Blockchain Association CEO Summer Mersinger will leave the role on Oct. 16, with former chief executive Kristin Smith returning as interim CEO the following day. Mersinger will remain an adviser through the end of the year to support the transition. Smith, the association's first hire in 2018 and CEO until 2025, will retain her position as president of the Solana Policy Institute while taking on the interim role and continuing as president of the association's board. The change follows the Senate's 49-50 failure on Sept. 15 to end debate on the CLARITY Act, falling 11 votes short of the 60 required. Mersinger joined the group in June 2025 after serving as a Commodity Futures Trading Commission commissioner and led the association during passage of the GENIUS Act, the stablecoin framework signed into law in July 2025 by President Trump.