Messari CEO Eric Turner Steps Down Amid AI Expansion

Blockchain data provider Messari has announced a series of layoffs on Monday as its CEO, Eric Turner, stepped down to make way for the company’s “next phase” as an AI-first company. 

“Today, I stepped down as CEO of Messari and handed the reins to Diran,” Turner said on X on Monday, referring to Diran Li, who ascended after serving as chief technology officer of the company for more than seven years. 

He added that it “wasn’t an easy decision, but it’s the right one for the company’s next phase, and he has my full support.”

Turner took over as interim CEO in July 2024 following founder Ryan Selkis’ resignation. Speaking about the staff cuts, Turner said it was a “difficult day for the team as we say goodbye to many people who helped build Messari.”

There were no details on the number of staff cuts. Messari laid off roughly 15% of its full-time staff in January 2025 and made a similar workforce reduction in February 2023. 

Messari pivots to an AI-first company 

In a separate post, Diran Li announced that he was stepping into the CEO role at Messari. 

“After conversations with Eric and the board, we agreed this is the right step for the company’s next chapter,” he said.

Li confirmed the cuts, stating that the transition also includes a difficult decision: “We’ve parted ways with many teammates who helped build Messari into what it is today.”

“Looking ahead, we’re doubling down on Messari as an AI-first company serving institutions through research and AI products.”

Messari began as a pure crypto research and data company in 2018, and gradually started incorporating AI into its products in 2024. 

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Blockchain intelligence for agentic AI

Last week, Li announced that Messari was opening its data layer to autonomous agents, adopting the x402 protocol to “bring our institutional-grade crypto intelligence to every builder and agent on the internet.”

The move will allow developers and AI agents to autonomously source and pay for data from the blockchain intelligence company using crypto wallets. 

Messari is the latest crypto native company to expand from the industry to AI, following in the recent footsteps of Core Scientific, Cipher Mining, MARA Holdings, Hut 8, and Galaxy Digital. 

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