Moves of 2026
Rules & RiskRegulation & Enforcement
Washington Wrote AI Rules in 60 Days; Crypto Awaits Clarity
The White House finalized a confidential AI rulebook in 60 days, while crypto's public market-structure bill has waited 459 days since the House passed it.
Markets & VenuesInstitutional Custody & Asset Management
XRP Finally Gets Its Own Account on X
XRP picked Monday to open an X account, the same day banks and BlackRock pushed deeper into crypto.
ProtocolsDeFi Protocols
Crypto Lending's Comeback Still Needs the Same Bridges
Lending protocols recovered 55 percent since July, but the bridges and oracles that caused April's $292 million hack still carry every loan.
Markets & VenuesCapital Markets & Treasury
Strategy Fights to Steady STRC Near $100
Strategy spent $193 million trying to keep its preferred stock near $100, as Solana and Circle also posted big numbers.
Markets & VenuesTrading Venues & Brokerage
CoinPaprika Finds a Sevenfold Gap in Bitcoin's Volume
A single day's trading data put Bitcoin's reported volume nearly seven times above the market's real turnover, raising doubts about September's record rebound.
Markets & VenuesCapital Markets & Treasury
The Crypto Brief, Oct. 18: Nine Firms Resist Tokens
Nine companies blocked OKXICE from tokenizing their stock this week, while Circle, Hacken and Cardano's founder each made their own case in public.
Markets & VenuesTrading Venues & Brokerage
Nine Companies Stop Cuomo's Tokenized Stock Push
Nine listed companies used a 30-day SEC window to block OKXICE from tokenizing their shares, even after a federal exemption cleared the venue to trade.
Rules & RiskSecurity & Incident Response
World's New Tool Hunts Deepfakes on Video Calls
World sold banks a badge that checks if a video caller is real. Its loudest critic says the fraud rides in on the audio.
Payments & ConsumerStablecoins & Payments
Jeremy Allaire Pitches Circle's Arc as Money for Machines
Circle's chief executive told a16z crypto, which led Arc's token presale, that AI will likely be the chain's main users.
Rules & RiskRegulation & Enforcement
The Crypto Brief, Oct. 17: Smith Fills Washington's Empty Seat
Kristin Smith starts atop crypto's biggest lobby as the White House's own crypto council sits with zero staff.
Rules & RiskRegulation & Enforcement
Turkey Confirms HEX Founder Richard Heart's Arrest
Turkey's justice minister confirmed Richard Heart's arrest, and HEX's price fell fast as the news spread.
Rules & RiskSecurity & Incident Response
Ledger's CEO Tells Mt. Gox's Ex-CEO: Get Real
Ledger's chief dismissed a security warning from Mt. Gox's old CEO about a $93 million wallet hack.
ProtocolsProtocol Research
Bitcoin Skipped the NIST Curve a 1997 Clock Just Explained
Claude traced NIST's curve seeds to a Unix clock in 1997, and Bitcoin has run all along on secp256k1, a curve built a different way.
Markets & VenuesTrading Venues & Brokerage
Musk's Flying Car Sends Crypto Traders Into Overdrive
A car that flies moved more crypto money than any blockchain news did Friday.
ProtocolsAI and Crypto
An OpenAI Agent Spends a Stranger's Wallet
OpenAI says its research model found a public key and spent test coins owned by someone else.
ProtocolsLayer 1s & Infrastructure
CZ Doubts Solana Organizers After Shanghai Police Visit
Binance's CZ questioned Solana's planning after police visited its first Shanghai tour stop this week.
Markets & VenuesInstitutional Custody & Asset Management
Crypto's Big Names Tease Plans, Skip the Details
A bank, a founder and a stablecoin chief all teased big crypto news, and all left out the hard numbers.
Markets & VenuesCapital Markets & Treasury
Ripple's David Schwartz Turns a Billboard Mix-Up Viral
A wrong billboard photo from Ripple's David Schwartz turned into crypto Twitter's biggest joke of the day.
Payments & ConsumerStablecoins & Payments
Ripple and Mastercard Wire Stablecoins Into Bank Rails
Ripple put RLUSD inside Cross River's core system, and Mastercard linked stablecoins to its card network through BVNK.
