Consensys Software Inc., the Ethereum-focused company behind the MetaMask wallet, plans to divide into two standalone entities — one centered on its consumer business and the other on institutional blockchain infrastructure.
The separation is expected to wrap up by the end of 2026, according to the company's Wednesday announcement. Joe Lubin will serve as chairman and CEO of MetaMask and as executive chairman of the new Consensys. Mike Kriak will lead the institutional side as CEO, with David Cunningham serving as president.
The new Consensys will retain the company's protocols and institutional infrastructure businesses, including the Linea rollup, Besu enterprise client and Teku consensus layer. It will concentrate on Ethereum infrastructure and assisting financial institutions in deploying blockchain technology for tokenization, stablecoins and other onchain financial services.
MetaMask, which launched in 2016 as an Ethereum browser extension for accessing decentralized applications, has pivoted toward broader financial products over the past year. In June, it introduced Money Account, allowing users to earn up to 4% variable APY on eligible mUSD stablecoin balances and spend the funds via the MetaMask Card. The yield comes from DeFi lending strategies, not interest paid by MetaMask or the stablecoin issuer. In February, MetaMask added access to roughly 200 tokenized U.S. stocks, ETFs and commodities through Ondo Global Markets for eligible users outside the United States, and later that month expanded its Mastercard-enabled spending card to 49 U.S. states.
The company said the restructuring reflects increasingly divergent priorities between its consumer and institutional businesses. MetaMask reported more than 100 million downloads across approximately 190 countries and has facilitated trillions of dollars in transaction volume.
