In the past couple of weeks, IBM lost two leaders central to its blockchain initiatives, causing a wave of concern about whether Big Blue will remain committed to blockchain technology. Just weeks after Jesse Lund—IBM’s Global Head of Blockchain for Financial Services—left, Stanley Yong—the company’s CTO and Global Lead on Central Bank Digital Currency Solutions—also departed the tech giant. The concern further extends to IBM’s partnership with Stellar, which had already raised eyebrows both internally and externally in the crypto community.

IBM has numerous recently published blockchain-related patent documents, but they were all filed around Bitcoin’s peak in December 2017. Will this major loss in its leadership cause IBM to back down on its blockchain development and lose its #1 spot in the Cryptocurrency sector?