Jared Grey has stepped down as the head chef and managing director of SushiSwap, transitioning to an advisory role after leading the decentralized exchange (DEX) since 2022. Alex McCurry, founder of Solidity.io and investment firm Synthesis, will take over as managing director following Synthesis's investment, which involved acquiring over 10 million SUSHI tokens worth approximately $3.34 million at current prices.
Grey's tenure, spanning more than three years, was marked by significant challenges, including regulatory scrutiny with an SEC subpoena in 2023, leadership turmoil following the departure of pseudonymous founder Chef Nomi, and platform exploits. Despite this, he emphasized achievements such as steering SushiSwap to profitability in 2024, with the protocol generating over $10 million in revenue across its automated market maker (AMM), aggregator, and related products.
Key developments under Grey included the launch of Blade, a novel AMM product, and a partnership with the Katana Network, a DeFi-focused Layer 2 blockchain backed by Polygon. The Katana integration accumulated over $100 million in total value locked (TVL) on the Sushi app, positioning it as core infrastructure. However, on-chain data reveals a stark contrast: SushiSwap's TVL has plummeted by 98.7% from over $8 billion in early 2022 to around $101.79 million currently, with revenue for 2025 totaling approximately $4.5 million across quarters, indicating a decline.
McCurry brings entrepreneurial experience, having scaled software businesses to eight-figure revenues. In his new role, he aims for aggressive growth, targeting to scale SushiSwap's annual revenue to $20 million+ over the coming years, with a focus on disciplined execution and expansion plans, including a move to Solana. The leadership change comes amid intense competition in the DEX space, with SushiSwap struggling to recapture its former market share.
