Moves of 2024
ProtocolsCEO Changes
Hedera Foundation Names Charles Adkins Chief Executive
The HBAR Foundation rebranded itself Hedera Foundation on Dec. 20, 2024, and named Charles Adkins chief executive effective Jan. 1, 2025, moving him from president of Hedera Hashgraph into the new role.
ProtocolsCEO Changes
Avery Ching Succeeds Mo Shaikh as Aptos Labs CEO
Aptos Labs' chief technology officer became its chief executive on Dec. 19, 2024, the day co-founder Mo Shaikh stepped down, and a crypto outlet has since pressed the case that the exit came at a convenient time.
Markets & VenuesExits and Removals
Galaxy Digital's Alex Ioffe Steps Down as CFO
Galaxy Digital named former Point72 finance chief Tony Paquette its new chief financial officer on December 13, 2024, with Alex Ioffe transitioning into a senior advisor role after nearly four years in the seat.
Rules & RiskCEO Changes
Sheila Warren Steps Down as Crypto Council for Innovation CEO
Sheila Warren told the Crypto Council for Innovation she would leave as CEO effective Jan. 6, 2025, after close to three years leading the Washington crypto lobbying group.
ProtocolsExecutive Hires
Interchain Foundation Names Barry Plunkett to Lead Interchain Inc.
Interchain Foundation named Skip co-founder Barry Plunkett co-lead of its new subsidiary, Interchain Inc., on December 10, 2024, the same day it acquired Skip and Ethan Buchman left the foundation's council.
ProtocolsExecutive Hires
Interchain Foundation Names Maghnus Mareneck to Lead Interchain Inc.
Interchain Foundation named Skip co-founder Maghnus Mareneck co-lead of its new subsidiary, Interchain Inc., on December 10, 2024, the same day it acquired Skip and Ethan Buchman stepped down from its council.
ProtocolsBoard Seats
Interchain Foundation's Ethan Buchman Resigns From Foundation Council
Cosmos co-founder Ethan Buchman stepped down from the Interchain Foundation's Foundation Council on December 10, 2024, as the foundation acquired Skip, and he formally confirmed the resignation in a February 19, 2025 letter.
ProtocolsCEO Changes
Chainalysis Co-Founder Michael Gronager Steps Down as CEO
Chainalysis named co-founder Jonathan Levin chief executive officer on December 5, 2024, after Michael Gronager, the company's other co-founder, agreed with the board to step down from the role and the board itself.
Rules & RiskCEO Changes
Chainalysis Names Co-Founder Jonathan Levin Chief Executive
Chainalysis' board named co-founder Jonathan Levin chief executive on Dec. 5, 2024, two months after longtime CEO Michael Gronager went on leave and later stepped down.
Markets & VenuesExits and Removals
HashKey Group Chief Operating Officer Livio Weng Resigns
Livio Weng resigned as HashKey Group's chief operating officer and HashKey Exchange's chief executive officer, the company said on December 5, 2024, citing personal family reasons and a transition plan it had reported to Hong Kong's securities regulator in advance.
Markets & VenuesExecutive Hires
Figure Appoints Macrina Kgil Chief Financial Officer
Figure Technology Solutions named Macrina Kgil to its newly created chief financial officer role on December 4, 2024, hiring a former Blockchain.com and OneMain Holdings finance chief as quarterly originations crossed $1.5 billion.
Markets & VenuesExecutive Hires
21Shares Names Duncan Moir President
21.co's December 3, 2024 announcement named Duncan Moir, formerly of abrdn, president of 21Shares as 21.co split into two separate businesses.
Markets & VenuesExecutive Hires
21Shares Names Edel Bashir Chief Operating Officer
21.co's December 3, 2024 announcement named Edel Bashir, previously of abrdn, chief operating officer of 21Shares as 21.co split into two separate businesses.
Markets & VenuesCEO Changes
21Shares Names Russell Barlow Chief Executive Officer
21.co announced on December 3, 2024, that Russell Barlow, formerly of the asset manager abrdn, would become chief executive of 21Shares as the firm split into two separate businesses.
Payments & ConsumerLayoffs
Trung Nguyen Cuts 21 Percent of Sky Mavis Staff
Sky Mavis laid off 21 percent of its staff on November 23, 2024.
Markets & VenuesExecutive Hires
OSL Group Names Ivan Wong Chief Financial Officer
OSL Group announced on November 21, 2024, that Ivan Wong, who had joined the Hong Kong digital asset firm as chief investment officer two months earlier, would become chief financial officer.