Rules & RiskSecurity & Incident Response
Banks Push Deeper Into Crypto As Quantum Fears Simmer
A bank added Ripple's stablecoin to its core, and Google's quantum chip renewed old fears.
Payments & ConsumerStablecoins & Payments
Polygon Completes Coinme Deal and Claims 48 States
Polygon announced its Coinme completion on October 14, 2026, and 11 of the 48 states rest on exemptions.
Markets & VenuesCapital Markets & Treasury
Ondo Hits $4 Billion; Meet the Team Behind Its Stocks
Ondo's $4 billion checks out on RWA.xyz. Ian De Bode, Ben Grossman and colleagues built the stock tokens behind its newest growth.
Markets & VenuesTrading Venues & Brokerage
MNX Swaps Funding Rates for a 2027 Expiry
MNX went live Oct. 13 on MegaETH with dated futures on four private AI labs and a settlement plan that ends with MNX.
Markets & VenuesCapital Markets & Treasury
Saylor Pitches a Private Central Bank at the World Bank
Michael Saylor pitched bitcoin-backed credit at the World Bank, after Strategy's preferred dividends reached $400.7 million in one quarter and critics questioned the model.
Payments & ConsumerStablecoins & Payments
PwC Cuts EOS Securitization Payouts to One Day on Stellar
PwC Germany built a smart contract system for EOS Group that pays securitization investors in a regulated euro stablecoin within a day.
Markets & VenuesCapital Markets & Treasury
OKX Raises From Circle, Ripple, Standard Chartered at $25 Billion
The exchange says a round extending its March financing values it at $25 billion before the new capital comes in.
Markets & VenuesExits and Removals
Coinbase Chief Accounting Officer Jennifer Jones Plans to Retire
Jennifer Jones told Coinbase on Sept. 29, 2026 that she will retire as chief accounting officer, and the company disclosed her decision in a Form 8-K filed Oct. 2, 2026.
Rules & RiskRegulation & Enforcement
Friday Filings: Banks Sue the OCC, Peirce Leaves the SEC
On Oct. 2, 2026, community bankers sued the OCC over crypto trust charters, Hester Peirce served her last day at the SEC, and Coinbase disclosed its chief accounting officer's retirement.
Markets & VenuesExecutive Hires
CoinShares Appoints Matt Morris Chief Financial Officer
CoinShares named Matt Morris chief financial officer effective immediately on Oct. 1, 2026, succeeding Richard Nash, who had held the post since 2019.
ProtocolsExecutive Hires
BNB Chain Names Thomas Chen Chief Business Officer
BNB Chain announced on September 28, 2026, that it had appointed Thomas Chen, the former CEO of the Bitcoin yield protocol Function, as its first chief business officer.
Rules & RiskCEO Changes
Kristin Smith Returns to Run Crypto's Lobby
She starts as Washington's crypto council sits empty, a week after its third director in fourteen months quit.
Payments & ConsumerExits and Removals
Circle's CFO Jeremy Fox-Geen to Step Down
Circle Internet Group said Chief Financial Officer Jeremy Fox-Geen will step down after more than five years in the role, staying through December 2026 to help find a successor.
Markets & VenuesExecutive Hires
Core Scientific Names Jay Elms Chief Commercial Officer
Core Scientific hired Jay Elms away from CyrusOne as chief commercial officer on September 25, 2026, to run customer relationships as the bitcoin miner builds out AI data centers.
Payments & ConsumerCEO Changes
Bridge Co-Founder Zach Abrams Departs Stripe
Zach Abrams announced on X on September 24, 2026 that he was leaving Stripe to run Open Standard full time, six days before its OUSD stablecoin launched with $1 billion in committed liquidity.
ProtocolsExecutive Hires
Solana Foundation Names Rachel Conlan Strategy Chief
Solana Foundation hired former Binance marketing chief Rachel Conlan as chief strategy officer on September 24, 2026, as the network pushes to bring institutional payments and tokenized assets onchain.
Markets & VenuesExecutive Hires
BitGo Names Alex Rozman Chief Compliance Officer
BitGo named Exodus compliance veteran Alex Rozman its chief compliance officer on September 17, 2026, handing him oversight of a company that reported $65.2 billion in client assets that June.
