When you name your company Zero Hash, you better bring something more than blockchain bumper stickers. You’re not allowed to half-step when your whole brand is about abstracting chaos into clean, compliant, composable infrastructure. Thankfully, Edward Woodford and team didn’t just show up, they showed out.
Founded in 2017 with a philosophy degree, a finance pedigree, and a résumé that includes launching a CFTC-registered derivatives venue, Edward Woodford didn’t set out to sell shovels in the gold rush. He built the digital jackhammer. And now, after closing a $100 million Series E led by Interactive Brokers (NASDAQ: IBKR), with returning firepower from Bain Capital Ventures, Point72 Ventures, NYCA, and Struck Capital, Zero Hash is inching dangerously close to unicorn territory, clocking a near-billion-dollar post-money valuation.
But don’t get it twisted. This isn’t some DeFi hype cycle wrapped in an API. This is a full-stack, regulated infrastructure machine that’s settled over $20 billion in transactions and helped over 6 million end-users touch digital assets, without those end-users ever knowing the name Zero Hash. That’s the power of embedded finance: being invisible, indispensable, and in the money.
With clients like Stripe, Franklin Templeton, MoonPay, Kalshi, and yes, Interactive Brokers, this isn’t some spray-and-pray portfolio play. Zero Hash is the B2B backbone that plugs crypto, stablecoins, and tokenized assets into the arteries of legacy finance and the lifeblood of fintech. Their RESTful APIs handle everything from fiat on-ramps and custody to real-time settlement and KYC compliance. And they’re not chasing trends, they’re shaping the rails before others even find the station.
That $100 million is already spoken for. Expansion of stablecoin issuance tools? Check. Deeper liquidity and reserve reporting for institutions? Locked. More licenses across EMEA, APAC, and the rest of the globe? Absolutely. Because when your infrastructure operates in 46 U.S. states and Łódź, Poland, it’s not about conquering markets, it’s about eliminating borders.
Let’s not forget the minds behind the machine. Alongside Edward Woodford, you’ve got Cyril Mathew (ex-Stripe, Coinbase, Meta) as President & COO, Matt Weiss as CTO, Stephen Gardner on legal, and Tracey Dale on finance. That’s not a leadership team, it’s a regulatory chessboard designed to scale with precision.
Zero Hash isn’t riding the wave. They’re paving the ocean floor.
And if you’re still wondering whether crypto infrastructure is just a phase, ask yourself this: when the biggest broker on Wall Street leads your round, are you the risk, or are you the rails?
