Nicholas Hammer, co-founder and CEO of cryptocurrency lender Blockfills, recently resigned from his leadership position, according to a person with direct knowledge of the matter.
The company’s website now lists Joseph Perry as interim CEO.
The leadership change comes as the company suffered losses of around $75 million and suspended customer deposits and withdrawals earlier this month.
Blockfills is also said to have urged some customers to withdraw their crypto assets before the platform stopped deposits and withdrawals on Feb. 11, said the person, who spoke on condition of anonymity as the matter is private. Customer deposits remain suspended at the time of publication.
CoinDesk reported last week that the Chicago-based company was looking for a buyer after the losses.
Blockfills or Hammer did not respond to a request for comment at the time of publication.
The company said in the Feb. 11 press release that it was working with investors and customers to reach a quick resolution and restore liquidity to the platform.
“Clients have been able to continue trading with BlockFills for the purposes of opening and closing positions in spot and derivatives trading and select other circumstances,” the company said at the time.
Blockfills’ abrupt halt to withdrawals revives memories of the crypto winter of 2022, when companies like Celsius, BlockFi, and Genesis froze customer accounts as markets crumbled.
The market has struggled to regain traction in early 2026, with major tokens well below recent highs amid cautious sentiment. bitcoin has remained below $70,000 after a sharp pullback from its late-2025 all-time high, while ether (ETH) is trading around $2,000 amid weakness across the digital asset market.
The company said it handled more than $60 billion in trading volume in 2025, up 28% from the previous year, and is among the most active institutional cryptocurrency lending and lending desks. It serves approximately 2,000 institutional clients, including hedge funds, asset managers and mining companies.
Blockfills is backed by investors such as Susquehanna Private Equity Investments, CME Ventures, Simplex Ventures, C6E, and Nexo. The company raised $37 million in a January 2022 Series A funding round.
Read more: Susquehanna-backed Blockfills for sale after $75M credit loss
