Jonathan Levin, co-founder of Chainalysis, has been appointed CEO, and Paul Auvil has been appointed an independent director on its Board.
Chainalysis has appointed its co-founder and Chief Strategy Officer Jonathan Levin to the role of Chief Executive Officer, effective December 3, 2024. In addition, the company has appointed Paul Auvil to serve as an independent director on its Board.
Trained as an economist, Jonathan began studying cryptocurrencies over a decade ago, and co-founded Chainalysis in 2014. He is a thought leader in the industry, regularly speaking at events worldwide, and has testified multiple times before the U.S. Congress on the subjects of national security and blockchain technology.
During his time at Chainalysis, Jonathan has led teams across the organization including strategy, corporate development, sales, marketing, research & development, and policy & government affairs. Jonathan will continue to serve on the company’s Board in his new capacity of CEO.
Paul Auvil brings more than 35 years of finance, technology, and corporate leadership experience to the Chainalysis Board, where he will serve as Chair of the Audit Committee. He is the former Chief Financial Officer of Proofpoint, a provider of security-as-a-service solutions, and VMware, a computing virtualization company.
In addition to serving on Chainalysis’s Board, Paul currently serves on the boards of Cerebras, an artificial intelligence chipmaker, where he is the audit committee chair; Elastic (NYSE: ESTC), an AI search company; and Modern Treasury, a payment operations platform.
Chainalysis’ Board, in a collective statement, said, “Chainalysis is at an exciting moment in its growth trajectory; the company’s performance and potential have never been stronger. Jonathan is a visionary leader and innovator, and his experience across disciplines at the company make him well positioned to lead as CEO as we execute on our ambitious goals to bring greater trust and transparency to cryptocurrency markets. He is a trusted advisor to our government and enterprise clients and has the deepest commitment to the Chainalysis mission.”
The Board continued, “We are thrilled to welcome Paul to the Chainalysis Board. His deep experience as a board member guiding companies that are driving innovation in emerging technology spaces will bring enormous value to the company. We look forward to benefiting from Paul’s depth of experience in finance and technology, and working with him to support Chainalysis through this period of high growth.”
Jonathan Levin said, “I am honored by the Board’s trust and confidence, and excited to continue working alongside our incredible team to accelerate our growth into the future. When I co-founded Chainalysis ten years ago, our vision was to help cryptocurrency achieve its full potential by bringing greater trust, safety, and transparency to this transformative technology. Today, Chainalysis is at the forefront as cryptocurrency matures as an asset class and powers new payments and application ecosystems. As CEO, I look forward to continuing to deliver cutting edge data, investigations, and risk solutions to our customers while also pursuing new market opportunities.”
Jonathan succeeds co-founder Michael Gronager as CEO. Michael and the Chainalysis Board have agreed that he will step down from his role at the company, as well as from the Board. Sari Granat, who has been acting as Chainalysis’ interim CEO, will return to her role as Chainalysis’ President and Chief Operating Officer.
Michael Gronager said, “As a founder, I am incredibly proud of what Chainalysis has achieved as a company in developing a transformative blockchain data platform that is helping shape the cryptocurrency industry. It is truly an exciting time for Chainalysis; financially and strategically, the company is incredibly strong, and I have every confidence in Chainalysis’ leaders and team to guide Chainalysis forward into this new phase. I look forward to watching and cheering for the ongoing success of Chainalysis for many years to come.”
