Sam Blackshear Leaves Mysten Labs for Anthropic as SUI Draws Attention
Key Takeaways
- •Sam Blackshear, creator of the Move programming language and Mysten Labs co-founder, is leaving the company to pursue defensive security research at Anthropic while remaining an advisor to the Sui ecosystem.
- •Evan Web3 will take over technical leadership at Mysten Labs, resuming direct oversight of engineering and research as both CEO and CTO during what he described as a pivotal twelve-month period.
- •The Move language, originally developed by Blackshear at Meta for the Diem blockchain, also powers the rival Layer 1 network Aptos.
- •Following the announcement, $SUI traded at approximately $0.6848, declining 1.02% over the prior 24 hours.
- •Analyst Benji reported a 30% weekly increase in stablecoin supply on the Sui network and monthly net inflows of $921,000, indicating a possible disconnect between strengthening on-chain activity and stagnant price action.
Sam Blackshear Leaves Mysten Labs for Anthropic as SUI Draws Attention
Move programming language creator and Mysten Labs co-founder Sam Blackshear has announced that he is leaving the company to join Anthropic, where he will focus on defensive security research. Blackshear said he will step away from day-to-day operations but continue supporting the Sui ecosystem as an advisor to Mysten Labs, Sui builders, and the planned Move Foundation.
Move, the language Blackshear originally developed at Meta for the Diem blockchain project, also powers rival Layer 1 Aptos. His continued advisory role signals that Mysten Labs intends to maintain continuity around Move's development even as leadership shifts internally.
Following the announcement, $SUI traded around $0.6848, down 1.02% over the previous 24 hours.
I am leaving Mysten Labs and joining Anthropic to work on defensive security research. — Sam Blackshear (@b1ackd0g) August 5, 2026
I am leaving Mysten Labs and joining Anthropic to work on defensive security research.
Leadership Transition at Mysten Labs
With Blackshear departing, Evan Web3 will take over the company's technical leadership.
Evan said he will return to leading engineering and research teams directly, overseeing the full research-to-product cycle as both CEO and CTO. He described the next 12 months as a pivotal period for Mysten Labs and said he intends to remain closely involved in product development.
With Sam's departure, I'm returning to my roots: leading technical teams and the research > engineering > product cycle. As CTO & CEO, I'll be close to the work, hands-on, in the trenches. The next twelve months are pivotal. I'm energized. Let's go. — evan.sui (@EvanWeb3) August 5, 2026
With Sam's departure, I'm returning to my roots: leading technical teams and the research > engineering > product cycle. As CTO & CEO, I'll be close to the work, hands-on, in the trenches. The next twelve months are pivotal. I'm energized. Let's go.
August Price Action Keeps $SUI in Focus
Even with the leadership change, some market observers are focusing more on $SUI's on-chain activity than on the token's price. Analyst Benji said stablecoin supply on the network jumped 30% this week, marking the largest increase he has tracked over the past two months. He also said monthly net inflows reached $921,000, compared with a prior baseline of about $40,000.
🚨 For a month I said the same thing about $SUI : I don't trust any turn until stablecoin supply confirms. It kept failing. Every green week faded. This week it didn't fade. It ripped. Stablecoin supply +30% on the week the biggest jump in the entire stretch I'm tracking.… pic.twitter.com/iCvA0K9aVK — Benji (@benjamin_woods) August 5, 2026
🚨 For a month I said the same thing about $SUI : I don't trust any turn until stablecoin supply confirms. It kept failing. Every green week faded. This week it didn't fade. It ripped. Stablecoin supply +30% on the week the biggest jump in the entire stretch I'm tracking.… pic.twitter.com/iCvA0K9aVK
Despite the stronger inflows, $SUI continues to trade near $0.69, which Benji described as a disconnect between improving network activity and price performance. He said this is the first time in months that capital inflows have strengthened while price has remained largely unchanged. He added that total value locked (TVL), network fees, and a move above $0.72 are still needed before the trend becomes more convincing.
Another analyst, Kaleo, said the $SUI / $BTC pair is approaching the same support zone where it rebounded in August 2024, before rallying 5x over the next four months.
$SUI / $BTC is approaching the support level it bounced off in August of 2024 when it proceeded to print a 5x over the course of the next four months pic.twitter.com/B4W9TE8yDN — K A L E O (@CryptoKaleo) August 5, 2026
$SUI / $BTC is approaching the support level it bounced off in August of 2024 when it proceeded to print a 5x over the course of the next four months pic.twitter.com/B4W9TE8yDN
Kaleo did not make a price prediction, but said the current setup is worth monitoring if buyers continue defending that level.