Algorand Appoints W. Sean Ford as Interim CEO

Algorand, a leading blockchain technology company, today announced the appointment of the firm’s current COO W. Sean Ford as Interim CEO, effective July 27, 2022. Mr. Ford succeeds G. Steven Kokinos, who is leaving the company to pursue other interests and will stay on as a senior advisor until mid-2023.

Founded by Turing award winner and MIT professor Silvio Micali in 2017, Algorand is a fully decentralized, secure, and scalable blockchain network that provides a common platform for building products and services for a borderless economy. As COO, Mr. Ford was responsible for go-to-market execution and operations including product management, engineering, marketing and global community development.

“We thank Steven for his time and dedication to Algorand. He has been instrumental to the initial success of our business, and we appreciate his commitment to a seamless transition,” said Mr. Micali. “Sean is well positioned to partner with me to keep the company operations running business as usual, and to help us transition Algorand to our next phase of growth.”

Mr. Kokinos stated: “It has been a pleasure serving as CEO of Algorand. As we move into this next phase, I am excited about the company’s future and am confident that the team will keep things running smoothly.”

“I am honored to step in and partner with Silvio during this transition,” said Mr. Ford. “Algorand has experienced monumental growth since its inception, and we look forward to our continued expansion as we take Algorand to the next level.”

Algorand has experienced significant growth this year. The company was recently appointed the official blockchain platform of the Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA), the international governing body of association football, and will help the organization develop its digital assets strategy.

Mr. Ford joined Algorand in 2018 from LogMeIn, where he was the Chief Marketing Officer responsible for global marketing strategy, product marketing, ecommerce, communications, brand leadership, and demand generation. An experienced operations and go-to-market executive, Sean previously worked at Avid Technology, where he led worldwide marketing strategy and operations as a member of the company’s Executive Leadership Team. He has also held several executive leadership roles including CMO and COO of Zmags, CMO of Syncsort, and as vice-president of Global Business Unit (GBU) marketing at Oracle.

At the start of his professional career, Mr. Ford spent seven years as a senior strategy consultant with Monitor Group, and in 1999 he co-founded Upromise, Inc. where he was vice-president of product management and product marketing. He earned a BA in English from Williams College and an MBA from Harvard University Graduate School of Business.

About Algorand

Algorand is transforming economic models and economies of all kinds. Founded by Turing Award–winning cryptographer Silvio Micali, Algorand’s high–performing Layer-1 blockchain is unparalleled for bringing fast, frictionless, and inclusive technologies to everyone. Algorand is reshaping every industry–from TradFi and DeFi to new creator economies and beyond. With an extraordinary commitment to interoperability and consistent delivery, our sustainable technology powers more participation, transparency, and efficiency for all. As the technology of choice for 2000+ global organizations, the Algorand ecosystem is transforming the next generation of financial products, protocols and exchange of value. For more information, visit www.algorand.com.