BlackRock’s head of crypto and digital assets, Joseph Chalom, says he is leaving the company to join the second-largest treasury company of Ethereum. In a Friday statement, Chalom says that he will be joining Ethereum’s SharpLink Gaming as co-CEO. “Ethereum is becoming the foundation of global finance,” Chalom said in an X post announcing the move. “That’s where the future is being built.”
Chalom was the leader in BlackRock’s recent push towards crypto over the last few years, including launching its spot Bitcoin and Ethereum ETFs. Rob Phythian, SharpLink’s current CEO, will transition to the role of president over the next quarter and remain a member of the firm’s Board of Directors.
Ethereum’s momentum has been surging in the past week. Investors have put in $3.3 billion into Ethereum ETFs over the past two weeks. This is the highest rate of inflows since the SEC greenlit the investment products last year, and a likely contributor to the former BlackRock crypto head’s decision.
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Before joining SharpLink, Chalom spent 20 years at BlackRock, serving in several senior roles and ultimately leading the firm’s digital assets strategy. He forged many of the firm’s crypto partnerships, including those with Coinbase, Anchorage Digital Bank, BNY Mellon, and Circle. He also served on the board of tokenisation firm Securitize, which acts as the transfer agent for the BlackRock USD Institutional Digital Liquidity Fund. His move comes as a surprise to many following the company’s recent success, but it makes sense with the recent successes in the crypto industry.