David Marcus
People · Bitcoin

David Marcus

American entrepreneur (born 1973) · Co-founder and CEO of Lightspark and former head of Meta’s crypto efforts

Latest 6d ago
Organization
Lightspark
Role
co-founder and CEO
Born
1973 (age 52–53)
Focus
Bitcoin
Also known as
David A. Marcus | Mărcuș
Nationality
American
Education
Attended University of Geneva
Reference
Wikipedia

Profile by The Voices DeskReviewed under editorial standardsUpdated September 26, 2026Corrections

Who is David Marcus?

David Marcus is an American entrepreneur and the co-founder and CEO of Lightspark, a cryptocurrency startup focused on Bitcoin and the Lightning Network. He is known for his leadership in the technology and cryptocurrency sectors, having previously served as President of PayPal and as Vice President of Messaging Products at Facebook, where he led Facebook Messenger. Marcus also headed Meta’s crypto efforts and was the co-creator of the Diem cryptocurrency project.

Career

Marcus began his entrepreneurial career in 1996 by founding GTN Telecom, a Geneva-based internet and telephone service provider. He later became President of PayPal before moving to Facebook in 2014 to lead Facebook Messenger. He served as Vice President of Messaging Products until 2018 and later headed Meta’s crypto efforts, co-creating Diem. Marcus stepped down from Facebook in 2021 and co-founded Lightspark in May 2022, focusing on Bitcoin and the Lightning Network.

What is David Marcus known for?

  • Co-founder and CEO of Lightspark
  • Former President of PayPal
  • Former VP of Messaging Products at Facebook
  • Co-creator of Diem
  • Works on Bitcoin and the Lightning Network

What David Marcus has said

“In 2014 I went nearly a week without sleep. I was running PayPal and attackers were inside our corporate network. They'd compromised an eBay employee's laptop, got onto the VPN, taken over a domain controller and made themselves domain admins. eBay and PayPal were one company then, on one Windows network. They stole 145M eBay user records, then came for the segregated vault holding PayPal's card credentials. We fo…”
“Europe: Break Glass Emergency Protocol Europe is spiraling. It’s been on a downward trajectory for a while, but now is time for a last resort common-sense plan while we still can: 1) Bring back a value system anchored in meritocracy. Reward ability, effort and results. Find role models from each community and walk of life, make them national heroes. Find ones on the other end of the spectrum and make punitive exam…”

Frequently asked

Who is David Marcus?
David Marcus is the co-founder and CEO of Lightspark, a cryptocurrency startup focused on Bitcoin and the Lightning Network. He is an American entrepreneur known for his leadership roles at PayPal and Facebook, where he led Messenger and Meta’s crypto efforts.
What is David Marcus known for?
Marcus is known for co-founding Lightspark, a company working on Bitcoin and the Lightning Network. He also previously served as President of PayPal, led Facebook Messenger, and was the co-creator of the Diem cryptocurrency project.
Where does David Marcus share views on Bitcoin?
The provided source does not state where David Marcus shares views on Bitcoin.

People to follow on bitcoin

How this page works

Statements are reported from David Marcus’s own public posts, quoted verbatim, checked against the original before publication, and linked to it. The profile is drawn from the public record, principally the person’s encyclopedia entry, and was last reviewed September 26, 2026. We do not publish net worth estimates or family details; a birth year appears only where the public record states it. Photo: Wikimedia Commons / David A. Marcus. Stories are AI-assisted and human-reviewed under the Gokhshtein Media editorial standards; errors are logged on the corrections page. Inclusion here is editorial and is not an endorsement of any view, product, or asset. Something wrong or out of date? content@gokhshtein.com.