# Zerohash

Updated: September 26, 2026

> Zerohash (Zero Hash until June 2025) is an independent B2B infrastructure provider for fiat, crypto and stablecoins: ramps, trading, custody, settlement and payouts for brokers, fintechs and payment companies. It was founded in Chicago in 2017 by Edward Woodford as the settlement arm of the Seed CX exchange. In September 2025 it raised $104 million from Interactive Brokers, Morgan Stanley, Apollo and SoFi at a $1 billion valuation; in January 2026 it ended talks to sell to Mastercard for up to $2 billion, after which Mastercard bought BVNK. Clients include Interactive Brokers, E*TRADE from Morgan Stanley, OnePay (Walmart), Stripe, Securitize (BlackRock's BUIDL fund) and Visa Direct. Its regulatory perimeter: a NYDFS BitLicense and money transmitter licence since 2019, licences in 51 US jurisdictions, a North Carolina trust company, MiCA CASP (2025) and EMI (2026) in the Netherlands; an OCC national trust bank application is pending.

- **Type per classification**: 3. On/off-ramps; also 4. Clearing and settlement, 6. Custody
- **Founded**: 2017, Chicago; Edward Woodford (from Seed CX)
- **Headquarters**: Chicago; offices in New York, Asheville, Amsterdam, London, Sydney, São Paulo
- **Ownership**: Independent; investors Interactive Brokers, Morgan Stanley, Apollo, SoFi, Bain Capital Ventures, Point72
- **Leadership**: Edward Woodford, founder and CEO
- **Legal entities**: zerohash holdings ltd. (group); Zero Hash LLC and Zero Hash Liquidity Services LLC (US); Zero Hash Trust Company LLC (North Carolina); zerohash europe B.V. (Netherlands); Zero Hash Europe Sp. z o.o. (Poland); zerohash australia pty ltd; Zero Hash Brazil Limitada; Bermuda entities
- **Licences**: NYDFS BitLicense and money transmitter licence (July 2019); licences in 51 US jurisdictions (NMLS 1699379), FinCEN MSB; North Carolina trust charter (2025); MiCA CASP from the AFM (October 2025) and EMI from DNB (May 2026); FINTRAC MSB; AUSTRAC; CNV PSAV registry (Argentina)
- **Valuation**: $1B (September 2025); $275M raised in total
- **Scale**: Over $65B settled, 7M+ end customers, about 200 employees (company data, 2026)
- **Regions**: US, Canada, EEA, Australia, New Zealand, Argentina, Brazil

## Structure and history

The company grew out of Seed CX, the Chicago institutional exchange founded by Edward Woodford: Zero Hash launched in March 2019 as its settlement and custody arm, and in June 2020 Seed CX closed the exchange to focus on the infrastructure business. Rounds: a $15 million Series B (September 2018, Bain Capital Ventures, still as Seed CX), a $35 million Series C (September 2021, Point72 Ventures), a $105 million Series D (January 2022, Bain Capital Ventures, Point72, Nyca; $340 million valuation) and a $104 million round on September 23, 2025 led by Interactive Brokers with Morgan Stanley, Apollo-managed funds, SoFi, Jump Crypto and Northwestern Mutual — a $1 billion valuation and $275 million raised in total. In June 2025 the brand changed to the single word "zerohash"; the legal entities keep the Zero Hash name.

On October 29, 2025 Fortune reported advanced talks with Mastercard on a $1.5–2 billion acquisition; in January 2026 Zerohash ended the talks, choosing independence, and began discussing a $250 million round at a $1.5 billion valuation. Mastercard considered a minority investment but dropped it in May 2026 after buying BVNK; according to CoinDesk, Zerohash continued raising at a valuation above $1.5 billion, and no closing had been announced as of September 2026. The headquarters is in Chicago; a European headquarters opened in Amsterdam in March 2026.

## Products

Zerohash sells infrastructure along three lines. Trade: spot crypto trading, staking as a service (June 2026, first clients Interactive Brokers, Public and BitMart), qualified custody through the North Carolina trust company, portfolio strategies. Transact: on/off-ramps, pay-ins and payouts, remittances, stablecoin account funding, stablecoin payouts in USDC on 10+ chains, merchant settlement in stablecoins; in July 2026 a partnership with Marqeta added stablecoin spending through card networks. Tokenize: rails between fiat, stablecoins and tokenized funds — Securitize has used them since October 2024 to accept USDC subscriptions to BlackRock's BUIDL fund, and over $2 billion passed through them in the four months to April 2025. An agentic payments suite was introduced in July 2026. Supported assets number 100+, including USDC, PYUSD, RLUSD (since February 2025), USDG, USD1 and USDCx on Canton; the claimed reach is 200 jurisdictions.

