Jed McCaleb is a software entrepreneur, a co-founder of Stellar and the founder and executive chairman of Vast. He also co-founded Astera Institute, where his current work focuses on neuroscience and artificial general intelligence.
Stellar and earlier crypto projects
McCaleb co-founded the Stellar Development Foundation in 2014. The foundation’s current team page lists him among its leadership and board members, while Astera identifies him as a co-founder and chief architect of the foundation.
Before Stellar, he helped found Ripple. His earlier software projects included the eDonkey file-sharing network and Mt. Gox. He created Mt. Gox’s Bitcoin exchange in 2010 and announced its transfer to a new operator in March 2011. His early involvement should be distinguished from the exchange’s later operations.
Vast
Vast develops commercial space infrastructure. In August 2023, McCaleb appointed Max Haot to succeed him as CEO and moved to a strategic board role. Vast’s current team page identifies McCaleb as founder and executive chairman and Haot as CEO.
Astera and research support
Astera’s current biography identifies McCaleb as co-founder and CEO for its Neuro and AGI work. The organization supports research in biological and artificial intelligence as well as other scientific fields.
McCaleb has also supported the Machine Intelligence Research Institute. In a 2015 essay published by MIRI, he discussed his donations and interest in research on reliable artificial intelligence.
