Consensys Software Inc. to Become Two Independent Companies: MetaMask, the Consumer Platform, and Consensys, the Protocols and Institutional Infrastructure Company
Consensys Software Inc.
Consensys Software Inc. (CSI) will be rebranded as MetaMask, advancing self-custodial consumer finance under Joe Lubin as Chairman and CEO, while CSI's Protocols Group and institutional blockchain infrastructure business will become a newly formed company, carrying forward the “Consensys” name, under Mike Kriak as CEO, David Cunningham as President and Joe Lubin in an Executive Chairman role.
FORT WORTH, Texas--BUSINESS WIRE--
Consensys Software Inc. (CSI) today announced plans to evolve into two focused, independently operated companies, separating its consumer and institutional businesses to pursue two of the largest opportunities in digital finance with dedicated focus and leadership. CSI will continue as the same company, rebranding as MetaMask, and will operate the MetaMask platform and its consumer-facing products, under Joe Lubin as Chairman and Chief Executive Officer. CSI's Protocols Group and institutional blockchain infrastructure business, including Linea and its broader portfolio of enterprise and Ethereum protocol infrastructure, will become a newly formed company, named Consensys, under Mike Kriak as Chief Executive Officer, David Cunningham as President, and Joe Lubin in an Executive Chairman role. MetaMask will continue to be an Ethereum-first, pan-ecosystem product and company, providing access to the universe of tokens and high quality blockchain networks and expanding to provide access to financial instruments in the traditional finance industry. Consensys will continue in its role as an Ethereum ecosystem steward, advancing Ethereum, Ethereum-related protocols, and building applications and protocols for institutions at the app layer.
The evolution reflects a turning point in both markets CSI has built over the past decade: consumer self-custody has moved from early adoption into mainstream financial behavior, as reflected in MetaMask’s recent launch of Money Account, which enables users to gain full control over their financial lives. On the institutional side, demand has moved from pilot programs into production deployment. Each now requires a distinct operating model, dedicated leadership and focused investment strategy to scale. The two organizations will operate independently. Completion of the separation is expected by the end of 2026.
MetaMask has grown into a comprehensive platform for self-custodial finance, with more than 100 million downloads across approximately 190 countries, and trillions of dollars in cumulative transaction volume facilitated through the platform.
Institutional demand has grown in parallel, as banks, asset managers, and financial institutions move from experimentation to implementation across tokenization, stablecoins, and digital asset infrastructure. In June 2026, a Citi report “Tokenization 2030” estimated tokenized assets could reach between $5.5 trillion and $8.2 trillion by 2030. Separating the two businesses will give each the dedicated leadership, focus and resources to capture its respective opportunity at scale.
Joe Lubin, Chairman and CEO, MetaMask and Executive Chairman of Consensys, said:
"For over a decade, the Consensys teams and products that ultimately became Consensys Software Inc. helped build the foundations of the Ethereum ecosystem — from the protocol itself to the tools and infrastructure that made self-custodial finance and sovereign networks possible. MetaMask grew out of that work into the world's most widely used self-custodial wallet, and today it's becoming something larger: a platform where people don't just hold their assets, but manage their money in its many diverse forms and aspects. Stepping into this role full-time is a recognition that consumer finance deserves the same focus and ambition that we've brought to building Ethereum itself.
The new Consensys will continue to be a protocols company. David, Mike and the new Consensys team that we have brought over will do the same for institutions as the newly created entity brings its Ethereum, Hyperledger Besu and Linea protocol development experience and expertise ‘up the stack’ to enable financial institutions and diverse enterprises to collaborate more effectively in an increasingly always-on, onchain world. Going forward, the two companies will keep building the same ecosystem, just with the focus each market now demands."
David Cunningham, President, Consensys, said:
"Financial institutions and market infrastructure are moving to always-on operations with tokenization at the core. Consensys Software Inc. has built the open-source technology that is the foundation of this transition. We are now delivering the interoperability infrastructure that the world's largest financial marketplaces need to coordinate this transformation with the required privacy, resilience and scale."
MetaMask: Building the Open Money Platform
Shortly after celebrating its 10th anniversary, MetaMask begins its next chapter as a dedicated company focused exclusively on building the Open Money platform. It is expanding into a broader financial platform that gives people a single place to hold, spend, save and grow their money. The launch of Money Account, a self-custodial account that combines automated earning, instant spending, and one-click trading in a single balance, reflects this expansion already underway, and marks an early step in MetaMask's broader move beyond trading into everyday financial utility.
Consensys: Powering Institutional Infrastructure
Consensys will continue as builder of the Ethereum and Linea protocols, and developer, steward and maintainer of the Besu Ethereum Execution Layer Client (the core of many traditional financial industry permissioned EVM networks) and will expand its focus to helping financial institutions and enterprises deploy blockchain infrastructure and participate in tokenized financial markets, as banks, asset managers, payment providers, and market infrastructure firms increasingly utilize tokenization, stablecoins, and programmable settlement. The company will build on more than a decade of enterprise blockchain work, including foundational contributions to the Ethereum protocol and widely used Ethereum infrastructure such as Linea, Besu, and Teku.
About MetaMask
MetaMask, formerly Consensys Software Inc, is the world's largest self-custodial financial platform, giving people a single place to hold, spend, save and grow their money across both crypto and traditional assets. The company is building the consumer platform where that happens, bringing payments, savings, investing and digital assets together in one seamless experience. Having grown from the world's most widely used self-custodial wallet, MetaMask gives users direct control over their money and assets, with reach across approximately 190 countries. MetaMask has played a foundational role in Ethereum's growth since 2016. Today, MetaMask sits at the center of the onchain economy, building the operating system for Open Money and putting people in full control of their financial lives.
About Consensys
Consensys is a newly formed corporate entity that will continue to build protocols in the Ethereum ecosystem and will expand its focus to building institutional blockchain infrastructure. Built from the protocols and institutional business of Consensys Software Inc., it carries the Consensys name and brings together more than a decade of enterprise Ethereum expertise, with the teams and technologies behind Linea, Besu, and Teku establishing a near-universal position as the foundational infrastructure powering the internal blockchain networks of many of the world's leading financial institutions. Leveraging its Ethereum Layer 1 and Linea Layer 2 experience, Consensys delivers always-on, private and scalable blockchain infrastructure built to meet the resilience and compliance requirements of the world's systemically important financial institutions and financial market infrastructure. Led by Chief Executive Officer Mike Kriak and President David Cunningham, with Joe Lubin serving as Executive Chairman, Consensys is building the infrastructure that powers the next generation of institutional finance.
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