Key clients are brokers and fintechs: Interactive Brokers (trading and custody, 24/7 USDC funding since January 2026, withdrawals in USDC, PYUSD and RLUSD since July 2026), E*TRADE from Morgan Stanley (announced September 2025, full spot trading rollout on July 16, 2026), Walmart's OnePay (BTC and ETH trading since December 2025), Stripe (fiat on-ramp and USDC payouts), tastytrade, Public, Gusto (January 2026), Virtu (May 2026), as well as Shift4, DraftKings, Kalshi, Franklin Templeton, Worldpay, Nuvei and Transak. On August 5, 2026, according to the August digest issue, Visa moved USDC prefunding and payouts via Zerohash into production on Visa Direct.

## Licences and regulation

On July 15, 2019 the NYDFS granted Zero Hash LLC a virtual currency licence and a money transmitter licence; today the company holds two New York virtual currency licences and money transmitter licences in 51 US jurisdictions (NMLS 1699379) alongside FinCEN MSB registration. The North Carolina trust charter was approved on March 26, 2025, and Zero Hash Trust Company began operating on September 2, 2025. An application for a national trust bank was filed with the OCC on March 4, 2026, returned without a decision on July 17 and refiled on August 18, 2026 with a narrower scope (without stablecoin management and transfer agent services); it was pending as of September 2026.

In the EU, zerohash europe B.V. obtained VASP registrations in the Netherlands and Poland in March 2024, MiCA CASP authorisation from the AFM in October 2025 (announced November 2) and an EMI licence from DNB on May 18, 2026 for e-money token payments across the EEA. Elsewhere: a FINTRAC MSB in Canada, AUSTRAC registration in Australia, New Zealand's financial service providers register, and CNV PSAV registration in Argentina (February and May 2025). There are no FCA or MAS licences; since May 2026 Singapore has been listed among prohibited jurisdictions.

## Risks and disputes

In October 2024 Coinme sued Zero Hash LLC in the federal court for the Northern District of Illinois over breach of contract and trade secrets relating to the CINQ platform; the outcome is unknown from available sources. The OCC's return of the first charter application in July 2026 was procedural, not an enforcement step. No regulatory fines, orders, outages or breaches were found in available sources.

## What to watch

- The OCC's decision on the refiled national trust bank application.
- Closing of a round at a valuation above $1.5 billion, or a return to sale talks.
- Scaling of Visa Direct USDC settlement and the card programme with Marqeta.
- Use of the EMI licence for stablecoin payments in the EEA.

