The Bitcoin Foundation announced on Thursday that Jon Matonis, one of the foundation’s founding board members, was stepping down as its executive director, effective on Friday. Mr. Matonis will remain on the foundation’s board until Dec. 31.
Mr. Matonis, who was named executive director in July 2013, will be succeeded by Patrick Murck, the foundation’s general counsel.
“Leading the Bitcoin Foundation has been a once in a lifetime opportunity,” Mr. Matonis said in a statement. “Merging the diverse interests of the Bitcoin community has been intellectually and professionally stimulating.”
“I look forward to advancing Bitcoin and contributing to the community through the private sector,” he added.
Mr. Matonis also took to Twitter to express his gratitude:
During his tenure, Mr. Matonis spoke passionately about Bitcoin’s future, saying recently that it would one day replace gold.
The Bitcoin Foundation said the decision to resign was Mr. Matonis’s.
Established in 2012, the Bitcoin Foundation has become one of the most prominent voices in the virtual currency industry. Its leaders have spoken at a number of government hearings, including the first Senate hearing on digital currency last November. More recently, the foundation has been vocal on the New York Department of Financial Services’ proposed virtual currency regulations. In a letter soon after the rules were introduced, the foundation pressed the department to extend the public comment period and provide more precise language on the risks unique to digital currencies.
Mr. Matonis’s decision comes as Bitcoin is at a critical point. In the last year, Bitcoin has become more popular in the mainstream, but many supporters say it has yet to reach its full potential. The Bitcoin industry is also waiting to see how regulators will treat the virtual currency and whether new rules will lead to its more widespread adoption.
The foundation itself has had its own share of growing pains. Charles Shrem, a well-known Bitcoin advocate and one of the foundation’s founding board members, stepped down from his position shortly after he was arrested in January and accused of helping smooth the way for drug transaction on the now-defunct online marketplace Silk Road. Mr. Shrem pleaded guilty in September to one count of aiding and abetting the operation of an unlicensed money transmitting business.
Mark Karpeles, the chief executive of the Bitcoin exchange Mt. Gox, resigned from the board before the exchange’s collapse in February. And in May, a number of Bitcoin members cancelled their memberships, citing, among other issues, the foundation’s leadership.
“Two years is a lifetime in Bitcoin, and we’ve come a long way from where we began. And yet, there is still so much ahead of us,” Mr. Murck said in a statement. “I commit to continue paving the way for our community of investors, entrepreneurs and technologists to maximize Bitcoin’s potential for all people.”
The foundation said it was working on naming a new general counsel to succeed Mr. Murck.