Markets & VenuesBoard Seats
Coincheck Group Names Pascal St-Jean Executive Chairperson
Pascal St-Jean added executive chairperson to his chief executive and president titles at Coincheck Group on September 17, 2026, the same day Takashi Oyagi gave up the role.
Markets & VenuesBoard Seats
Coincheck Group Names Satoshi Hasuo Temporary Executive Director
Satoshi Hasuo, Coincheck Group's chief stakeholder officer, became the company's temporary replacement executive director on September 17, 2026, the day Takashi Oyagi resigned from the seat.
Markets & VenuesBoard Seats
Coincheck Group's Takashi Oyagi Resigns as Executive Chairperson
Takashi Oyagi resigned as Coincheck Group's executive director and executive chairperson on September 17, 2026, pulling his own re-election off the agenda eight days before the shareholder vote that was due to decide it.
Markets & VenuesCEO Changes
Bitpanda CEO Enzersdorfer-Konrad to Step Down in 2027
Lukas Enzersdorfer-Konrad told Bitpanda's board on September 15, 2026, that he intends to step down as chief executive in the first quarter of 2027, with co-founder Christian Trummer becoming co-CEO alongside him immediately.
Markets & VenuesCEO Changes
Bitpanda Names Christian Trummer Co-CEO
Bitpanda made co-founder Christian Trummer co-CEO on September 15, 2026, the same day it said Lukas Enzersdorfer-Konrad intends to step down as chief executive in the first quarter of 2027.
ProtocolsCEO Changes
Michael Weisz Becomes CEO of the Solana Lender Kamino
Yieldstreet co-founder Michael Weisz became CEO of the Solana lending protocol Kamino on Sept. 15, 2026.
Markets & VenuesExecutive Hires
Polymarket Names Warren Jenson Its First CFO
Polymarket hired Warren Jenson, a former chief financial officer of Amazon, Electronic Arts, Delta Air Lines and NBC, as its first chief financial officer on Sept. 10, 2026, reporting to founder Shayne Coplan.
Rules & RiskExecutive Hires
Ledger Names Oded Blatman Chief Information and Security Officer
Ledger merged its technology and security leadership into one role on September 9, 2026, naming former Fireblocks security chief Oded Blatman to run both as the industry lost $1.4 billion to hacks and exploits over the prior year.
ProtocolsCEO Changes
William Herkelrath Replaces Staci Warden at the Algorand Foundation
The Algorand Foundation swapped its chief executive and two of its five directors on Sept. 9, and Adam Back's decade-long quantum timeline frames the case against its new pitch.
Markets & VenuesBoard Seats
Backpack US Appoints Kyle Samani to Its Board
Backpack announced on September 2, 2026, that it had appointed Multicoin Capital co-founder Kyle Samani to its board of directors as the exchange expanded its tokenized equity trading.
ProtocolsExits and Removals
Ava Labs' John Wu Steps Down as President
John Wu moved himself from president to senior advisor at Ava Labs on Aug. 18, 2026, handing the title to Charley Cooper after seven years building the company from ten Cornellians in Brooklyn.
ProtocolsExecutive Hires
John Wu Hands the Ava Labs Presidency to Charley Cooper
Ava Labs' John Wu appointed Charley Cooper president on Aug. 18, 2026, moved himself to senior advisor, and named interim CFO Lydia Chiu to the role on a permanent basis.
ProtocolsExecutive Hires
Ava Labs Names Lydia Chiu Permanent Chief Financial Officer
Ava Labs promoted Lydia Chiu from interim to permanent chief financial officer on August 18, 2026, as John Wu moved to senior advisor and handed the presidency to Charley Cooper.
ProtocolsExecutive Hires
Compound Foundation Names a COO, CPO and CTO
Compound Foundation named a COO, a CPO and a CTO on Aug. 17, 2026.
Markets & VenuesExecutive Hires
Fireblocks Names Elad Roisman Chief Regulatory Officer
Fireblocks appointed former SEC acting chairman Elad Roisman chief regulatory and policy officer on August 17, 2026, to lead the digital asset infrastructure firm's engagement with regulators as stablecoin rules take shape.
