Ethereum co-founder and billionaire crypto developer Anthony Di Iorio has announced his retirement from Decentral to focus on “philanthropic initiatives.”

Di Iorio Stepping Down

According to a report by CoinDesk, Di Iorio informed the platform he was stepping down as Decentral’s CEO. In addition to being one of the original co-founders of Ethereum, Di Iorio is also the founder of Canada-based Decentral Inc., which created the Jaxx cryptocurrency wallet. 

Former Decentral product manager Maggie Xu, who is also Iorio’s girlfriend of two years, will replace him as CEO. 

Di Iorio told CoinDesk, 

“If she develops a roadmap, presents it to me, it will be approved depending on which resources she needs. I’m happy to agree to continue funding [Decentral] if it makes sense.”

Di Iorio oversaw the company during 2018’s bear market, which drastically cut into Decentral’s profit and forced the decision to lay off almost half its staff. While Decentral managed to weather the storm and has resumed hiring, the company is intent on growing into the ecosystem of crypto. 

Newly minted CEO Xu said, 

“We need to add the functions people care about, which is being able to buy and sell crypto, convert it to fiat and send it, while meeting other people in the community.”

Despite retiring as CEO, Di Iorio said he will continue funding and approving budgets for Decentral as chairman of the board.