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BitTorrent Creator Bram Cohen Takes Over as CEO at Chia Network
Bram Cohen has taken over as CEO of his current company, Chia Network – a firm creating a less energy-intensive cryptocurrency.
By Brady Dale
Updated Sep 13, 2021, 9:19 a.m. Published Jun 17, 2019, 10:00 a.m.
BitTorrent creator Bram Cohen has taken over as CEO of his current company, Chia Network, CoinDesk has learned. Co-founder Ryan Singer has stepped away from the company to focus on family priorities.
Cohen is viewed as a pioneer of the decentralized internet for creating the BitTorrent filesharing protocol. In August 2017, he left BitTorrent to found Chia, an alternative to bitcoin created to be a less energy-intensive cryptocurrency.
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While the company has stayed largely under the radar since announcing itself, it's backed by some of the most closely watched investors in cryptocurrency.
According to Crunchbase, Greylock Partners, Naval Ravikant and Andreessen Horowitz have all backed the young company, which has raised $3.4 million so far. BitTorrent, is now wholly owned by Justin Sun's Tron, a negotiation that required Cohen, as a major shareholder, to play an active part.
Former CEO Singer confirmed to CoinDesk he's not currently working at Chia. A spokesperson for the company also confirmed the transition, adding that current CFO and general counsel Mitch Edwards will take on existing business development relationships.
According to his LinkedIn page, Edwards has had a long career in technology, including a stint in similar roles at BitTorrent and Core Scientific. He also served for a time as acting CEO of Overstock.com, one of the first well-known companies to accept bitcoin.
Chia describes its cryptocurrency as "enterprise-grade." It refers to its consensus model as "farming" rather than "mining," in order to distinguish it from more energy intensive forms of securing crypto networks.
Since October, Chia has been testing its approach by running optimization contests with its community and open-sourcing the best implementations. The company initiated its second contest in April.
Bram Cohen image courtesy of Chia Network
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KuCoin captured a record share of centralised exchange volume in 2025, with more than $1.25tn traded as its volumes grew faster than the wider crypto market.
Ano ang dapat malaman:
- KuCoin recorded over $1.25 trillion in total trading volume in 2025, equivalent to an average of roughly $114 billion per month, marking its strongest year on record.
- This performance translated into an all-time high share of centralised exchange volume, as KuCoin’s activity expanded faster than aggregate CEX volumes, which slowed during periods of lower market volatility.
- Spot and derivatives volumes were evenly split, each exceeding $500 billion for the year, signalling broad-based usage rather than reliance on a single product line.
- Altcoins accounted for the majority of trading activity, reinforcing KuCoin’s role as a primary liquidity venue beyond BTC and ETH at a time when majors saw more muted turnover.
- Even as overall crypto volumes softened mid-year, KuCoin maintained elevated baseline activity, indicating structurally higher user engagement rather than short-lived volume spikes.
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Lighter trading platform sees $250 million withdrawn 24 hours after airdrop
Bubblemaps CEO says outflows seen on Lighter on Dec. 31 are not uncommon as users rebalance hedging positions and move on to the next farming opportunity.
Ano ang dapat malaman:
- Approximately $250 million was withdrawn from Lighter after its $675 million LIT token airdrop.
- The withdrawals represent about 20% of Lighter's total value locked, according to Bubblemaps CEO Nicolas Vaiman.
- Large withdrawals post-token generation events are common as early participants exit, says CertiK's Natalie Newson.
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