Monad Foundation Recruits Top Execs from FalconX, BVNK, Optimism
The Monad Foundation has brought on board three highly experienced senior executives from Optimism, FalconX, and BVNK, signaling a strategic push toward greater institutional adoption in the wake of its mainnet rollout last November.
Urvit Goel steps into the role of vice president of go-to-market, coming over from the Optimism Foundation. Joanita Titan takes on the position of head of institutional growth, having previously spearheaded custody and staking operations at FalconX. Meanwhile, Sagar Sarbhai assumes the responsibilities of head of institutions for the Asia-Pacific region, arriving from his latest position at BVNK.
These professionals bring impressive track records from prestigious institutions such as JP Morgan, Deutsche Bank, Anchorage Digital, Fireblocks, and Amazon, combining deep expertise in traditional finance with specialized knowledge in institutional-grade cryptocurrency infrastructure.
As detailed in an official announcement provided to Cointelegraph, these new team members will concentrate their efforts on developing capital markets strategies, enhancing brand visibility, and driving institutional uptake throughout key Asia-Pacific markets, encompassing locations like Hong Kong, Singapore, Japan, and South Korea.
Monad successfully debuted its public mainnet in November, coinciding with a token sale conducted on Coinbase. Post-launch achievements include accumulating approximately $450 million in stablecoin market capitalization and surpassing $200 million in total value locked within various decentralized finance protocols, as reported by the foundation itself.
The blockchain platform boasts impressive capabilities, handling up to 10,000 transactions per second with finality achieved in under one second, all while maintaining full compatibility with the Ethereum Virtual Machine. According to the foundation, this architecture is specifically engineered to support demanding applications like high-frequency trading and real-time payment systems.
During 2024, Monad Labs—the core development entity powering the network—secured a substantial $225 million in funding, with Paradigm taking the lead in the investment round. With the mainnet now operational, the Monad Foundation has assumed leadership over fostering ecosystem expansion and long-term growth.
Recent layer-1 launches face sharp token value drops
Between 2021 and 2023, the cryptocurrency landscape witnessed a proliferation of layer-1 blockchain projects, such as Avalanche, Near, Aptos, and Sui, among others. However, the momentum for new mainnet deployments has noticeably tapered off in the last year. Despite this slowdown, Monad is far from alone in introducing fresh layer-1 solutions to the market in recent times.
Toward the end of 2024, ZetaChain activated its mainnet, emphasizing seamless interoperability across multiple cryptocurrency networks without relying on bridges or wrapped tokens. Then, in February 2025, the Berachain Foundation initiated its live network—a layer-1 fully compatible with the Ethereum Virtual Machine—alongside an airdrop distributing nearly 80 million BERA tokens to qualifying participants, with an estimated value of around $632 million.
Fast-forward to February 2026, and decentralized exchange Aster revealed that its layer-1 testnet was accessible to all public users, setting the stage for a mainnet debut in the first quarter. The project’s detailed roadmap includes integrating fiat on-ramps, releasing open-source code, and advancing comprehensive ecosystem initiatives throughout the year.
Nevertheless, skepticism persists among some investors regarding the viability of this newest cohort of layer-1 blockchains. In November, prominent crypto figure Arthur Hayes expressed doubts, forecasting that the majority of emerging L1 networks are destined to falter, with only a select few—like Bitcoin, Ether, Solana, and Zcash—poised to maintain lasting significance.
The struggles of these nascent chains are vividly illustrated by their tokens’ recent market performances. Data from CoinMarketCap reveals that ZetaChain’s native token has plummeted roughly 98% from its historical peak, Berachain’s token has declined by about 95%, and Monad’s MON token is currently hovering around 52% below its all-time high, as of this writing.