Markets & VenuesExits and Removals
Karen Alexander Departs as Bakkt Chief Financial Officer
Bakkt said Aug. 17, 2026, that Karen Alexander had transitioned out of the CFO role effective Aug. 14, replaced by CoreCard veteran Matt White as the company pushes into stablecoin infrastructure.
Markets & VenuesExecutive Hires
Matt White Named Bakkt Chief Financial Officer
Bakkt named former CoreCard finance chief Matt White its CFO on August 17, 2026, succeeding Karen Alexander as the company pivots toward stablecoin infrastructure.
ProtocolsCEO Changes
Alexander Urbelis Becomes the ENS Foundation's First Executive Director
ENS tokenholders voted 1.27 million to 480,690 on Aug. 8, 2026 to seat Alexander Urbelis and three independent directors.
ProtocolsExecutive Hires
Adam Schlisman and Allison Parent Join Ondo Finance's Executive Ranks
Ondo Finance hired Adam Schlisman as chief financial officer on August 5, 2026, and Allison Parent as chief policy officer on August 28, 2026, three months after founder Nathan Allman's death opened a Delaware court fight over who runs the company.
Markets & VenuesBoard Seats
Barbara Humpton Steps Down From MARA Holdings Board
MARA Holdings announced on August 4, 2026, that Barbara Humpton had left its board effective July 31, in a planned transition the Bitcoin miner disclosed alongside two new independent directors.
Markets & VenuesBoard Seats
Georges Antoun Steps Down From MARA Holdings Board
MARA Holdings announced on August 4, 2026, that Georges Antoun had left its board effective July 31, the same day as fellow director Barbara Humpton, in what the Bitcoin miner called a planned transition.
Markets & VenuesBoard Seats
MARA Adds Craig Hart and Nancy Novak to Its Board
MARA Holdings named energy investor Craig Hart and data center veteran Nancy Novak as independent directors on Aug. 4, 2026, after two sitting directors stepped down the week before.
Markets & VenuesBoard Seats
MARA Holdings Appoints Nancy Novak to Its Board
MARA Holdings named data center veteran Nancy Novak an independent director effective August 1, 2026, as the Bitcoin miner builds out its energy and infrastructure strategy.
Markets & VenuesExits and Removals
American Bitcoin President Matt Prusak Departs for Giga Energy
American Bitcoin disclosed in a filing on Aug. 3, 2026, that Matt Prusak would step down as president and interim chief financial officer the next day to become Giga Energy's chief business officer.
Markets & VenuesExecutive Hires
Bybit Names Peter Loo Chief Legal and Compliance Officer
Bybit appointed Peter Loo, formerly a regulator at Dubai's Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority, as chief legal and compliance officer on August 3, 2026.
ProtocolsLayoffs
Noah Tweedale Fires Dozens at Pump.fun Before Tokens Vest
Pump.fun cut more than 40 staff in two rounds starting in early April 2026, weeks before the first quarter of their PUMP token grants was due to vest in June. The company's own team and investors collected a $102 million unlock in July.
Markets & VenuesBoard Seats
Core Scientific Appoints Mark Adams to Its Board
Core Scientific named Mark Adams a director on July 29, 2026, expanding its board to seven seats with a technology executive who spent six years running Penguin Solutions.
Markets & VenuesExits and Removals
Coinbase's Lawrence Brock Steps Down as People Chief
Lawrence Brock told Coinbase on July 22, 2026 that he would step down as chief people officer, effective Aug. 17, 2026, weeks after leading a restructuring that cut about 700 jobs.
Markets & VenuesExecutive Hires
MEXC Names Robert MacDonald Chief Compliance Officer
MEXC hired Robert MacDonald as chief compliance officer on July 22, 2026, pulling him from the top legal and compliance post at rival exchange Bybit as MEXC pushes into equities-linked products.
Markets & VenuesExecutive Hires
Grayscale Names Sebastian Pulido Onchain Asset Management Head
Sebastian Pulido left Aave Labs to become Grayscale's first Head of Onchain Asset Management on July 21, 2026, arriving at a firm whose Bitcoin ETP led every US issuer in year-to-date inflows.
Markets & VenuesCEO Changes
Jack Mallers Steps Down as Twenty One Capital CEO
Twenty One Capital named Raphael Zagury chief executive effective July 20, 2026, after Jack Mallers stepped down and Tether's plan to merge Twenty One with his company Strike fell apart.
