Larry Cermak

I stepped in as CEO during a period of financial and operational difficulty. Over the following year, I led a comprehensive restructuring of the business to reduce burn and stabilize operations. I focused on building a more sustainable foundation while launching new products, driving strategic partnerships, and positioning the company for long-term growth. Key accomplishments: Led the successful sale of The Block to Foresight Ventures in a $70M deal, following a competitive process with multiple bidders. Worked closely with investment bank Moelis & Company throughout. Appointed to The Block’s board as part of the transaction. Structured and launched a joint venture with Wintermute that resulted in the creation of GMCI, a crypto index provider. Oversaw The Block’s successful multi-million dollar exit from the venture in 2025 and continue to serve on GMCI’s board. Launched Emergence, The Block’s first institutional conference, which brought together 2,000+ attendees from across crypto and traditional finance. The event was recognized as Corporate Event of the Year 2024. Introduced Campus, a crypto-focused hiring and education platform that helps companies asses technical expertise and continuously upskill their teams.

As Head of Research and Data, I built and led one of the most respected research organizations in the crypto industry. I was responsible for team growth, hiring, content strategy, and the development of revenue-generating research products. Key accomplishments: Designed and implemented a rigorous, merit-based hiring process with a 0.4% acceptance rate, attracting over 5,000 applicants. Developed structured assessments and interview formats to evaluate research skills and crypto knowledge. Scaled and managed a 30+ person research team across five specialized departments, setting analysis standards and driving output across research products. Built the most widely used public data dashboard in crypto, aggregating original market, on-chain, and social data. The dashboard became a critical industry resource, regularly cited by the SEC, CFTC, Treasury Department, DOJ, and other government agencies. Built a personal Twitter following of over 200,000 by consistently sharing original research insights in a way that was accessible and engaging for the broader crypto community. Developed a suite of research products that generated over $10M in direct revenue—including in-depth reports, consulting engagements, and recurring subscriptions to The Block Pro, the company’s premium research portal.