Ignite CEO announces departure after seven years

Peng Zhong stepped down as CEO roughly a month after former company head Jae Kwon said he would be leading NewTendermint, part of Ignite’s split to two firms in May.

Peng Zhong, the chief executive officer of Ignite — formerly Tendermint and backer of the Cosmos ecosystem — has announced he will be leaving the firm.

In a Friday tweet to his more than 20,000 followers, Zhong said July 1 will be his last day at Ignite, where he has been working as CEO since May 2020. Prior to that, the now-former Ignite CEO was chief design officer at the firm’s Kuala Lumpur and Toronto offices since he started in 2015. It’s unclear what led to his decision to leave the company.

Today is my last day at Ignite. Thank you for the camaraderie we shared as we built out this ecosystem. It’s been an honor to be a part of this team and this community. I will miss you.

— Peng Zhong (@zcpeng) July 1, 2022

Ignite, formerly known as Tendermint, is a core contributor to the Cosmos ecosystem. During Zhong’s time at the firm, many knew him for developing the first Cosmos crypto wallet, Voyager, later renamed Lunie, and helping facilitate the introduction of liquid staking to the ecosystem.

Co-founded by software developers Jae Kwon and Ethan Buchman in 2014, Cosmos allows interoperability between blockchains by making information flow and transactions seemingly easier to execute. Kwon left his position as Tendermint CEO in 2020, but returned following the company’s rebrand in May creating Ignite and NewTendermint — he is now CEO of the newly branched firm.

Related: ‘We’ll see about 200 chains connected through Cosmos’ IBC next year,’ says Tendermint CEO Peng Zhong

According to data from Cointelegraph Markets Pro, the price of Cosmos (ATOM) is $8.09 at the time of publication, having risen more than 3.5% since Zhong’s announcement.

Cointelegraph reached out to Jae Kwon and Peng Zhong, but did not receive a response at the time of publication. This story may be updated.