ProtocolsExecutive Hires
1inch Names Hedi Navazan Chief Compliance Officer
1inch Group announced on November 6, 2024, that it had hired Hedi Navazan, a former HSBC financial crime executive, as chief compliance officer to oversee its legal and security teams.
ProtocolsLayoffs
Consensys Cuts 20 Percent of Its Workforce
Consensys cut 162 employees on October 29, 2024, a cut it put at 20 percent of its team, as CEO Joe Lubin told Cointelegraph the firm was moving to decentralize MetaMask, Linea and its other Ethereum products.
Markets & VenuesExecutive Hires
Bitget Names Min Lin Chief Business Officer
Bitget appointed former Binance Latin America vice president Min Lin as chief business officer on October 28, 2024, the same day it said it served over 45 million users.
Markets & VenuesCEO Changes
GSR Co-Founder Rich Rosenblum Steps Down as Co-CEO
Rich Rosenblum left his co-CEO post at GSR on October 23, 2024, four months after taking it, to pursue new ventures, and GSR said chief technology officer John MacDonald would also leave the firm.
ProtocolsExecutive Hires
Blockstream Names Michael Minkevich Chief Operating Officer
Blockstream appointed Michael Minkevich chief operating officer on October 15, 2024, the same day it announced a $210 million convertible note round led by Fulgur Ventures.
Markets & VenuesCEO Changes
Copper Founder Dmitry Tokarev Steps Down as Chief Executive
Dmitry Tokarev stepped back from the chief executive role at Copper on October 14, 2024, after seven years, staying on as the board's founder director.
Markets & VenuesCEO Changes
Copper Names Amar Kuchinad Global Chief Executive Officer
Copper named former SEC policy advisor Amar Kuchinad its global chief executive on October 14, 2024, taking over from founder Dmitry Tokarev after seven years.
Markets & VenuesExecutive Hires
OKX Names Yuri Mushkin Global Chief Risk Officer
OKX appointed Yuri Mushkin its Global Chief Risk Officer on October 14, 2024, pulling a 20-year capital markets veteran from McKinsey Investment Office Partners into a seat reporting to the CEO and board.
ProtocolsCEO Changes
Antonio Juliano Retakes dYdX Trading and Lays Off 35 Percent
Antonio Juliano resumed the CEO role at dYdX Trading on Oct. 10, 2024 and cut 35 percent of the core team on Oct. 29. Open interest on the dYdX chain tripled in 58 days, then fell 75.1 percent below its level on the day he returned.
ProtocolsExecutive Hires
Thesis Names Katherine Snow General Counsel
Thesis, the Bitcoin-focused venture studio behind Threshold Network and Fold, named Katherine Snow general counsel on October 3, 2024, hiring her away from crypto data platform Messari.
ProtocolsExecutive Hires
Quant Network Names Lenna Russ Chief Commercial Officer
Quant Network named Lenna Russ to the newly created role of chief commercial officer on September 10, 2024, pulling her from three years as chief revenue officer at the trade-finance marketplace Tradeteq.
Markets & VenuesExits and Removals
Core Scientific CFO Denise Sterling to Step Down
Core Scientific announced on Sept. 6, 2024, that chief financial officer Denise Sterling would step down effective May 1, 2025, after leading the company's finances through its bankruptcy exit.
Markets & VenuesExecutive Hires
Figure Appoints Ronald Chillemi Chief Legal Officer
Figure Technology Solutions named Ronald Chillemi its first chief legal officer and corporate secretary on September 4, 2024, hiring a former federal prosecutor who had most recently served as general counsel at the lender Aven.
Markets & VenuesCEO Changes
OKX Names Gracie Lin CEO of Its Singapore Unit
OKX SG named Gracie Lin chief executive on September 1, 2024, the same day it announced that the Monetary Authority of Singapore had granted the unit a full Major Payment Institution license.
Markets & VenuesBoard Seats
Bitfarms Adds CEO Ben Gagnon to Its Board
Bitfarms put chief executive Ben Gagnon on its board of directors on August 13, 2024, the same day chairman Nicolas Bonta stepped down in the middle of Riot Platforms' hostile takeover push.
Markets & VenuesBoard Seats
Bitfarms Founder Nicolas Bonta Steps Down From the Board
Bitfarms founder and chairman Nicolas Bonta stepped down from the company's board on August 13, 2024, as Riot Platforms pressed a hostile bid to replace its directors.
Markets & VenuesExecutive Hires
Bitfarms Names Liam Wilson Chief Operating Officer
Bitfarms hired Liam Wilson as chief operating officer on August 13, 2024, effective August 26, after six months of consulting for the Bitcoin miner.
