Mo Shaikh, the co-founder and CEO of Aptos, has announced his resignation from the leadership role. Avery Ching, the CTO of Aptos Labs, will step in to assume the role of CEO.
In the early hours of December 20, 2024, Mo Shaikh, co-founder and CEO of Aptos Labs—the organization behind the development of the Aptos layer-1 blockchain—unexpectedly announced his decision to step down after more than three years of dedication and growth of the project.
In a post on X, Shaikh shared:
Today marks a new chapter in my journey as I decide to leave Aptos Labs, where I have poured my heart and soul into building from day one. I am proud that Aptos Labs has become a strong collective with an exceptional team. The road ahead is filled with exciting opportunities, and I am confident that Aptos Labs will continue to shine brightly.
Shaikh also expressed his gratitude to key partners and investors, such as BlackRock, Google, Mastercard, PayPal, and major investment funds, for supporting Aptos’ vision. He confirmed that he will remain involved with Aptos in an advisory capacity, stating:
I have always been a strong advocate of Aptos’ mission and will continue to contribute to ensure that this blockchain maintains its leading position in the crypto space.
Avery Ching, co-founder and current CTO of Aptos Labs, will continue to serve as CEO going forward. According to a post shared on X, Ching will focus on technological innovation, improving product development speed, and expanding the developer community in strategic markets such as India, Vietnam, South Korea, Japan, and China.
Mo Shaikh and Avery Ching co-founded Aptos Labs in 2021, right after Meta’s Diem stablecoin project was halted. Leveraging what was built from Diem, the duo successfully developed the Aptos layer-1 blockchain using the Move programming language.
Under Mo Shaikh’s leadership, Aptos Labs reached significant milestones:
- Launching the mainnet and airdrop of the APT token in October 2022: This was a pivotal moment in Aptos’ development, sparking the airdrop/retroactive trend.
- Successfully raising $350 million: Within two years, Aptos secured substantial funding from major investors like Andreessen Horowitz (a16z), Jump Crypto, Coinbase Ventures, Binance Labs, and several other investment funds.
- Building a robust ecosystem: Aptos attracted over 1,000 developers and projects, establishing itself as one of the leading blockchains in the market.
Following the announcement, the price of APT saw little movement, with a slight decline of 1.5% in the last 24 hours, aligning with the general market correction as Bitcoin’s price dropped to $96,000, and APT is now trading around $11.50.