Uri Kolodny, the CEO of Ethereum scaling and privacy technology StarkWare, is stepping down due to a family health issue. StarkWare president Eli Ben-Sasson will become CEO, and Kolodny will continue to serve on the StarkWare board of directors, the company said on Thursday.

Kolodny founded StarkWare in 2008 alongside his long-time friend Eli Ben-Sasson. They aimed to create real-world uses for the STARK cryptographic system, which Ben-Sasson co-invented. The company has since secured an $8 billion valuation and built STARK-based technology that powers an ever-growing blockchain ecosystem.

“I remain utterly STARK-pilled, but I’m leaving the CEO post to meet the health needs of my family,” Kolodny said. “The company, and the tech stack it has built, are more advanced after six years than I could have ever dreamed. Led by Eli and the team of 150+ gigabrains, I’m positive that StarkWare will continue to push boundaries of what is possible in scaling Ethereum.”

As well as remaining on StarkWare’s board, where he serves alongside Ben-Sasson, Harish Devarajan and Matt Huang, Kolodny will continue to serve on the board of the Starknet Foundation. The Foundation is a not-for-profit organization that works to achieve Starknet's vision of a thriving, decentralized, and permissionless Ethereum Layer 2 Validity Rollup.