Former Cointelegraph CEO Joins Phase as Co-Founder and CEO

The appointment follows the launch of Phase’s Layer 1 blockchain mainnet and AI agent services, backed by $45 million in founder funding.

SAN FRANCISCO, Nov. 11, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Phase, a technology company building the operating layer for the AI agent economy, today announced that Yana Prikhodchenko, former CEO of Cointelegraph, has joined the company as co-founder and CEO. She will lead strategy, global expansion and commercial development, working alongside founder Kirill Eves, as Phase scales its decentralized infrastructure for autonomous AI agents.

Prikhodchenko joins Phase after nearly five years at Cointelegraph, where she served as CEO, leading a global team of more than 200 people and transforming the company from a crypto news platform into a diversified group spanning media, marketing, research, acceleration and industry events. Before joining Cointelegraph, she spent more than a decade in senior leadership roles at major banking and insurance companies, including Allianz.

Phase is building the operating layer for the AI agent economy, giving AI agents everything they need to operate autonomously, from accessing the open web and orchestrating AI models to performing computing tasks and making payments. These services run on Phase's Layer 1 blockchain, powered by a decentralized network of everyday devices whose owners earn rewards for validating transactions and contributing connectivity and computing power.

“AI agents are moving from answering questions to performing real tasks on our behalf, but the infrastructure they depend on was not built for autonomous systems. Phase is building an open, decentralized network that anyone can participate in. My focus is to bring this technology to developers and businesses worldwide and build the ecosystem needed to support the next generation of AI agents,” said Yana Prikhodchenko, co-founder and CEO of Phase.

“Yana brings extensive leadership experience across media, technology and financial services, along with the operational expertise and industry relationships needed to take Phase into its next stage of growth. As we bring our technology to market, she will lead the company's commercial development and global expansion,” said Kirill Eves, founder of Phase.

About Phase

Phase is a technology company building the operating layer for the AI agent economy, with four integrated services that give AI agents everything they need to operate autonomously, from accessing the open web and orchestrating AI models to performing computing tasks and making payments. The platform runs on its own Layer 1 blockchain, powered by a decentralized network of everyday devices. Phase has received $45 million in funding from its founder, Kirill Eves.

Phase Proxy enables AI agents acting on behalf of users to access websites that restrict automated traffic through mobile and residential internet connections. Phase Router intelligently directs requests across leading AI models to optimize quality, performance and cost. Phase Compute harnesses the processing power of devices across the network to run open-weight AI models, while on-chain settlement enables autonomous payments using stablecoins and PHASE, the network’s native token. Phase is building its own AI model to serve as the platform’s central intelligence, capable of advanced reasoning, solving complex tasks independently and orchestrating other AI models.

Unlike most blockchain networks that require dedicated servers or token staking, Phase allows anyone to become a validator simply by downloading the app, without specialized hardware or upfront investment. Its reputation-based consensus and randomized validator selection secure the network and prevent control from concentrating in the hands of a few powerful operators. Phase rewards device owners with PHASE tokens for validating blocks and contributing connectivity and computing power, enabling millions of people to help build the AI economy and share in the value it creates.

For more information, visit phase.xyz.

Media Contact:
press@phase.xyz

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