Consensys Software Inc. announced Wednesday that it is separating into two distinct companies, marking the first structural divide between Ethereum’s most widely used wallet and one of its largest protocol development shops since co-founder Joe Lubin founded the firm in 2014.
MetaMask and Consensys: Who Runs What
The existing corporate entity will rebrand as MetaMask, retaining the wallet and its consumer products under Lubin as chairman and chief executive. The Protocols Group and institutional blockchain infrastructure business — including the Linea layer 2 — will operate as a newly formed company keeping the Consensys name.
Each entity receives its own chief executive, board, and capital allocation: a consumer business now selling stablecoin yield and card spending, and an enterprise business selling tokenization infrastructure to banks.
According to a company post on X, Mike Kriak becomes chief executive of the new Consensys, with David Cunningham as president and Declan Fox as chief product officer. Lubin will serve as executive chairman. This entity retains Linea, the Besu Ethereum execution client used in permissioned enterprise networks, the Teku consensus client, and Consensys’ Ethereum protocol work. The announcement does not specify which company takes Infura, though the Infura website now brands it as part of MetaMask Developer.
MetaMask Keeps Wallet and Money Account
MetaMask retains the wallet and the Money Account, a self-custodial product combining automated yield, card spending, and swaps that launched on June 30 paying up to 4% on stablecoin balances. The company says the wallet has surpassed 100 million downloads across roughly 190 countries. Completion of the separation is expected by the end of 2026, and users need to take no action.
“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 said in the announcement.
Institutional Focus: Tokenization and Settlement
Cunningham framed the institutional side around settlement plumbing.
“Financial institutions and market infrastructure are moving to always-on operations with tokenization at the core,”
he said.
The release cited a June 2026 Citi report estimating tokenized assets could reach $5.5 trillion to $8.2 trillion by 2030.
Linea Network Metrics and Token Performance
Linea’s on-chain metrics remain modest. The network holds $29 million in DeFi deposits, according to DefiLlama data, against $38.1 million in stablecoins issued on it. The LINEA token trades at $0.002664, down 2.2% over 24 hours and 94% below its September 2025 all-time high, per CoinGecko, for a market capitalization of $65.3 million. Another 960 million tokens unlock on Sept. 10.
The token launched at roughly a $500 million market capitalization a year ago, and Lubin teased further rewards for holders after it halved within weeks.
The $MASK Token and IPO Questions
Neither the press release nor Lubin’s accompanying blog post mentions a MetaMask token. Lubin confirmed on The Block’s podcast in September 2025 that a $MASK token was coming, and tied it to “the decentralization of certain aspects of the MetaMask platform.” The company registered a claim.metamask.io domain in October 2025 and has not shipped a token since.
The announcement is also silent on the initial public offering the company has been preparing. Axios reported in October 2025 that Consensys had hired JPMorgan and Goldman Sachs to advise on a listing. Which of the two entities carries that process forward remains unstated.
