Nicholas Hammer, co-founder and CEO of crypto lender Blockfills, recently resigned from his leadership role, 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 also reportedly 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 because the matter is private. Customer deposits remain suspended as 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 February 11 press release that it was working with investors and customers to achieve a speedy resolution and restore liquidity to the platform.
“Customers were able to continue trading with BlockFills for the purpose of opening and closing positions in spot and derivatives trading and in other circumstances,” the company said at the time.
Blockfills’ abrupt halt to withdrawals revives memories of the crypto winter of 2022, when companies including Celsius, BlockFi, and Genesis froze customer accounts as markets crashed.
The market has struggled to regain ground in early 2026, with major tokens well below recent highs amid caution. Bitcoin has remained below $70,000 after a sharp decline from its all-time high in late 2025, while ether (ETH) is trading around $2,000 amid weakness in the digital asset market.
The company said it processed more than $60 billion in transaction volume in 2025, up 28% from the previous year, and ranks among the most active institutional cryptocurrency lending and borrowing offices. It serves around 2,000 institutional clients, including hedge funds, asset managers and mining companies.
Blockfills is backed by investors including Susquehanna Private Equity Investments, CME Ventures, Simplex Ventures, C6E and Nexo. The company raised $37 million in a Series A funding round in January 2022.
Learn more: Susquehanna-backed Blockfills is up for sale after $75 million loan loss