Markets & VenuesCEO Changes
Twenty One Capital Names Raphael Zagury Chief Executive
Twenty One Capital's board appointed Raphael Zagury chief executive effective July 20, 2026, moving him from the board's audit committee to the top job as Jack Mallers departed.
Payments & ConsumerLayoffs
Exodus Movement Cuts a Quarter of Its Workforce
Exodus Movement cut about 25 percent of its global workforce on July 17, 2026, a move CEO JP Richardson tied to the company's shift into stablecoin payments.
Payments & ConsumerLayoffs
Gnosis Cuts Its Gnosis App Team, Spins Out the Product
Gnosis Ltd reduced the team behind its consumer wallet, Gnosis App, and told its community on July 17, 2026, that the product would leave the company entirely by the third quarter.
ProtocolsExits and Removals
1inch Confirms Co-Founder Anton Bukov's Exit From Operations
1inch confirmed on July 16, 2026, that co-founder Anton Bukov had stopped contributing to the project since December 2025, after Bukov said on X that he had been fired in late November 2025.
Markets & VenuesBoard Seats
ProCap Financial Elects Benjamin Buchanan Independent Director
ProCap Financial named Benjamin Buchanan an independent director effective July 15, 2026, restoring its audit committee to three members under Nasdaq rules.
Markets & VenuesBoard Seats
Galaxy Digital Names Steven Bandrowczak to Its Board
Galaxy Digital appointed former Xerox chief executive Steven Bandrowczak an independent director and Audit Committee member on July 13, 2026, adding three decades of enterprise technology leadership to its board.
Markets & VenuesExecutive Hires
Coinbase Names Molly Abraham General Counsel
Coinbase said on July 9, 2026 that it expects to appoint Molly Abraham, its vice president of legal since March 2021, as general counsel and secretary once Paul Grewal's resignation takes effect.
Markets & VenuesExits and Removals
Coinbase's Paul Grewal Steps Down as Chief Legal Officer
Paul Grewal told Coinbase on July 8, 2026 that he would step down as chief legal officer and secretary, effective July 31, 2026, closing a six-year tenure that ran through the company's fight with the SEC.
Markets & VenuesExecutive Hires
Keel Infrastructure Names Ganesh Aiyer President
Keel Infrastructure, the company built from Bitfarms' Bitcoin mining sites, named former Digital Realty Trust executive Ganesh Aiyer president on July 6, 2026, to run its commercial pipeline.
Markets & VenuesExits and Removals
Grayscale's Chief Financial Officer Edward McGee Steps Down
Grayscale said Edward McGee left his chief financial officer role on July 2, 2026, for personal reasons, splitting the job between two senior finance executives on an interim basis.
Markets & VenuesLayoffs
BitGo Cuts 15% of Staff to Focus on AI, Stablecoins
BitGo chief executive Mike Belshe cut nearly 15% of the company's workforce on June 25, 2026, five months after its IPO, to concentrate staff on security, trading, stablecoins, settlement, and AI infrastructure.
ProtocolsBoard Seats
Andre Cronje Resigns From the Sonic Labs Board
Sonic Labs announced on June 19, 2026, that Andre Cronje would resign from its board with two other longtime directors.
ProtocolsBoard Seats
Michael Kong Resigns From Sonic Labs Board
Michael Kong left the Sonic Labs board on June 19, 2026, eight years after joining Fantom, as Crowdfund Insider reported the S token down 97 percent from its all-time high.
ProtocolsBoard Seats
pcaversaccio Joins the Ethereum Foundation Board After 54 Job Cuts
Hsiao-Wei Wang left on June 18, 2026, the Ethereum Foundation cut 54 jobs on June 23, and pcaversaccio joined its board on July 29.
Markets & VenuesBoard Seats
Hut 8 Names E. Stanley O'Neal Board Chair
Hut 8 named E. Stanley O'Neal chair of its board on June 11, 2026, succeeding founding chair William Tai, who had held the role since November 2023.
Markets & VenuesBoard Seats
Backpack US Appoints Michael Piwowar to Its Board
Backpack US announced on June 9, 2026, that it had appointed former SEC Commissioner and Acting Chairman Michael Piwowar to its board of directors as the exchange expands its regulated U.S. business.
