxTVNQUEdHWTR5S3p2cXJEc2d2Sy1aSHFlak1wQmFCZENVWDZBWFdINldGVEpwN2ppMXp0dW1WUkQ3UndVcS1nRGNKSG9UbVlqZG1leS10cE9iQk0?oc=5