# Zach Walsh > Zach Walsh is an American fintech entrepreneur and the CEO and co-founder of HIFI, a company building stablecoin and blockchain-based payments infrastructure and APIs. - Canonical URL: https://iq.wiki/wiki/zach-walsh - Categories: People in crypto - Tags: Founder - Created: 2026-10-01T02:24:47.276Z - Last updated: 2026-10-01T03:29:53.364Z - Source: IQ.wiki — the world's largest blockchain and crypto encyclopedia (https://iq.wiki) --- **Zach Walsh** is the co-founder and chief executive officer of [HIFI](https://iq.wiki/wiki/hifi), a New York–based payments infrastructure company. He has led HIFI since the company's founding in 2022, building it into a platform that uses [blockchain](https://iq.wiki/wiki/blockchain) technology and [stablecoins](https://iq.wiki/wiki/stablecoin) to move money internationally for business customers.[\[1\]](#cite-id-bwbosubl1d)​[\[2\]](#cite-id-mba10dlyxp) Based in New York City, Walsh holds a Bachelor of Arts in Economics, awarded Cum Laude, from The City University of New York.[\[3\]](#cite-id-cz2c8mob5d)​ ## Early Life and Education Walsh earned a Bachelor of Arts in Economics from The City University of New York, graduating Cum Laude.[[3]](#cite-id-cz2c8mob5d)[[1]](#cite-id-bwbosubl1d) According to an account he gave to investor Jeff Becker, Walsh left college to work at Sequoia-backed companies during the day while finishing his degree at night, and slept on a friend's couch to make the arrangement work.[[4]](#cite-id-2jnnqokzir) His mother is an EMDR therapist, a detail Walsh has connected to his own approach to managing stress as a founder.[[4]](#cite-id-2jnnqokzir) ## Career #### Early Career Zach Walsh held product roles at several technology and payments companies in New York City between 2016 and 2022. His experience included work in global digital business at Sony, as well as positions at Uber and Quadpay, a buy-now-pay-later company. At Quadpay, he worked on the company's growth before its acquisition by Zip, an Australian payments company listed on the Australian Securities Exchange (ASX). His professional history also includes a position as Chief Product Officer at Quidd from May to November 2022, which served as a basis for later work with [digital assets](https://iq.wiki/wiki/digital-assets). #### HIFI Walsh co-founded [HIFI](https://iq.wiki/wiki/hifi) in March 2022 with [Mohamed Afifi](https://iq.wiki/wiki/mohamed-afifi), also known as Mo, who serves as the company's co-founder and chief operating officer. Originally known as HIFI Bridge, the company initially focused on e-commerce checkout before shifting toward financial infrastructure and payment services. During its early development, the founders worked with five engineering teams. Both Walsh and Afifi have described themselves as non-technical founders, with responsibilities centered on business development, partnerships, and market entry. ​[HIFI](https://iq.wiki/wiki/hifi) operates as an application programming interface (API) platform for businesses that process payments and transfer funds. Its customers range from small startups to Fortune 100 companies. The company is headquartered in New York City, where its office moved from a WeWork location to a 6,000-square-foot space near Madison Square Park. By 2026, [HIFI](https://iq.wiki/wiki/hifi) employed between 20 and 30 people, with team members distributed across the United States, Canada, Brazil, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom. Profiles published that year reported approximately 160% year-over-year employee growth. Walsh has attributed the company's founding to gaps in existing payment infrastructure. The company's subsequent development coincided with changes in the regulatory environment for stablecoins in the United States and increased industry activity involving payment infrastructure providers, including Stripe's acquisition of Bridge. #### Antler and Funding In spring 2023, Walsh joined Antler, an early-stage venture platform, as part of [HIFI's](https://iq.wiki/wiki/hifi) fundraising and development process. During the company's first investment round at Antler, HIFI did not receive the required votes. Antler partner Jeff Becker nevertheless supported Walsh and later discussed his decision to invest in the company. Walsh has credited Antler's network with helping [HIFI](https://iq.wiki/wiki/hifi) establish connections with investors and raise additional capital. The company's profile records $8.2 million in funding across three earlier rounds. Walsh did not publicly announce those rounds. In February 2026, Becker reported that [HIFI](https://iq.wiki/wiki/hifi) had a valuation of $150 million. On September 25, 2026, the company announced a $37 million Series A funding round to expand its activities in [stablecoin](https://iq.wiki/wiki/stablecoin) payments and tokenized markets. #### Growth and Operations ​[HIFI](https://iq.wiki/wiki/hifi) provides payment services using [blockchain](https://iq.wiki/wiki/blockchain) technology and stablecoins to facilitate international money transfers. Its operations include a partnership with [Circle](https://iq.wiki/wiki/circle), the issuer of the [USDC](https://iq.wiki/wiki/usdc) [stablecoin](https://iq.wiki/wiki/stablecoin). In April 2025, Walsh announced the partnership alongside Circle's [Jeremy Allaire ](https://iq.wiki/wiki/jeremy-allaire)and Sunil Sharma. He stated that the companies had spent the previous six months working on a shared standard for money transfers. By July 2025, the companies were processing transfers into Brazil and Hong Kong. [HIFI](https://iq.wiki/wiki/hifi) later added payment routes through the Circle Payment Network (CPN). Antler reported that these routes had facilitated more than $100 million in payments. In a February 2026 account, Becker stated that HIFI had become one of Circle's largest payment processors within a year. Walsh reported in May 2025 that [HIFI](https://iq.wiki/wiki/hifi) had minted more than $500 million in assets for business customers during the preceding 60 days. In 2026, Antler reported an annualized transaction volume of $6 billion across the company's networks, with hundreds of thousands