Leadership Change at SushiSwap
Jared Grey, who served as head chef and managing director of Sushi Labs, announced on Monday that he would transition into an advisory role.
Alex McCurry, the founder of Solidity.io and current leader of investment firm Synthesis, will assume the position of managing director following Synthesis’s investment in SushiSwap.
This leadership change marks Grey's departure after more than three years at the helm of the SushiSwap decentralized exchange. During his tenure, he navigated significant challenges including leadership transitions, platform exploits, and regulatory scrutiny since the platform's founding in 2020.
Grey's stepping down occurs as SushiSwap achieved profitability in 2024, generating over $10 million in revenue across its AMM, aggregator, and related products.
“Leading Sushi has been a dream role, and I’m proud of what we’ve accomplished, even though there’s so much more work to do,” Grey stated in a post on X. “Even though I’m stepping down from my leadership position, I remain committed to providing strategic guidance to Alex and the team.”
SushiSwap Navigates Turbulence to Stability
Grey took over leadership in 2022, following a period of internal turmoil that involved several leadership changes. The protocol was initially launched as a fork of Uniswap during the 2020 decentralized finance boom. However, it soon faced instability after the departure of its pseudonymous founder and lead developer, Chef Nomi, who withdrew $14 million from the project before later returning it and issuing an apology to the community.
Under Grey's leadership, SushiSwap successfully navigated a complex regulatory environment, culminating in an SEC subpoena in 2023. He focused on streamlining operations, stating, “During my tenure, we weathered a severe regulatory regime and streamlined operations.”
Grey also highlighted product development achievements, noting, “On the product side, the team built one of the industry’s most distributed and performant aggregators, expanded our multi-chain reach by supporting 20+ new network launches.”
Key developments during his leadership included the introduction of Blade, an innovative automated market maker (AMM) product, and a strategic partnership with the Katana network. Katana is a DeFi-focused Layer 2 blockchain supported by Polygon, which launched in June 2024.
The Katana integration has resulted in over $100 million in total value locked (TVL) on the Sushi app alone, establishing Sushi as critical liquidity and routing infrastructure for emerging ecosystems, according to the SushiSwap team.
Grey also mentioned the collaboration with the Ekubo Protocol. SushiSwap was the first entity to license Ekubo's multichain AMM infrastructure. In an announcement regarding this partnership, Grey expressed, “There’s no better partner for our AMM vision than the industry’s leading team in concentrated liquidity and AMM tech. We’re excited to work together and continue growing our ecosystems.”
Ambitious Growth Targets Under New Leadership
McCurry brings substantial entrepreneurial experience to his new role, having successfully built and scaled software businesses to achieve eight-figure revenues. His firm, Synthesis, investing in SushiSwap signifies confidence in the protocol's future prospects, even amidst intensifying competition within the decentralized exchange sector.
“I am super excited to be joining SushiSwap, leading the protocol is a dream opportunity,” McCurry wrote on X. He added, “Sushi has strong PMF and an opportunity for an ambitious roadmap.”
In their announcement on X, SushiSwap indicated plans to increase revenue targets. The statement read, “With Synthesis’s backing, our goal is to scale this to $20M+ in annual revenue over the coming years, with a focus on disciplined growth, clear execution, and sustainable business fundamentals.”
McCurry emphasized that aggressive execution will be crucial for capturing market share as the cryptocurrency market continues to mature.