Markets & VenuesExecutive Hires
Bitpanda Promotes Barbara Edelmann to Chief Financial Officer
Bitpanda promoted Barbara Edelmann from within to Chief Financial Officer effective June 12, 2026, succeeding Jonas Larsen, who left the exchange by mutual agreement.
Markets & VenuesBoard Seats
Twenty One Capital Appoints Paul Lalljie Independent Director
Twenty One Capital named Paul S. Lalljie an independent director and audit committee member on June 8, 2026, filling a seat SoftBank's departing representative had left vacant.
ProtocolsCEO Changes
Amir Haleem Steps Down as Helium CEO
Nova Labs, the company behind Helium, said on June 4, 2026, that founder Amir Haleem would move to chairman while Mario Di Dio takes over as chief executive.
ProtocolsCEO Changes
Helium Names Mario Di Dio Chief Executive
Nova Labs, the company behind Helium, promoted network operations veteran Mario Di Dio to chief executive on June 4, 2026, as founder Amir Haleem moved to chairman.
Markets & VenuesExecutive Hires
Bitdeer Names Michael Potter Chief Financial Officer
Bitdeer's board approved Michael Potter as chief financial officer effective May 26, 2026, succeeding Jianchun Liu, ten weeks before the Singapore-based Bitcoin miner announced a $4.7 billion AI colocation lease.
ProtocolsCEO Changes
Ian De Bode Succeeds Nathan Allman at Ondo Finance
Ondo Finance named its president CEO in the post that announced founder Nathan Allman's death on May 25, 2026.
ProtocolsLayoffs
Dune Cuts a Quarter of Its Staff, CEO Says
Dune co-founder and CEO Fredrik Haga said on May 14, 2026 that the crypto data firm had let 25 percent of its team go that week, pointing to AI tools and institutional demand as the reasons to restructure.
Markets & VenuesExecutive Hires
OnRe Names Ben Fortune Chief Underwriting Officer
OnRe named Ben Fortune chief underwriting officer on May 12, 2026, pulling him from The Fidelis Partnership to run underwriting at a reinsurer managing $170 million onchain.
ProtocolsExits and Removals
MetaMask Co-Founder Dan Finlay Leaves Consensys
Dan Finlay announced on X that April 22, 2026, was his last day at Consensys, ending more than ten years building MetaMask and citing burnout and family time.
Markets & VenuesCEO Changes
Trump Media Names Kevin McGurn Interim Chief Executive
Trump Media appointed Kevin J. McGurn interim chief executive on April 21, 2026, moving him from a board advisory role he had held since December 2024 into the seat Devin Nunes vacated.
Markets & VenuesCEO Changes
Trump Media Replaces Devin Nunes as Chief Executive
Trump Media replaced Devin Nunes as chief executive on April 21, 2026.
Payments & ConsumerCEO Changes
Greg Solano Steps Down as Yuga Labs CEO
Greg Solano told followers on April 16, 2026, that he was moving into the role of chairman of the board at Yuga Labs after about two years as chief executive, handing the job to Michael Figge.
Payments & ConsumerCEO Changes
Yuga Labs Names Michael Figge Chief Executive
Greg Solano announced on April 16, 2026, that Michael Figge, who had worked at Yuga Labs since 2021, would become chief executive while Solano moved to chairman of the board.
ProtocolsExits and Removals
Oren Katz Leaves StarkWare as It Splits Into Two Units
Oren Katz, StarkWare's chief operating officer, resigned on April 13, 2026, the day CEO Eli Ben-Sasson told staff the company would cut jobs and split into two business units.
Markets & VenuesBoard Seats
Copper Names John Meserve to Its Board
Copper added former Bank of New York executive John Meserve as a director on April 10, 2026, succeeding Jim Turley on its audit, risk and compliance committee.
Markets & VenuesBoard Seats
Copper Names Mike Kuehnel Chairman
Copper named former Flow Traders CEO Mike Kuehnel chairman on April 10, 2026, succeeding Lord Hammond as the digital asset custody firm pushed deeper into the United States.