of transactions processed monthly. In February of that year, Becker stated that HIFI could process up to $20 billion in transaction volume during 2026. These figures were reported by company representatives or associated investors and were not identified as independently audited results. In June 2026, Walsh reported that [HIFI](https://iq.wiki/wiki/hifi) had completed a repurchase agreement (repo) transaction on the [Canton](https://iq.wiki/wiki/canton-network) Network. In discussing the transaction, he cited $12.6 trillion in daily outstanding exposures in the U.S. repo market. Walsh has stated that his focus remains on developing [HIFI's](https://iq.wiki/wiki/hifi) payment infrastructure and expanding its operations. He has also indicated that he intends to continue building the company despite reported interest in mergers and acquisitions. #### Management and Leadership Walsh has described several practices he uses to manage his work and coordinate [HIFI's](https://iq.wiki/wiki/hifi) operations. One is a framework he calls "Feel the Feel," which involves allowing approximately 30 seconds for an emotional reaction to a problem before concentrating on possible solutions. He has also discussed attention to detail in product development, recruitment, and office design. To communicate with [HIFI's](https://iq.wiki/wiki/hifi) distributed workforce, Walsh prepares a company-wide memorandum every Sunday night. According to Walsh, these documents record his thinking, provide employees with information about company decisions, and allow team members to raise objections through comments in a shared Google Doc. Walsh has also discussed the decision to discontinue projects that are not progressing as intended. He has cited examples of entrepreneurs pursuing multiple ventures before establishing a successful business, describing the termination of one initiative as a transition to another. In February 2025, Walsh wrote about the management of banking relationships in the financial technology sector, stating that bank partnerships can be difficult to maintain even when they are relatively straightforward to establish. Walsh has described his approach to company growth as a focus on daily operational progress rather than a predetermined valuation target. In September 2026, he wrote, "Everything I build is for God, family, and others around me." [\[1\]](#cite-id-bwbosubl1d) [\[2\]](#cite-id-mba10dlyxp) [\[3\]](#cite-id-cz2c8mob5d) [\[4\]](#cite-id-2jnnqokzir) ## Interviews #### Stablecoin Infrastructure and Company Development #01 On February 3, 2026, Zach Walsh, founder of [HiFi](https://iq.wiki/wiki/hifi), appeared on the Further, Faster podcast, hosted by Jeff Becker, a partner at Antler Global. The discussion covered HiFi’s business model, stablecoin payment infrastructure, company development, and Walsh’s approach to entrepreneurship. [YOUTUBE@VID](9o2gDm9oDSg) Walsh described [stablecoins](https://iq.wiki/wiki/stablecoin) as [digital assets](https://iq.wiki/wiki/digital-assets) designed to maintain a fixed value relative to an underlying asset, such as the US dollar. According to his account, their use in payments can reduce settlement times and transaction costs compared with some traditional financial processes. He also discussed their application in markets where currency volatility and limited access to banking services affect individuals and businesses seeking to hold or transfer dollar-denominated value. ​[HiFi](https://iq.wiki/wiki/hifi) provides application programming interfaces (APIs) that allow businesses to integrate [stablecoin](https://iq.wiki/wiki/stablecoin) transfers into financial products, including remittance services, cross-border payment systems, and treasury operations. Walsh explained that these services can use stablecoins as an intermediary between currencies, allowing funds to be converted into a digital dollar-denominated asset, transferred through a [blockchain](https://iq.wiki/wiki/blockchain) network, and converted into the destination currency. Regarding company development, Walsh discussed the process of refining [HiFi’s](https://iq.wiki/wiki/hifi) business model in response to market conditions and customer needs. He described product experimentation and the reassessment of initial plans as elements of the company's development. He also discussed the challenges faced by non-technical co-founders, including recruiting engineers and establishing the capabilities required to develop financial products. Walsh outlined his approach to organizational management, emphasizing written documentation, transparent communication, and defined responsibilities. He described the use of regular departmental meetings and weekly objectives to coordinate activities across teams. According to Walsh, documenting decisions and their rationale helps employees understand company priorities and make decisions with greater independence as the organization expands. The discussion also addressed recruitment and co-founder relationships. Walsh identified intellectual curiosity, motivation, and a willingness to work through complex problems as qualities he considers when evaluating prospective employees. He described trust, mutual respect, and direct communication as central to his relationship with co-founder [Mo](https://iq.wiki/wiki/mohamed-afifi). In discussing entrepreneurship, Walsh advocated releasing products early to obtain customer feedback and using the resulting information to guide subsequent development. He also described the importance of adapting to changing circumstances, maintaining perspective during setbacks, and breaking long-term objectives into shorter-term tasks. The interview included a discussion of [HiFi’s](https://iq.wiki/wiki/hifi) potential expansion into card payment services connected to digital wallets containing [stablecoins](https://iq.wiki/wiki/stablecoin). Walsh also expressed his view that stablecoins could become more widely integrated into financial systems over the coming decades, while distinguishing that long-term outlook from the immediate need to develop products suited to existing market conditions. [\[5\]](#cite-id-Vqu74TTvnjEStF0c)