Consensys has announced a strategic separation into two independent companies, marking the end of a single-company structure that has persisted for over a decade. The reorganization will create MetaMask, focused on consumer self-custodial finance, and a new Consensys entity dedicated to Ethereum protocols and institutional infrastructure. The split is expected to close by the end of 2026.
MetaMask Pivots to Consumer Finance Platform
The newly independent MetaMask will take ownership of the self-custodial wallet, which the company reports has surpassed 100 million downloads across approximately 190 countries and facilitated trillions of dollars in cumulative transaction volume. Joe Lubin, who co-founded Consensys, will step in full-time as Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of MetaMask while serving as Executive Chairman of the new Consensys.
“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,” Lubin noted.
The independent company will remain Ethereum-first while expanding its Money Account offering—a self-custodial account designed to combine automated earning, instant spending, and one-click trading in a single balance. This push follows MetaMask’s launch of its own dollar stablecoin, mUSD, issued through Stripe-owned Bridge, as part of a broader move into everyday payments that includes a Mastercard-linked card. Lubin has also confirmed that MetaMask will issue its own token, with a DAO planned to fund the wallet’s growth.
Consensys Retains Institutional Infrastructure Stack
The newly focused Consensys will retain the Protocols Group, including the Linea Layer-2 network, the Besu execution client, and Teku, alongside its tokenization and stablecoin work for banks and asset managers. Mike Kriak will run Consensys as Chief Executive Officer, with David Cunningham serving as President.
Consensys will concentrate on the infrastructure that banks and market operators use to move tokenized assets on-chain. Its Besu client already underpins permissioned EVM networks in traditional finance, and the firm established the Swiss-based Linea Association to decentralize the Linea zkEVM network, which launched the LINEA token for governance.
“Financial institutions and market infrastructure are moving to always-on operations with tokenization at the core,” said David Cunningham, President of Consensys. “Consensys Software Inc. has built the open-source technology that is the foundation of this transition.”
Citi’s June 2026 “Tokenization 2030” report, cited in the announcement, estimated that tokenized assets could reach $5.5 trillion to $8.2 trillion by 2030. Lubin said the two companies “will keep building the same ecosystem, just with the focus each market now demands.”
