Seraphim Czecker, head of growth at Ethena, has announced he will step down from his post, The move comes amid a bit of a strategic shift for the synthetic fiat stablecoin protocol, which debuted earlier this year and has rocketed up to become the fourth-largest stablecoin by market capitalization.
“[It] has been a truly incredible and rewarding journey,” Seraphim, who often uses a mononym, said in a message on X. “[Being] actively involved in a 0 to 6B success story is something few can comprehend, and it was a life-changing rollercoaster.”
Seraphim said he joined the protocol “around” its $6 million seed round and helped drive over $1 billion in partnerships with various DeFi platforms. Ethena’s USDe stablecoin is listed on (likely) all major centralized exchanges, including Binance, Coinbase and Deribit, and is integrated throughout the Ethereum and Solana DeFi ecosystems.
Ethena is something of a success story for crypto in 2024, as it shows that innovation and growth are still possible in an industry that has seen cyclical periods of stagnation. The protocol employs a novel onchain trading strategy to maintain its USDe stablecoin’s peg to the U.S. dollar.
From early on, Ethena has drawn attention. Its seed round, for instance, was backed by established entities, including Bybit, Deribit, Gemini, Huobi, OKX and BitMEX founder Arthur Hayes.
Seraphim said he will support the “team from the side” and remains “bullish” on the project.
“[The] firm is entering a different phase in its growth,” Seraphim said. Notably, Ethena launched a new stablecoin called USDtb earlier this month. The token marked a serious departure for the protocol in an attempt to offer a “differentiated” product backed by reserves rather than cryptonomic schemes.
“Truth be told, I am also tired of DeFi,” Seraphim said. “I’ve been doing this for years without any real holidays, worked with every major liquidity provider, protocol, KOL in the space and deserve some rest. I’ve done literally everything you could do in DeFi.”
The DeFi sector has grown amid the wider crypto market rally. Total value locked has increased to over $120 billion from a local low of under $40 billion in 2023. That said, the sector is often criticized by participants for its lack of ingenuity and hyper-fixation on profit-seeking.
Seraphim said he would avoid “pure DeFi,” and while not fully allergic to it, “would be keen to explore” AI space, memes, fashion, SocialFi and entertainment.
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