## Sources

- [Zerohash, about the company and legal structure](https://docs.zerohash.com/page/about-zero-hash)
- [Zerohash, corporate structure](https://docs.zerohash.com/page/corporate-structure)
- [Zerohash, US licences and disclosures](https://docs.zerohash.com/page/us-licenses-and-disclosures)
- [NYDFS, on granting licences to Zero Hash (July 2019)](https://www.dfs.ny.gov/reports_and_publications/press_releases/pr1907151)
- [CoinDesk, on Seed CX closing its exchange to focus on settlement (June 2020)](https://www.coindesk.com/business/2020/06/12/seed-cx-to-close-exchange-focus-on-settlements-in-company-shift)
- [GlobeNewswire, on Seed CX's Series B (September 2018)](https://www.globenewswire.com/news-release/2018/09/12/1569796/0/en/Seed-CX-Raises-15-Million-in-Series-B-Funding-Round.html)
- [GlobeNewswire, on the Series C (September 2021)](https://www.globenewswire.com/news-release/2021/09/30/2306265/0/en/Zero-Hash-Raises-35-Million-in-Series-C-Funding-Led-by-Point72-Ventures.html)
- [CoinDesk, on the $105M round (January 2022)](https://www.coindesk.com/business/2022/01/12/zero-hash-raises-105m-to-expand-digital-assets-as-a-service)
- [GlobeNewswire, on the round led by Interactive Brokers (September 2025)](https://www.globenewswire.com/news-release/2025/09/23/3154607/0/en/interactive-brokers-leads-zerohash-capital-raise-as-morgan-stanley-apollo-and-sofi-also-make-significant-onchain-infrastructure-investment-zerohash-reaches-unicorn-status-and-is-no.html)
- [Fortune, interview with Edward Woodford on the round and name history (September 2025)](https://fortune.com/crypto/2025/09/23/zerohash-edward-woodford-fundraise-interactive-brokers-morgan-stanley/)
- [Fortune, on Mastercard's acquisition talks (October 2025)](https://fortune.com/crypto/2025/10/29/mastercard-zerohash-acquisition-bvnk-stablecoins-coinbase/)
- [CoinDesk, on the end of the Mastercard talks (January 2026)](https://www.coindesk.com/business/2026/01/16/mastercard-said-to-weigh-zerohash-investment-after-crypto-company-ends-takeover-talks)
- [CoinDesk, on talks to raise at a $1.5B valuation (January 2026)](https://www.coindesk.com/business/2026/01/26/zerohash-is-in-talks-to-raise-usd250-million-at-usd1-5-billion-valuation-after-walking-away-from-mastercard-takeover)
- [CoinDesk, on Mastercard dropping its investment plans (May 2026)](https://www.coindesk.com/business/2026/05/19/zerohash-pursues-new-funding-at-more-than-usd1-5-billion-valuation-after-mastercard-drops-investment-plans)
- [GlobeNewswire, on the launch of Zero Hash Trust Company (September 2025)](https://www.globenewswire.com/news-release/2025/09/02/3142632/0/en/zerohash-Trust-Company-is-Approved-to-Launch.html)
- [Zerohash, on applying for a national trust bank charter (March 2026)](https://zerohash.com/press/zerohash-applies-for-a-national-trust-bank-charter)
- [American Banker, on the refiled OCC application (August 2026)](https://www.americanbanker.com/news/zerohash-refiles-its-trust-bank-charter-application-to-occ)
- [OCC, public portion of the Zerohash National Trust Bank application](https://www.occ.gov/topics/charters-and-licensing/digital-assets-licensing-applications/zerohash-national-trust-bank.pdf)
- [GlobeNewswire, on MiCA authorisation (November 2025)](https://www.globenewswire.com/news-release/2025/11/02/3178806/0/en/zerohash-Secures-MiCAR-Authorization-to-Serve-European-Clients.html)
- [GlobeNewswire, on the Argentina registration (May 2025)](https://www.globenewswire.com/news-release/2025/05/28/3089597/0/en/Zero-Hash-Secures-Regulatory-Approval-to-Operate-in-Argentina-Accelerating-Global-Expansion.html)
- [Business Wire, on E*TRADE's crypto spot trading rollout (July 2026)](https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20260715199406/en/ETRADE-from-Morgan-Stanley-Completes-Rollout-of-Crypto-Spot-Trading)
- [Zerohash, on OnePay (December 2025)](https://zerohash.com/blog/onepay-taps-zerohash-to-power-its-crypto-infrastructure)
- [Stripe, onramp documentation (Zero Hash as provider)](https://docs.stripe.com/crypto/onramp)
- [PR Newswire, on Securitize integrating Zero Hash for BUIDL (October 2024)](https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/securitize-integrates-with-zero-hash-to-enable-purchase-of-blackrocks-tokenized-buidl-fund-via-usdc-conversion-302275968.html)
- [GlobeNewswire, on $2B in tokenized fund flows (April 2025)](https://www.globenewswire.com/news-release/2025/04/15/3061806/0/en/Zero-Hash-Powered-2-Billion-in-Tokenized-Fund-Flows-within-the-Last-Four-Months.html)
- [Zerohash, press page](https://zerohash.com/press)
- [PacerMonitor, Coinme Inc. v. Zero Hash LLC](https://www.pacermonitor.com/public/case/55583382/Coinme_Inc_v_Zero_Hash_LLC)

## Mentioned in the digest

- [August 2026 — Visa moves USDC payouts via Zerohash into production on Visa Direct](https://stblcns.xyz/reports/State_of_Stablecoins_August_2026)

Canonical: https://stblcns.xyz/en/wiki/infrastructure/zerohash