TLDR
- Consensys Software will rebrand as MetaMask, while a new company will take the Consensys name.
- Joe Lubin will lead MetaMask as chairman and chief executive, and also serve as executive chairman of the new Consensys.
- Mike Kriak becomes chief executive of the new Consensys, with David Cunningham as president.
- Linea, Besu and Teku will stay with the new Consensys alongside its institutional blockchain infrastructure work.
- The separation is expected to be complete by the end of 2026.
Consensys Software announced on September 9 that it plans to split its business into two separate companies. The move divides its consumer wallet operations from its institutional and protocol work.
The existing legal entity will rebrand as MetaMask. A newly formed company will take on the Consensys name instead.
Joe Lubin will lead MetaMask as chairman and chief executive. He will also serve as executive chairman of the new Consensys.
Mike Kriak will run the new Consensys as chief executive. David Cunningham will serve as president, and Declan Fox will be chief product officer.
The company says it expects the separation to be finished by the end of 2026. That gives it less than four months to complete the process.
MetaMask to Focus on Consumer Finance
MetaMask will keep the wallet platform and related consumer products. It will continue supporting Ethereum and other blockchain networks.
The company plans to expand into payments, savings, trading and access to traditional financial products. This builds on its existing wallet and token-swap tools.
Consensys says MetaMask has passed 100 million downloads across roughly 190 countries. It also points to trillions of dollars in cumulative transaction volume.
Those numbers come from the company itself. They do not show current active users, revenue or assets currently held in the wallet.
MetaMask recently launched Money Account, a self-custodial product. It combines stablecoin balances, automated earning, trading and spending in one place.
New Consensys Will Serve Institutions
The new Consensys will take over the Protocols Group and the institutional blockchain infrastructure business. That includes Linea, the Besu Ethereum execution client and Teku, an Ethereum consensus client used by validators.
The company says it will focus on tokenization, stablecoins, programmable settlement and private blockchain infrastructure for financial institutions. It also plans to keep contributing to Ethereum and related protocols.
Consensys has not said how assets, intellectual property, employees or liabilities will be split between the two companies. It also has not shared ownership percentages, financing details or board structures beyond the announced leadership roles.
Neither company has said whether it plans to pursue a public listing. Both firms are privately held, so they face fewer disclosure requirements than public companies.
The split separates a consumer-facing wallet business from products aimed at banks, asset managers and financial-market operators. Each company may end up using different approaches to investment and product development as a result.
This announcement describes a planned separation, not a finished one. Consensys says both companies will operate independently once the process is done.
Institutional interest in blockchain-based financial products has been growing elsewhere in the industry. Compound recently opened an institutional USDC lending market with loan-to-value ratios reaching 87 percent, reflecting that wider trend toward structured on-chain products.
