The Ethereum-centered Consensys Software Inc. is dividing into two separate entities, separating its consumer-facing MetaMask division from its institutional and infrastructure operations.
Consensys Software will take on the new name MetaMask, with Joe Lubin acting as chairman and CEO. The newly formed MetaMask will concentrate on self-custodial consumer finance, growing past its initial wallet functions to include payments, savings, and investments. The firm noted that MetaMask boasts over 100 million downloads spanning roughly 190 nations and has processed trillions of dollars in total transaction volume.
At the same time, the Protocols Group of CSI will transform into a newly established organization retaining the “Consensys” banner, centered on Ethereum and institutional blockchain infrastructure—including the Linea network alongside Besu and Teku clients—led by CEO Mike Kriak and President David Cunningham, with Lubin serving as executive chairman.
The business stated that this division highlights the rising institutional appetite for tokenization, stablecoins, and blockchain infrastructure as financial institutions transition from pilot tests to live production rollouts.
“For more than a decade, the Consensys teams and products that ultimately became Consensys Software Inc. helped build the foundations of the Ethereum ecosystem — from the protocol itself to the tools and infrastructure that made self-custodial finance and sovereign networks possible,” Lubin remarked in a press release. “MetaMask grew out of that work into the world’s most widely used self-custodial wallet, and today it’s becoming something larger: a platform where people don’t just hold their assets, but manage their money in its many diverse forms and aspects.”
This separation is anticipated to become official by the close of the current year.
How the split came to be
MetaMask has been aggressively expanding beyond being a wallet. It introduced a U.S. Mastercard payment card earlier this year, with rewards paid in its mUSD stablecoin. In June, MetaMask launched its Money Account, allowing users to earn up to 4% APY on mUSD while using the same balance for spending through MetaMask Card and for trading, perps, and prediction markets.
In the meantime, Linea and Consensys’ infrastructure ventures have increasingly focused on institutional use cases. Linea is being positioned to attract institutional capital, while institutions including Citi, DTC, and BNY Mellon use Consensys’ Besu infrastructure.
Lubin stated to The Block last year that a MetaMask MASK token was on the way, connecting it to the wallet’s decentralization plan. Amid today’s announcement of the separation, the organization remained quiet regarding a potential IPO and token, according to Fortune.
“Financial institutions and market infrastructure are moving to always-on operations with tokenization at the core,” Cunningham stated in the announcement. “Consensys Software Inc. has built the open-source technology that is the foundation of this transition. We are now delivering the interoperability infrastructure that the world’s largest financial marketplaces need to coordinate this transformation with the required privacy, resilience and scale.”
Originally published at https://www.theblock.co/news/business/2026-09-09-consensys-splits-metamask-institutional-ethereum-infrastructure-businesses-414022.
