Rethink, Renew: ShapeShift CEO Erik Voorhees to Rebrand Crypto Exchange

Cryptocurrency exchange startup ShapeShift is planning a major rebrand this year.

Announced at ETHDenver, an ethereum developer conference being held in Colorado this weekend, ShapeShift CEO Erik Voorhees said that starting Monday the company will be opening up a closed beta period for selected users so they can try a new version of the cryptocurrency exchange platform focused on simplifying the user experience.

Featuring greater interoperability with ShapeShift's cryptocurrency hardware wallet KeepKey, CMO of ShapeShift Emily Coleman told CoinDesk that the revitalized platform aims to bring together all of the company's disparate products, including cryptocurrency pricing tracker CoinCap.

Voorhees was joined by co-founder of cryptocurrency micropayments service Earn.com Lily Liu, CSO of ethereum venture capital studio ConsenSys Sam Cassatt, and co-founder of decentralized application platform Holochain Arthur Brock on a panel this Saturday about leadership "In times of ambiguity."

"If you're going to be a company in the crypto industry, you're attached to the severe market cycles of the industry. That's full of good and bad," said Voorhees.

Voorhees admitted that one of the hardest decisions of his career was the decision last September to introduce know-your-customer precautions to cryptocurrency exchange platform, ShapeShift.

ShapeShift recently saw a third of its staff laid off as a result of the continued market downturn.

Still, both Voorhees and CSO of ConsenSys Sam Cassatt remain adamant that the industry as a whole - outside of market fluctuations - is booming.

Announced Friday during ETHDenver's opening ceremonies, founder of the company Joseph Lubin revealed ConsenSys plans to invest $150,000 in the cryptocurrency DAI to blockchain-based employment service Opolis.

Leveraging multiple ShapeShift products, the revitalized platform will boast added functionality for users to not only covert one cryptocurrency to another but store and manage their assets all on the same non-custodial exchange.