Markets & VenuesBoard Seats
Lord Hammond Steps Down as Copper Chairman
Lord Hammond stepped down as Copper's chairman on April 10, 2026, three years after joining the digital asset custody firm's board, handing the role to former Flow Traders CEO Mike Kuehnel.
Markets & VenuesExecutive Hires
Securitize Names Brett Redfearn President
Securitize named former SEC trading-and-markets director Brett Redfearn president and a board member on April 9, 2026, as the tokenization platform prepares for a public listing through Cantor Equity Partners II.
Markets & VenuesCEO Changes
MEXC Names Vugar Usi Chief Executive Officer
MEXC promoted Chief Operating Officer Vugar Usi to chief executive officer on April 8, 2026, the exchange's eighth anniversary, after a year in which MEXC says it returned $1 billion in fees to users.
Markets & VenuesExits and Removals
Blake Janover Departs as DeFi Development Corp's Commercial Chief
DeFi Development Corp. and Blake Janover signed a separation agreement effective March 31, 2026, ending his run as chief commercial officer while he keeps his board seat and a $692,500 payment.
Payments & ConsumerCEO Changes
BC.Game Appoints Kar Kheng Giam as Chief Executive Officer
BC.Game named Kar Kheng Giam, known as KK, chief executive officer on March 25, 2026, as the crypto gaming platform pushes into licensed markets in Anjouan, Nigeria, Kenya, Mexico and Tanzania.
Payments & ConsumerExecutive Hires
Ledger Names John Andrews Chief Financial Officer
Ledger hired former Circle executive John Andrews as chief financial officer on March 20, 2026, alongside a new New York office, as the hardware wallet maker eyes a public listing.
ProtocolsCEO Changes
Messari Names Diran Li Chief Executive Officer
Messari CEO Eric Turner handed the role to seven-year CTO Diran Li on March 16, 2026, alongside a round of layoffs the firm tied to an AI-first pivot.
ProtocolsCEO Changes
Ajit Tripathi Takes Over the Eigen Foundation From Robert Drost
The Eigen Foundation named Tripathi executive director on March 13, 2026 and moved founding director Drost to senior adviser.
Payments & ConsumerExits and Removals
Tether Investment Chief Richard Heathcote Steps Down
Richard Heathcote stepped down as Tether's chief investment officer on March 12, 2026, moving into an advisory role as deputy Zachary Lyons took over the position.
Payments & ConsumerExecutive Hires
Tether Names Zachary Lyons Chief Investment Officer
Tether promoted deputy chief investment officer Zachary Lyons to the top investment role on March 12, 2026, as Richard Heathcote moved into an advisory position.
Markets & VenuesCEO Changes
Binance.US Names Stephen Gregory Chief Executive Officer
Binance.US replaced CEO Norman Reed with compliance lawyer Stephen Gregory effective March 9, 2026, as rival U.S. exchanges raced into tokenized stocks and prediction markets.
Markets & VenuesCEO Changes
Bybit Co-CEO Helen Liu to Depart the Exchange
Bybit announced on March 7, 2026, that Co-CEO Helen Liu would leave the exchange on April 30, 2026, after five years in roles spanning human resources to the top office.
ProtocolsExecutive Hires
Bruno Martins Replaces Nik Bougalis as Algorand's CTO Before Layoffs
The Algorand Foundation named Bruno Martins acting CTO on March 1, 2026, cut a quarter of its staff on March 18, and absorbed Algorand Technologies on March 19.
Payments & ConsumerLayoffs
Block Cuts 40% of Staff, Citing AI Tools
Block told shareholders on February 26, 2026, that it was cutting its workforce by more than 40 percent, from over 10,000 employees to under 6,000, with CEO Jack Dorsey saying intelligence tools let a smaller team do more.
Markets & VenuesExecutive Hires
Gemini Names Danijela Stojanovic Interim CFO
Gemini's board promoted Danijela Stojanovic from chief accounting officer to interim chief financial officer effective Feb. 17, 2026, the same day it removed Dan Chen from the job.
Markets & VenuesExecutive Hires
Gemini Names Kate Freedman Interim General Counsel
Gemini's board promoted Kate Freedman from associate general counsel to interim general counsel effective Feb. 17, 2026, the same day it removed chief legal officer Tyler Meade.
