Crypto founder resigns as CEO of Messari after tweeting that it is ‘literally war’ with anyone who votes against Trump

Selkis briefly made his X account private on Thursday after telling a green card holder he hoped “we send you back,” and announcing a day later that he had decided to step down as CEO. “This week was the first week in 6.5 years that my politics and rhetoric put the team at risk (sic),” tweeted Selkis, who remains an adviser to Messari.

‘Hard Love’

In an industry known for brash personalities and quick falls, Selkis has made a name for himself as one of the most visible figures on Twitter and the conference circuit. After entering the crypto sector as an advisor, he became a director of digital asset empire Digital Currency Group before joining its portfolio company, crypto intelligence service CoinDesk, as managing director just before the 2017 bull market. He left the company in early 2018 to shake up Messari.

Intended to compete with traditional financial services providers like Bloomberg, Messari emerged as one of the most popular platforms in the crypto space, raising multiple funding rounds including a $35 million Series B in 2022 from Brevan Howard Digital, Point72, and Coinbase Ventures, which valued the company at $300 million. Messari also runs the New York-based conference Mainnet, where Selkis played a leading role and conducted on-stage interviews with figures such as Vivek Ramaswamy.

Representatives for Brevan Howard Digital, Point72 and Coinbase Ventures declined to comment.

According to a recent profile on DL News, Selkis was formerly a supporter of President Biden, but in recent months he has become a vocal supporter of Trump. In May, Trump invited Selkis to speak onstage at an event at Mar-a-Lago that coincided with the presidential candidate’s new support for cryptocurrencies. Since then, Selkis has used his influential X account – with more than 350,000 followers – to share his increasingly explosive thoughts, including a post that “anyone who votes against Trump at this point can die in a damn fire,” as well as his response to a greenholder that he hopes he doesn’t become a citizen.

While Selkis’ tweets have struck a defiant tone, according to a post Thursday, he received a “hard lesson” from Messari leadership and admitted he “ran too hot.”

Eric Turner, Chief Revenue Officer, will assume the role of interim CEO.

“Without Ryan’s clear vision and dedicated leadership, Messari would not be the company it is today and will be in the future,” the company said in a post on X.

After release Assets spoke to Jeff Clavier, founder of venture capital firm Uncork Capital and a board member of Messari. He said the board and team made the decision together with Selkis after he “went too far” with some of his contributions, confirming the company’s public announcement.

“From the company’s perspective, things were said that shouldn’t have been said,” Clavier said. “We agreed that it was best to hand the reins over to (Turner) and we communicated that to the team this morning.”

Clavier added that Selkis will “probably” be involved in mainnet, though not necessarily as a moderator, a role Selkis has long held. “Ryan is an open book,” Clavier said. “The guy doesn’t hold back.”

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