Offchain Labs, the company behind the Ethereum scaling network Arbitrum, named Ira Auerbach head of Tandem on January 9, 20251. Tandem is the company's partner studio and venture capital arm. Auerbach came to the role from Nasdaq, where he had served as senior vice president and head of digital assets.
59 executive hires on the record in 2025, the most of any year
Executive hires CryptoLately has verified, by year; 2026 through Oct. 2, 2026
- 2025: 59
- 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 | 11 |
| 2020 | 12 |
| 2021 | 27 |
| 2022 | 37 |
| 2023 | 20 |
| 2024 | 39 |
| 2025 | 59 |
| 2026 | 45 |
Layer 1s & Infrastructure led executive hires in 2025, with 15
Executive hires 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 |
|---|---|
| Layer 1s & Infrastructure | 15 |
| Trading Venues & Brokerage | 9 |
| Bitcoin & Mining | 8 |
| Capital Markets & Treasury | 4 |
| Institutional Custody & Asset Management | 3 |
| AI and Crypto | 2 |
| Wallets & Consumer Apps | 1 |
| Regulation & Enforcement | 1 |
The move
Offchain Labs distributed the hire through a press release on PR Newswire on January 9, 2025. That release described Tandem as the division that provides projects "technical expertise, research, financing, and/or go-to-market strategy"1. The Block published its own report that same day, naming two lines of business inside Tandem, a partner studio and a venture capital arm2. Auerbach described the split to the outlet. “For the partner studio initiatives, I will be working with the team to provide tailored guidance to each project in areas including research, product development, engineering and strategic partnerships,” Auerbach told The Block. “On the venture side, we will focus on actively fueling growth by participating in funding rounds or leading investments in projects shaping the future of blockchain infrastructure and applications.”
Why hand a venture arm to a Nasdaq executive instead of a crypto-native investor? Steven Goldfeder, Offchain Labs' chief executive and co-founder, framed the hire as a bridge between two worlds. “Ira's success in growing both traditional finance and crypto-native companies makes him the ideal leader to drive Tandem's mission forward,” said Goldfeder in the press release. “His experience scaling digital asset initiatives, combined with his understanding of institutional requirements, will be invaluable as we work to empower the next generation of blockchain innovators.”1
Tandem before and after
The Block reported that Tandem had launched in August 2024, five months before Auerbach's appointment. Offchain Labs built it to back projects tackling "the hardest technical problems" blocking wider crypto adoption2. On the day it named Auerbach, the division was working with two partner-studio projects. Espresso Systems builds decentralized sequencing infrastructure, and Ex Populus develops the gaming-focused XAI blockchain. Auerbach told the outlet that Tandem's venture arm would back projects across the blockchain industry rather than only those tied to Arbitrum. “There is no required connection to the Arbitrum ecosystem so it wouldn't act as a dedicated fund for that community,” he said.
Auerbach's own path ran through finance before crypto. The press release lists stops at Palantir Technologies, BGC Partners and BNP Paribas. Offchain Labs' release also names leadership roles he held at the crypto exchange Gemini, including global head of Gemini Prime, before Nasdaq1. He declined to tell The Block the size of Tandem's fund. Auerbach stayed quiet, too, on how much it had invested by January 2025, and on whether its investments run in cash or in Arbitrum's native ARB token2.
Auerbach called the role a chance to use that mixed record at once. “I'm thrilled to join Offchain Labs and lead Tandem at this pivotal moment in blockchain innovation,” said Auerbach in the press release. “Tandem's unique position to leverage Offchain Labs' deep technical expertise and ecosystem relationships creates an unparalleled opportunity to support and accelerate projects that will define the future of blockchain technology.”1
What came next
Auerbach still led Tandem on August 21, 2025, when Fortune identified him as head of the venture arm connected to Offchain Labs4. Offchain Labs' own site still lists Tandem among its venture lines as of October 3, 2026, and names Succinct and Fhenix as partners through undated testimonials3. A Google News search on October 15, 2026, found the Fortune report of August 21, 2025, as the latest page on Auerbach's role.
Sources
- Offchain Labs, "Offchain Labs Taps Former Head of Nasdaq Digital Assets Ira Auerbach to Lead 'Tandem' Division," PR Newswire, Jan. 9, 2025, https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/offchain-labs-taps-former-head-of-nasdaq-digital-assets-ira-auerbach-to-lead-tandem-division-302347092.html
- Yogita Khatri, "Former Nasdaq exec joins Arbitrum developer to head its venture studio Tandem," The Block, Jan. 9, 2025, https://theblock.co/post/333850/former-nasdaq-exec-joins-arbitrum-developer-tandem
- Offchain Labs, "Tandem," Offchain Labs, read Oct. 3, 2026, https://www.offchainlabs.com/tandem
- Ben Weiss, "Bitcoin dips ahead of Fed Chair Jerome Powell's remarks at Jackson Hole," Fortune, Aug. 21, 2025, https://fortune.com/crypto/2025/08/21/bitcoin-ethereum-fed-jerome-powell-jackson-hole-wyoming/