Markets & VenuesExits and Removals
Gemini Parts Ways With CFO Dan Chen
Gemini removed Dan Chen as chief financial officer effective Feb. 17, 2026, in a filing that also ousted its chief operating officer and chief legal officer.
Markets & VenuesExits and Removals
Gemini Parts Ways With Chief Legal Officer Tyler Meade
Gemini removed Tyler Meade as chief legal officer effective Feb. 17, 2026, 12 days after it said it would exit the UK, EU and Australian exchange markets, and named Kate Freedman interim general counsel.
Markets & VenuesExits and Removals
Gemini Parts Ways With COO Marshall Beard
Gemini disclosed in a regulatory filing that chief operating officer Marshall Beard was leaving effective immediately, CoinDesk reported on February 17, 2026, days after the exchange cut a quarter of its staff.
ProtocolsCEO Changes
Bastian Aue Replaces Tomasz Stańczak as Ethereum Foundation Co-Director
Tomasz Stańczak announced on February 13, 2026 that he would leave his Ethereum Foundation co-executive director post at the end of the month, and the Foundation's board named Bastian Aue interim co-executive director the same day.
ProtocolsCEO Changes
Const and ShibShib Give Up Opentensor's Two Top Titles
Bittensor's two co-founders left the CEO and COO jobs at the Opentensor Foundation on Feb. 12, 2026, and a subnet team later accused Const of keeping the control that came with them.
Payments & ConsumerCEO Changes
Felix Fan Succeeds Eowyn Chen as Trust Wallet CEO
Trust Wallet's chief executive handover came 49 days after a poisoned Chrome extension drained 2,520 wallets, and the successor ran product at OKX.
Markets & VenuesExecutive Hires
Justin Wales Replaces Nick Lundgren as Crypto.com's Chief Legal Officer
Crypto.com named Justin Wales chief legal officer on April 16, 2026, the day Nick Lundgren resigned and a court heard its Nevada appeal, 28 days after a 12 percent staff cut.
Markets & VenuesLayoffs
Gemini Cuts 25% of Staff, Exits UK, EU and Australia
Gemini announced on February 5, 2026, that it would cut a quarter of its global workforce and shut down trading in the UK, the European Union and Australia to focus on the US and prediction markets, CoinDesk reported the same day.
ProtocolsExecutive Hires
Chainalysis Names Sebastien Giroux Chief Financial Officer
Chainalysis named Sebastien Giroux chief financial officer the week of February 3, 2026, bringing in an executive who had spent more than three years as CFO of Productboard.
Payments & ConsumerCEO Changes
PayPal Appoints HP's Enrique Lores as CEO
PayPal's board named former HP chief executive Enrique Lores as its next president and CEO on February 3, 2026, replacing Alex Chriss effective March 1, 2026, after citing slow execution.
ProtocolsExits and Removals
Luigi D'Onorio DeMeo Steps Down as Ava Labs Strategy Chief
Luigi D'Onorio DeMeo posted his exit as Ava Labs chief strategy officer on Jan. 15, 2026, after nearly five years, and said he will finish his term on the Avalanche Foundation board.
ProtocolsBoard Seats
Bill Barhydt Chairs the Algorand Foundation's New Delaware Board
The Algorand Foundation moved its headquarters from Singapore to Delaware and seated four outside directors on January 14, 2026.
Markets & VenuesExecutive Hires
BitMine Names Young Kim CFO and COO
BitMine Immersion Technologies appointed Axiom Investors partner Young Kim as chief financial officer and chief operating officer on Jan. 9, 2026.
ProtocolsCEO Changes
Josh Swihart Quits Electric Coin Company With Its Whole Team
Electric Coin Company's chief executive announced on Jan. 7, 2026 that its entire team had left the nonprofit that governed it.
Markets & VenuesExits and Removals
Riot Platforms' Colin Yee to Step Down as CFO
Riot Platforms announced on January 2, 2026, that Jason Chung would replace Colin Yee as chief financial officer effective March 1, 2026, as the bitcoin miner leans further into AI data centers.
Markets & VenuesExecutive Hires
Riot Platforms Names Jason Chung Chief Financial Officer
Riot Platforms promoted corporate development chief Jason Chung to chief financial officer effective March 1, 2026, succeeding Colin Yee as the miner pivots toward data centers.