Markets & VenuesExecutive Hires
Robinhood Welcomes Jeff Pinner as Chief Technology Officer
Robinhood hired Jeff Pinner, formerly Lyft's chief technology officer and a distinguished engineer at Cruise, as its own chief technology officer on Aug. 12, 2024.
Markets & VenuesCEO Changes
OSL Group Names Kevin Cui Group Chief Executive
OSL Group said Chairman Pan Zhiyong would hand the chief executive role to Kevin Cui on August 5, 2024, as the Hong Kong-listed digital asset firm reshaped its senior leadership.
ProtocolsExecutive Hires
June Ou Named Interim Executive Director at Provenance
Provenance Blockchain Foundation named June Ou interim executive director on August 2, 2024, as it carved out Provenance Blockchain Labs and moved Anthony Moro into the new unit's CEO seat.
Markets & VenuesBoard Seats
Chris Lehane Joins Coinbase Board of Directors
Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong named Chris Lehane, Paul Clement and Christa Davies to the company's board on July 25, 2024, pairing an OpenAI policy executive with a former U.S. Solicitor General.
ProtocolsExecutive Hires
aelf Names Brian Liang Its First Chief Operating Officer
aelf named Brian Liang its first chief operating officer on July 24, 2024, a Web3 finance executive who also sits on the board of Singapore exchange Coinhako.
ProtocolsCEO Changes
Jayson Hobby Steps Down as Compound Labs Chief Executive
Jayson Hobby posted on X on July 10, 2024, that he was stepping down as Compound Labs' chief executive, and Bitget reported two days later that he had founded a new DeFi protocol called Legend.
Markets & VenuesCEO Changes
Bitfarms Appoints Ben Gagnon Chief Executive
Bitfarms promoted chief mining officer Ben Gagnon to chief executive on July 8, 2024, in the middle of Riot Platforms' attempt to take the bitcoin miner over.
Markets & VenuesCEO Changes
GSR Names Xin Song Co-Chief Executive Officer
GSR split its top job on June 26, 2024, naming Xin Song and co-founder Rich Rosenblum co-CEOs while Jakob Palmstierna, CEO for two and a half years, moved to president.
Markets & VenuesCEO Changes
GSR's Jakob Palmstierna Steps Down as CEO, Becomes President
Jakob Palmstierna gave up the chief executive job at GSR on June 26, 2024, after two and a half years in the role, moving to president as Xin Song and Rich Rosenblum took over as co-CEOs.
ProtocolsExecutive Hires
Ben Grossman Sells Tokenized Stocks From His Own Feed
Ondo Finance's VP of Marketing posted his way to a billion-dollar tokenized-stock book while Hester Peirce and Benjamin Schiffrin pressed the case that the old rules still apply.
Markets & VenuesExits and Removals
Kanav Kariya Departs as Jump Crypto President
Kanav Kariya announced his exit from Jump Crypto on X on June 24, 2024, days after Fortune reported a Commodity Futures Trading Commission investigation into Jump Trading's crypto dealings.
ProtocolsCEO Changes
Polymesh Association Names Bill Papp Chief Executive
The Polymesh Association named Bill Papp chief executive officer and executive director on June 20, 2024, succeeding Graeme Moore, who had led the group for eight months and stayed on as head of tokenization.
ProtocolsExits and Removals
Uniswap Labs Chief Legal Officer Marvin Ammori Hands Off Role
Marvin Ammori announced on June 10, 2024, that he was handing the Uniswap Labs chief legal officer post to Katherine Minarik, a former Coinbase deputy general counsel, as the firm faced a possible SEC lawsuit.
ProtocolsCEO Changes
io.net Names Co-Founder Tory Green Chief Executive
io.net co-founder Tory Green took over as chief executive on June 9, 2024, two days before the network's token launch, after Ahmad Shadid stepped down, citing allegations about his past.
Payments & ConsumerExecutive Hires
SoFi Names Stephen Simcock General Counsel
SoFi named JPMorgan Chase veteran Stephen Simcock general counsel on June 3, 2024, succeeding retiring chief legal officer Rob Lavet.
Payments & ConsumerExits and Removals
SoFi's Rob Lavet Retires as Chief Legal Officer
Rob Lavet retired as SoFi's chief legal officer on June 3, 2024, after 12 years building the company's legal department, and moved into an advisory role.
Markets & VenuesExecutive Hires
Bullish Names David Bonanno Chief Financial Officer
Bullish moved its chief strategy officer David Bonanno into the chief financial officer role on May 28, 2024, succeeding Steve Ellis, the exchange's press release said.
