Share this article
NEAR Foundation’s Marieke Flament Steps Down as CEO
General Counsel Chris Donovan will assume her role at the organization behind the NEAR protocol.
Updated Sep 21, 2023, 2:56 p.m. Published Sep 21, 2023, 2:01 p.m.
NEAR Foundation CEO Marieke Flament has stepped down after two years in her role running the organization behind the NEAR protocol (NEAR).
Chris Donovan, the foundation’s general counsel, will take her place, according to a Thursday blog post. Flament will stay on as a strategic adviser to Donovan until the end of the year. Flament will remain at the foundation in a council board role.
STORY CONTINUES BELOW
Don't miss another story.Subscribe to the Crypto Daybook Americas Newsletter today. See all newsletters
“When I joined two years ago, NEAR had around 50,000 users, and now we have over 2.5 million daily active users,” Flament said in an interview with CoinDesk. She added that Donovan is well-suited to the CEO role now given “the current regulatory landscape.” She added: “We are not the only ecosystem making a move like that.”
The NEAR protocol currently ranks 34th in terms of total value locked (TVL), a measure of the amount of money stashed in a given blockchain ecosystem, according to data from DefiLlama.
More For You
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.
What to know:
- 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.
More For You
Coinbase’s Base faces builder backlash over creator coin push
Builders on Base are pushing back against the network’s close alignment with Zora, arguing the creator-coin narrative sidelines established projects.
What to know:
- Base has seen a surge in creator-coin issuance via Zora, with daily token mints surpassing Solana in August, boosting onchain activity and attention.
- Some Base-native projects say marketing and social support has become narrowly focused on Zora-linked initiatives, leaving other established communities without recognition.
- While Base continues to process more than 10 million transactions per day, critics warn that deteriorating builder sentiment could push projects toward rival chains like Solana or Sui.
Top Stories
