Kristin Smith, chief executive of the Blockchain Association, posted on X on April 1, 20251. She would leave the role on May 16, she wrote. Cryptonews reported the exit on April 2, 2025 and noted that Smith had led the trade group since joining as its first employee in 20182.
Four leadership moves at Blockchain Association on the record since 2025
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 |
|---|---|
| April 1, 2025 | Smith left as CEO. Kristin Smith left as Chief Executive Officer of Blockchain Association |
| May 14, 2025 | Mersinger became CEO. Summer Mersinger was named Chief Executive Officer of Blockchain Association |
| Sept. 25, 2026 | Mersinger left as CEO. Summer Mersinger left as Chief Executive Officer of Blockchain Association |
| Sept. 25, 2026 | Smith became Interim CEO. Kristin Smith was named Interim Chief Executive Officer of Blockchain Association |
20 CEO exits on the record in 2025
CEO exits CryptoLately has verified, by year; 2026 through Oct. 2, 2026
- 2025: 20
- 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 | 7 |
| 2020 | 9 |
| 2021 | 5 |
| 2022 | 18 |
| 2023 | 11 |
| 2024 | 20 |
| 2025 | 20 |
| 2026 | 18 |
The move
Smith's post gave her own account of the switch. “After an incredible journey as CEO of Blockchain Association, I'm stepping down from my role as CEO on May 16,” she wrote. “Leading this organization, working alongside brilliant colleagues, members, and friends, and advocating for an industry that I believe is shaping the future has been an honor.”1 She called the departure "a shift in perspective" and said she would start as president of the Solana Policy Institute on May 19.
Cryptonews reported that Smith had grown the Blockchain Association from a small staff into a trade group recognized as one of the most visible lobbying voices in Washington2. Under Smith, the group sued the Internal Revenue Service in December 2024 over broker reporting rules for digital asset transactions, Cryptonews wrote.
Blockchain Association before and after
Smith ran an organization that had grown under her from one employee to more than 125 member organizations, the Blockchain Association said when it named her successor4. Her departure left the board to search for a new chief executive. Smith addressed that search directly in her own post. "Our Board of Directors is launching a search for my successor," she wrote. “I'm confident they'll find someone who can build on the foundation we've laid and take BA to new heights.”1
Why leave an organization she spent seven years building? Smith's post points toward the destination she chose. She framed the Solana Policy Institute job as a continuation of the same work, describing the move as "just a shift in perspective"1.
What came next
The Blockchain Association named Commodity Futures Trading Commission member Summer Mersinger as Smith's successor on May 14, 20254. Smith's last day arrived as planned on May 16. More than a year later, on Sept. 25, 2026, The Block reported that Mersinger would step down from the CEO role on Oct. 16, 20263. Smith, by then president of the Solana Policy Institute, would return to the Blockchain Association as interim chief executive starting Oct. 17, The Block reported. “Summer took the helm of Blockchain Association at the most consequential moment in the history of crypto policy, and she met it,” Smith said in a statement carried by The Block. Reporter Sarah Wynn wrote that Smith's role at the Solana Policy Institute would continue alongside the interim post, according to the institute's communications director, Emily Wilson.
Sources
- Kristin Smith, "Kristin Smith on X," X, April 1, 2025, https://x.com/KMSmithDC/status/1907149387056472535
- Shalini Nagarajan, "Longtime Blockchain Association CEO Kristin Smith Steps Down to Join Solana-Backed Policy Group," Cryptonews, April 2, 2025, https://cryptonews.com/news/blockchain-association-ceo-joins-solana-policy-group/
- Sarah Wynn, "Blockchain Association CEO Summer Mersinger to step down, Kristin Smith to return as interim CEO," The Block, Sept. 25, 2026, https://news.google.com/rss/articles/CBMi1AFBVV95cUxNdlFYM2hEV1ZyVm9vU3AyZ1d3d1ZueGF6T3phXzlRemdCRnJYMVdNM3dnWVVXeFFoLXdWbWU3Skt4MWJfQ2pvQy1mcHE2clFSM2FVaDBpaGYxY1kxQ0xYMXpEeUtNWXRjZm1uckZnblJESUtyUXloV1NFdmNEZ0lvMnZUMEVLWm5LYkx0dkZGTEZCdVVteUEyajhPVnNGSHlKS1doM1JOakFPbkJfSnR2dDRVeGI4bUZJNHFiTGxCclBfODJTRml0OWVwS2hDMmFyUXFlTg?oc=5
- Blockchain Association, "Blockchain Association Announces Commissioner Summer Mersinger as CEO to Lead Next Chapter of U.S. Crypto Policy," May 14, 2025, https://theblockchainassociation.org/posts/blockchain-association-announces-commissioner-summer-mersinger-as-ceo-to-lead-next-chapter-of-us-crypto-policy