Markets & VenuesExits and Removals
Bullish's Steve Ellis Steps Down as CFO
Bullish chief executive Tom Farley announced on May 28, 2024, that Steve Ellis had stepped down as chief financial officer, with David Bonanno succeeding him in the role.
Markets & VenuesCEO Changes
Gracy Chen Succeeds Sandra Lou as Bitget CEO
Bitget's managing director became CEO on May 21, 2024, when Sandra Lou left.
Markets & VenuesCEO Changes
Grayscale CEO Michael Sonnenshein Steps Down
Grayscale announced on May 20, 2024, that Michael Sonnenshein was leaving the chief executive job after guiding the firm through its spot Bitcoin ETF conversion, with Goldman Sachs veteran Peter Mintzberg set to replace him.
Markets & VenuesCEO Changes
Grayscale Names Peter Mintzberg Chief Executive Officer
Grayscale hired Goldman Sachs veteran Peter Mintzberg as chief executive on May 20, 2024, with his start date set for August 15 and a board seat attached to the role.
Payments & ConsumerExits and Removals
Gala Games Blockchain President Jason Brink Steps Down
Jason Brink resigned as Gala Games' president of blockchain on May 17, 2024, after four years at the company, and formed an outside group called LFG to keep working on its GalaChain infrastructure.
Payments & ConsumerBoard Seats
Paxos Adds J. Christopher Giancarlo to Its Board
Paxos announced on May 14, 2024, that it had added J. Christopher Giancarlo, the former Commodity Futures Trading Commission chairman known as CryptoDad, to its board of directors.
Markets & VenuesCEO Changes
Bitfarms Fires CEO Geoffrey Morphy After He Sues the Company
Bitfarms fired President and CEO Geoffrey Morphy effective immediately on May 13, 2024, three days after he filed a $27 million breach-of-contract lawsuit against the company.
ProtocolsCEO Changes
Ivo Crnkovic-Rubsamen Leads dYdX Trading for 150 Days
dYdX Trading's operating partner became CEO on May 13, 2024, when founder Antonio Juliano moved to chairman. Juliano resumed the job on Oct. 10.
ProtocolsExecutive Hires
Venice AI Names Teana Baker-Taylor Chief Operating Officer
Teana Baker-Taylor, formerly Circle's vice president of policy and regulatory strategy, joined Erik Voorhees's Venice as chief operating officer in a venture DL News reported on May 10, 2024.
ProtocolsExecutive Hires
Cardano Foundation Names Giorgio Zinetti Chief Technology Officer
The Cardano Foundation named Giorgio Zinetti its first chief technology officer on May 8, 2024, putting the Procivis AG co-founder in charge of the Foundation's product pipeline.
Markets & VenuesExecutive Hires
DCG Names Aimie Killeen Chief Legal Officer
Digital Currency Group announced on April 25, 2024, that Aimie Killeen would join as chief legal officer on May 1, bringing two decades of fintech legal experience to the firm.
Markets & VenuesCEO Changes
Figure Names Michael Tannenbaum Chief Executive Officer
Figure Technology Solutions hired Brex and SoFi veteran Michael Tannenbaum as CEO on April 23, 2024, moving founder Mike Cagney into the role of executive chair as the HELOC lender pursued a public listing.
Markets & VenuesExecutive Hires
Anchorage Digital Names Aaron Schnarch Chief Operating Officer
Anchorage Digital named former Coinbase Custody chief executive Aaron Schnarch its first company-wide chief operating officer on April 22, 2024, after the company topped $50 billion in assets under custody.
Markets & VenuesBoard Seats
Katie Haun Leaves Coinbase's Board After Seven Years
Katie Haun announced on April 20, 2024 that she would step off Coinbase's board after more than seven years, the end of her third term, so she could focus on her venture firm Haun Ventures.
ProtocolsCEO Changes
Artificial Superintelligence Alliance Names Ben Goertzel CEO
Fetch.ai, SingularityNET and Ocean Protocol announced on March 27, 2024 that their merger into the Artificial Superintelligence Alliance would carry a combined value of $7.5 billion, with SingularityNET's Ben Goertzel as chief executive.
Markets & VenuesExecutive Hires
Backpack Exchange Names Oliver Sleafer Chief Financial Officer
Backpack Exchange announced on March 21, 2024, that it had promoted Oliver Sleafer, its head of treasury and a former Stripe and Credit Suisse liquidity executive, to chief financial officer.
Markets & VenuesExits and Removals
Robinhood Co-Founder Baiju Bhatt Steps Down as Creative Chief
Baiju Bhatt left his executive role as Robinhood's chief creative officer on March 21, 2024, after more than ten years in leadership, while staying on the company's board.
