ShapeShift Appoints Crypto Veteran Willy Ogorzaly as the Foundation's Head of Decentralization
As the company decentralizes, a handful of positions will be appointed to the Foundation to oversee decentralization; Ogorzaly is the first appointee
DENVER, Aug. 10, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- ShapeShift, a decentralized, non-custodial cryptocurrency platform, has named Willy Ogorzaly, ShapeShift's principal product manager, as head of decentralization within its newly forming Foundation. Ogorzaly will help lead the transfer of open source code, intellectual property and operations to the ShapeShift Decentralized Autonomous Organization (DAO), act as spokesperson for the transitioning entity, and carry forward ShapeShift's mission and product value proposition to the decentralized community.
In July, ShapeShift announced that it would be dissolving all corporate structure and turning its management and operations over to a DAO run by holders of its FOX Token. The foundation's purpose is to oversee this shift and, when its mission is complete, disband. The company will announce additional appointments in the coming weeks.
"I'm so excited to help lead the decentralization of ShapeShift—I can't imagine a more worthwhile project to pour my energy into," said Ogorzaly. "The world deserves an open-source, multi-chain, community-owned interface in the growing decentralized universe, and ShapeShift is in the best position to deliver this. Leading the effort to fully decentralize ShapeShift is a dream come true, and I'm grateful to work with our talented and enthusiastic community to help do it right."
At ShapeShift, Ogorzaly has been responsible for leading product strategy, defining new features and solutions, and ensuring ShapeShift's products meet the needs of the community. Before joining ShapeShift, he co-founded Bitfract, the first tool enabling trades from bitcoin into multiple cryptocurrencies in a single transaction; the company was acquired by ShapeShift in 2018. Willy also actively contributes to Giveth, an open-source and decentralized application for donating to social impact projects.
"Willy was the natural choice for this position," said Erik Voorhees, founder and CEO of ShapeShift. "He lives and breathes DeFi and has been a helpful guide in my own learning. Willy's infectious energy will help a decentralizing ShapeShift build partnerships and community channels to make it successful. He has been an incredibly instrumental force in our team toward building stronger DeFi components into our platform, and we are very pleased to have him driving the decentralization and cross-communications efforts."
About ShapeShift
Since 2014, ShapeShift has been pioneering self-custody for digital asset trading. The company's web and mobile platforms allow users around the world to safely buy, hold, trade and interact with digital assets such as Bitcoin and Ethereum.
Learn more at ShapeShift.com.
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SOURCE ShapeShift
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