Crypto Hiring: Coinbase exec departs for zkSync development company

Nana Murugesan, who previously served as the vice president of business development, international and listings at Coinbase, has moved on to become the president of Matter Labs.

Matter Labs is the software company developing the layer-2 zkSync, an Ethereum layer-2 focused on zero-knowledge proofs.

Murugesan becomes Matter Labs’ first president. Alex Gluchowski, who also founded the company, is CEO. Murugesan will be responsible for “business, marketing, communications, finance, legal and policy, people and operations functions, expanding our team and ramping up operations,” Matter Labs said while announcing the hire.

“I’m thrilled to join the Matter Labs team to power mainstream blockchain adoption, enabling practical apps with developers & bringing in the next billion users with @zkSync,” Murugesan wrote on X.

While Coinbase will have to replace an executive, the departure is not a sudden one. Murugesan announced that he would be leaving Coinbase in November of last year.

Ex-Coinbase employees run some of crypto’s most notable firms. Coinbase co-founder Fred Ehrsam co-founded crypto venture fund Paradigm. Early Coinbase hires Olaf Carlson-Wee and Dan Romero went on to start Polychain and Farcaster, respectively.

Former Disney gaming exec co-founds Web3 game publisher

UAE-based Galactic Group is launching a Web3 game publishing arm named Galactic Entertainment, the company said in a press release.

Mark Meyers, the company’s co-founder and chief publishing officer, rose to become the head of Disney’s gaming studios in the late aughts, leaving the company in 2012 to found an Internet of Things startup.

In a press release, Meyers extolled Web3 games’ ability to let players earn “in-game goods that they actually own.”

The company, Galactic Entertainment Publishing, is pushing PlanetQuest, which the company describes as Star Wars-like, as its first franchise. The game is set for early access release later this year, and Galactic is planning comics and a book trilogy for the franchise as well.

Other notable hiring news

Longtime senior executives at crypto exchange OKX Tim Byun and Wei Lan left the company for unclear reasons, CoinDesk reported.
Franklin Bi became general partner at Pantera Capital.
Former Coindesk editor and reporter Tracy Wang joined Framework Ventures as head of special projects.
Stephen Levin started as head of ops, finance, people and legal at Flashbots.
Natalie Mullins became an associate investor at Bain Capital Crypto.

Get the news in your inbox. Explore Blockworks newsletters:

Blockworks Daily: The newsletter that helps thousands of investors understand crypto and the markets, by Byron Gilliam.
Empire: Start your morning with the top news and analysis to inform your day in crypto.
Forward Guidance: Reporting and analysis on the growing intersection of crypto and macroeconomics, policy and finance.
0xResearch: Alpha directly in your inbox. Market highlights, data, degen trade ideas, governance updates, token performance and more.
Lightspeed: Built for Solana investors, developers and community members. The latest from one of crypto’s hottest networks.
The Drop: For crypto collectors and traders, covering apps, games, memes and more.
Supply Shock: Tracking Bitcoin’s rise from internet plaything worth less than a penny to global phenomenon disrupting money as we know it.