Markets & VenuesCEO Changes
Andy Main Named Bakkt Chief Executive Officer
Bakkt named board member Andy Main president and CEO effective March 26, 2024, succeeding Gavin Michael, who had warned the company's ability to keep operating was in doubt.
Markets & VenuesCEO Changes
Gavin Michael Steps Down as Bakkt Chief Executive
Bakkt said March 18, 2024, that Gavin Michael would step down as president and CEO, succeeded by board member Andy Main, as the company fought to ease doubts about its ability to keep operating.
Markets & VenuesExecutive Hires
Anchorage Digital Names SEC Veteran TuongVy Le General Counsel
Anchorage Digital hired former SEC senior counsel TuongVy Le as general counsel on March 13, 2024, replacing Georgia Quinn, who had held the role for three and a half years.
ProtocolsCEO Changes
Zac Prince Leaves BlockFi for Real Estate Startup
BlockFi founder Zac Prince posted on X on March 10, 2024, that he was leaving the bankrupt crypto lender, and CoinDesk reported the next day he had joined a real estate tax startup, Re Cost Seg.
Markets & VenuesExecutive Hires
Fireblocks Names Madan Gadde Chief Customer Officer
Fireblocks named Madan Gadde chief customer officer on March 7, 2024, hiring him from FIS as CoinDesk independently reported the same day.
Markets & VenuesExecutive Hires
Fireblocks Names Michael Levine Chief Financial Officer
Fireblocks named Michael Levine chief financial officer on March 7, 2024, hiring him from Payoneer's finance team as CoinDesk reported the same day.
Markets & VenuesExecutive Hires
Fireblocks Names Michal Ferguson Chief Marketing Officer
Fireblocks named Michal Ferguson chief marketing officer on March 7, 2024, hiring her from the cybersecurity platform Snyk as CoinDesk reported the same day.
ProtocolsBoard Seats
R3 Appoints UK Finance Chairman Bob Wigley to Its Board
Bob Wigley, chairman of the UK Finance trade body, joined the board of enterprise blockchain firm R3 as an outside director, R3 announced on February 22, 2024, after a tokenization taskforce he led published its own report the year before.
Payments & ConsumerCEO Changes
Yuga Labs CEO Daniel Alegre Departs
Daniel Alegre, the former Activision Blizzard chief operating officer who ran Yuga Labs for about ten months, told employees on February 21, 2024, that co-founder Greg Solano was taking over as chief executive.
Payments & ConsumerCEO Changes
Yuga Labs Names Greg Solano Chief Executive
Greg Solano, the Yuga Labs co-founder known as Garga, wrote on February 21, 2024, that he was stepping back in as chief executive after Daniel Alegre's ten months in the role.
Markets & VenuesCEO Changes
Hut 8 Appoints Asher Genoot Chief Executive
Hut 8 named president Asher Genoot chief executive on February 7, 2024, effective immediately, replacing Jaime Leverton three months after he joined the board through a merger with his own mining company.
Markets & VenuesCEO Changes
Jaime Leverton Departs as Hut 8 Chief Executive
Hut 8 said on February 7, 2024, that Jaime Leverton had departed as chief executive after three years in the job, with president Asher Genoot taking over effective immediately, weeks after a short-seller report targeted the miner.
Payments & ConsumerLayoffs
PayPal Cuts 9 Percent of Its Global Workforce
PayPal CEO Alex Chriss told employees on January 30, 2024, that the company would cut about 9 percent of its global workforce, a cut PYMNTS put at roughly 2,500 positions.
ProtocolsExecutive Hires
Reserve Names Thomas Mattimore CEO of ABC Labs
Reserve co-founder Nevin Freeman named Thomas Mattimore chief executive of ABC Labs on Jan. 25, 2024, splitting protocol development from the new fund Confusion Capital inside the Reserve ecosystem.
ProtocolsCEO Changes
Uri Kolodny Steps Down as StarkWare Chief Executive
Uri Kolodny told followers on X on January 11, 2024, that he was stepping down as StarkWare's chief executive to care for a family member, and The Block confirmed the move the same day.
Markets & VenuesExits and Removals
Argo Blockchain's Seif El-Bakly Steps Down as COO
Argo Blockchain said on January 8, 2024, that Seif El-Bakly left his chief operating officer role effective January 5, ten months after his term as interim CEO ended, with operations reporting to chief strategy officer Sebastien Chalus.
Markets & VenuesCEO Changes
B2C2 Appoints Thomas Restout Group CEO
B2C2 named Thomas Restout Group CEO on January 8, 2024, replacing Nicola White, and Ledger Insights reported the same day that he had served as the market maker's EMEA CEO since 2022.
