Welcoming Stephen Chu, Head of Ecosystem

XMTP was launched in October 2022 as a proof of concept for secure, private and portable communications between web3 identities. In less than a year we onboarded over a million wallets, and saw 500+ devs build with XMTP to plug into the network. Then, Coinbase Wallet adopted it as its core messaging layer, and saw unprecedented engagement with its users.

The opportunities and challenges of growing the XMTP network at scale could not be greater, which is why I’m excited to share that Steve Chu has joined XMTP Labs as our new Head of Ecosystem.

Steve has been growing ecosystems globally for over a decade for some of the world’s largest companies and products including Meta’s messaging family of apps (WhatsApp, Instagram Direct, and Messenger) and Samsung devices (mobile, TV, and digital appliances). His expertise in web2 messaging and its value propositions, use cases, and dynamics will help propel XMTP to its next phase of growth.

I asked Steve why he decided to join our mission:

“I’ve seen how powerful and transformative messaging can be in people’s everyday lives. With web2 messaging, I saw entire businesses grow on messaging threads alone (with no brick & mortar store or website!) but also get shut down overnight by a centralized service.

With XMTP, people and businesses are getting a censorship-resistant, end-to-end-encrypted, and private messaging experience that they control and own - safe from any centralized entity. It won’t happen overnight - we need to build together and show the market that this is better than the status quo, but I can’t wait to see what happens when we do.”

Welcome to XMTP Labs, Steve!