Ryan Selkis has resigned as CEO of the data aggregator platform Messari following public controversy over calls for civil war and political remarks on immigrants in the United States as election season heats up.
According to an announcement, Eric Turner, Messari’s chief revenue officer, will head the company. Turner joined Messari in 2018.
“I’ve decided to step aside from my operating CEO role at Messari and transition to the role of Senior Advisor. This was a decision I did not take lightly and one I was very close to making last month, as I considered the problems I was most passionate about tackling in society at large,” reads Selkis’ statement.
Citizen or just a green card holder?
Selkis has actively shared his political views on X, but his recent tone on social media seems to have gone too far. “Anyone that votes against Trump at this point can die in a fucking fire. Literal war,” he said in an X post after the attempted assassination of former President Donald Trump on July 13.
In a subsequent discussion with a follower on X, Selkis questioned the individual’s immigration status. After the follower replied that they were a green card holder who had been living in the United States for nearly ten years, Selkis responded by expressing a wish that the user could be deported.
Selkis later said on X that he apologized privately to the individual.
Crypto policy
Selkis’ announcement hinted at possibly getting more involved in upcoming elections. According to the now-former CEO, he will devote his entire attention to addressing “systemic problems” in institutions.
“On a personal level, I was horrified at the attempted assassination of President Trump this past Saturday, and have been disgusted at the media and administration’s abject failures at pressing for answers in the attack’s aftermath, as well as their failure to tamp down divisive rhetoric that contributed to the attack in the first place. I will be channeling all of my energies into addressing the underlying issues that have led to these systemic problems in our institutions.”
Messari said in a later comment that Selkis will now devote his time to working on crypto policy.