MV Capital | Consensys Splits Into MetaMask Consumer Firm and New Institutional Entity

Ethereum co-founder Joe Lubin’s company will rebrand its existing operations as MetaMask while spinning off protocols and institutional infrastructure under the Consensys name, with the separation targeted for completion by the end of 2026

Consensys Software Inc. announced plans to divide into two independently operated companies, separating its consumer self-custodial platform from its Ethereum protocols and institutional blockchain infrastructure businesses. The existing company will continue operating and rebrand as MetaMask, focusing on the widely used wallet and related consumer finance products. A newly formed entity will retain the Consensys name and take over the protocols group along with institutional offerings.

Joe Lubin, the Ethereum co-founder who established the firm, will serve as chairman and chief executive officer of the MetaMask company. For the new Consensys entity, Mike Kriak will act as chief executive officer, David Cunningham as president, and Lubin as executive chairman. The two organizations will operate independently, with the restructuring expected to finish by the end of 2026.

MetaMask Focuses on Consumer Self-Custodial Finance

MetaMask will manage the flagship wallet and other consumer-facing products. The platform has recorded more than 100 million downloads across approximately 190 countries and facilitated trillions of dollars in cumulative transaction volume. It has expanded beyond basic asset storage and trading into broader financial tools.

Earlier this year the company introduced Money Account, a self-custodial feature that allows users to trade, spend, and earn from a single balance. The offering centers on the firm’s proprietary dollar-pegged stablecoin, mUSD, and supports automated earning, instant spending, and trading. MetaMask has also added support for Bitcoin and Solana alongside its Ethereum roots, positioning the product as a wider platform for managing digital and traditional financial instruments.

MetaMask grew out of that work into the world's most widely used self-custodial wallet, and today it's becoming something larger: a platform where people don't just hold their assets, but manage their money in its many diverse forms and aspects. Stepping into this role full-time is a recognition that consumer finance deserves the same focus and ambition that we've brought to building Ethereum itself.Joe Lubin, Chairman and CEO of MetaMask

Lubin added that the two companies will continue building the same ecosystem, each with the focus its respective market now requires.

New Consensys Targets Institutional Blockchain Infrastructure

The newly formed Consensys will house the protocols group and institutional blockchain infrastructure business. This includes Linea, the Ethereum layer-2 network, along with the Besu Ethereum execution client used in many permissioned networks and the Teku consensus client. The company will advance Ethereum-related protocols and develop applications for institutions at the application layer.

Its work will support banks, asset managers, payment providers, and other financial institutions as they move from pilot projects to production use of tokenization, stablecoins, and programmable settlement. The entity builds on more than a decade of enterprise blockchain contributions and aims to deliver infrastructure meeting privacy, resilience, and scale requirements for large financial marketplaces.

Financial institutions and market infrastructure are moving to always-on operations with tokenization at the core. We are now delivering the interoperability infrastructure that the world's largest financial marketplaces need to coordinate this transformation with the required privacy, resilience and scale.David Cunningham, President of Consensys

A recent Citi report cited in the announcement estimated that tokenized assets could reach between $5.5 trillion and $8.2 trillion by 2030, underscoring the scale of institutional opportunity the new company intends to address.

IPO Plans Unaddressed

The announcement did not discuss previously reported plans for a U.S. initial public offering. Consensys had delayed a potential IPO until the fall of 2026 at the earliest, citing market conditions, and had engaged investment banks for the process. No clarification was provided on whether either of the new entities would pursue a public listing or on related timelines.

The separation is presented as a response to the distinct growth trajectories of consumer self-custody and institutional blockchain adoption, each requiring dedicated leadership, operating models, and investment strategies.