Henri Stern is a French entrepreneur and engineer known as the co-founder and CEO of the wallet infrastructure company Privy. He works on products focused on stablecoin payments and financial infrastructure and is an active contributor to industry discussions on global payments, regulation, and the evolving stablecoin ecosystem. ^[2]​

Education

Stern earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in Computer and Information Sciences and Intellectual History from Columbia University. He later completed a Master’s in Computer Science at Stanford University. During his time at Stanford, he was also involved in academic cryptography research, where he collaborated with noted researchers in the field, including Dan Boneh and David Mazières. ^[3]

Career

Stern began his career in finance as an investment banking summer analyst at Lazard in 2012, where he gained exposure to financial analysis and capital markets. In 2013, he co-founded his first company, Shout Inc., a consumer-focused business where he was involved in product development and company operations until 2015. He has since reflected on this early entrepreneurial experience, noting in a September 2025 podcast that the lessons learned informed his approach to iteration, decision-making, and assessing market feedback at Privy.

In 2016, Stern transitioned to a role as a forward-deployed engineer at Palantir Technologies, working with clients to implement data-driven software solutions. He subsequently worked as a software engineer at Mark43 in 2017, contributing to public safety technology systems. From 2018 to 2020, Stern served as a research scientist at Protocol Labs. In this role, he worked on decentralized systems and protocols, including research and development related to the Filecoin network. ^[4]

Privy

Stern co-founded Privy with Asta Li in September 2021 and became its CEO, initially focusing the company on linking and securing off-chain user data, such as emails and names, with on-chain crypto addresses. As developer and market requirements evolved, Stern later stated in November 2025 that Privy shifted away from data tokenization toward wallet infrastructure, concentrating on user authentication, secure key management, and simplifying onboarding for blockchain-based applications. In November 2023, Privy raised an $18 million Series A round led by Paradigm, following earlier institutional backing from Sequoia Capital. On June 11, 2025, Stern announced Privy’s acquisition by Stripe, explaining in subsequent discussions that the transaction aimed to improve access to crypto infrastructure for businesses such as neobanks and decentralized finance applications, while Privy continued operating as an independent product within Stripe. ^{[1] [5]}

Interviews

Privy

In a November 2025 interview with theCUBE in New York City, Stern discussed Privy’s work on embedded wallet infrastructure and its role in connecting financial systems with consumer and enterprise applications. He described a partnership with Stripe to expand access to stablecoins and decentralized finance. He outlined how wallet infrastructure centers on secure key management to simplify user interactions with digital assets. Stern also addressed how embedded wallets can bridge crypto and non-crypto applications, the potential role of real-world assets on blockchain networks, and the use of AI to support automated transactions and machine-to-machine payments. The conversation further examined how open financial infrastructure enables startups and established institutions to build new products at scale, concluding with a focus on practical financial use cases and improving how applications move and manage money. ^[11]

Stablecoin Special

In a November 2025 discussion with John Collison of Stripe, Stern joined Zach Abrams of Bridge to discuss stablecoins, focusing on their development, use cases, and integration into financial systems. Stern described Privy’s origins during a period of heightened crypto activity, noting its shift from data tokenization to wallet infrastructure to meet developer and market needs, while Bridge was discussed as a platform enabling stablecoin-based payments and fund management. The conversation examined early and emerging stablecoin use cases, particularly in cross-border payments and services in emerging markets, as well as challenges related to market efficiency, spending controls, and system integration. The discussion also addressed regulatory developments such as MiCA, expectations for broader adoption of local and global stablecoins, and how Privy and Bridge integrate with Stripe’s infrastructure, concluding with expectations that stablecoins will become a more established component of international financial systems. ^[7]

Stripe x Privy

In an October 2025 interview on the Lightspeed podcast, Stern discussed Privy’s role in improving crypto onboarding and transaction management following its acquisition by Stripe. He explained that the acquisition addressed the need for simpler entry points into crypto for a wide range of businesses, including neobanks and decentralized finance applications. He described Privy’s focus on secure, accessible wallet infrastructure. Stern also examined broader trends in crypto payments, the integration of blockchain-based transactions with traditional financial systems, and the challenges of fiat on

• and off-ramps. The conversation covered emerging concepts such as agent-driven payments, Privy’s multi-chain approach, competitive dynamics within the wallet ecosystem, and expectations for continued convergence between decentralized technologies and global commerce. ^[9]

Developing Privy Infrastructure

In a September 2025 interview on the New Money podcast, Stern discussed lessons from his earlier startup experience and how those informed the development of Privy. He compared the formation and execution of his first company with Privy, noting differences in iteration, decision-making, and responses to market feedback. Stern described early product development challenges, the importance of assessing market fit, and ongoing adjustments to wallet infrastructure and onboarding tools as the crypto landscape evolved. The conversation also addressed competition in wallet and fintech infrastructure, Privy’s technical approach to secure key management, the company’s acquisition by Stripe, and planned infrastructure improvements to support changing user and market requirements. ^[6]

Stablecoin Cards

In a May 2025 episode of the Tokenized podcast, hosts Simon Taylor and Kai spoke with Stern of Privy and Jelena Djuric of Noble about developments in stablecoins and global fintech infrastructure. The discussion covered Visa’s partnership with Bridge and Stripe to support stablecoin-linked cards, as well as Mastercard’s efforts to enable broader stablecoin acceptance through partnered wallets, with a focus on expanding payment capabilities across multiple countries, including markets in Latin America. The conversation also addressed projected growth in the stablecoin market, regulatory responses such as initiatives by Korean banks, and related topics, including Worldcoin’s digital identity project, placing these developments within the evolving landscape of global payments and financial regulation. ^[10]