Mo Shaikh, the co-founder of the company in 2021 along with Avery Ching, said he will remain at Aptos Labs as a strategic advisor.
Mohammad Shaikh, the co-founder and CEO of the Layer 1 blockchain Aptos Labs, has resigned from his leadership position to "start a new chapter," while co-founder and Chief Technology Officer Avery Ching will take on the new CEO role.
Shaikh co-founded Aptos Labs with Ching in 2021 and helped Aptos officially launch the mainnet in October 2022. He has helped the company raise $400 million and establish key partnerships.
"Today, I will be leaving Aptos Labs to start a new chapter," Shaikh wrote in a post on X on December 19, expressing confidence in the company's future.
"I leave Aptos Labs with absolute confidence in the team and a strong belief that the talent and dedication of the Aptos Labs team will turn our shared vision into reality in the near future. Avery will take on the CEO role of Aptos Labs to drive the company into its next phase of growth."
Aptos Labs expressed optimism in another post on December 19, saying their focus is "sharper than ever" and that 2025 will see Aptos bring "major technical innovations" to drive the ecosystem's growth under Ching's leadership.
In a series of posts on X, Ching said Aptos will also expand the developer community of its ecosystem to countries like India, Vietnam, South Korea, Japan, and China.
The Aptos Blockchain is a Layer 1 Blockchain using a Proof-of-Stake mechanism, designed to improve scalability, security, and transaction speed compared to competitors like Ethereum, Solana, and Sui.
The platform uses a blockchain programming language called Move, originally created for Meta's (now-abandoned) Diem project.
Previously, Shaikh has worked at Meta as well as BlackRock, Boston Consulting Group, and the Ethereum infrastructure company ConsenSys.
He has helped Aptos build strategic partnerships with big names like BlackRock, Google, Microsoft, Mastercard, and Franklin Templeton, and raised over $400 million from investors like Andreessen 'a16z' Horowitz, Coinbase Ventures, Haun Ventures, and others over the years.
A16z, in particular, led a $200 million funding round in March 2022.
Shaikh's resignation has largely been met with praise, including a comment from the crypto research firm Token Relations: "Thank you for all the hard work you've put in over the years to build Aptos to where it is today."
Shaikh said he will remain as a strategic advisor and shared that his plan is to "take the necessary time to reflect on where the world is heading" - particularly in the financial context and how Aptos can become "the most recognized Layer 1 blockchain."
The Aptos token price was not significantly affected by this news but has declined 4% in the past 24 hours amid a broader market downturn.
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The article Mo Shaikh Announces Resignation as CEO of Aptos first appeared on CoinMoi.
