Podcast Summary: Fintech Leaders – Why Zero Hash Rejected a $2Bn Offer to Build the Future of Financial Infrastructure

Guest: Edward Woodford, CEO & Founder of Zero Hash
Host: Miguel Armaza
Date: February 10, 2026

Episode Overview

This episode of Fintech Leaders features Edward Woodford, CEO and founder of Zero Hash, a leading and quietly influential financial infrastructure company in blockchain and crypto. Zero Hash provides essential back-end technology for companies including Stripe, Franklin Templeton, and Interactive Brokers. The conversation centers on why Edward rejected a $2 billion acquisition offer from Mastercard, the vision and values powering Zero Hash, insights into the evolution of financial services, and guidance on building resilient, mission-driven fintech organizations.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

Rejecting the $2 Billion Mastercard Offer

• Edward's Thought Process: Edward considered both the emotional and practical sides, emphasizing his belief in the future growth and impact of blockchain technology.
  • "I've been doing this since 2017 and I am a really true believer in blockchain technology and what it can do. I just fundamentally believe that what we can do in the next two plus years would dwarf what we've done in the last eight." ([02:20])
• Independence and Impact: Edward is confident remaining independent offers more impact than being absorbed in a larger organization.
  • “As an independent business, we can have materially more impact.” ([02:58])
• Team and Future Opportunities: Cited options for secondary liquidity for his team and an increasingly favorable market for going public.
  • “One, you can reward your team materially and the structures to do that. Secondly, the macro has shifted... The ability, ability to go public... that's opened up as well.” ([03:45])

Founder Identity & Resilience

• Edward spoke candidly about separating his personal identity from the business:
  • “I really honestly try not to associate my complete identity with the business... you have to create a little bit of distance between, I think, yourself and the business in order to have a healthy balance.” ([05:01])
• Hard Times: Shared tough experiences during COVID, almost closing, and dealing with aggressive investors.
  • “There was a six week period during COVID where the world almost stopped... we had this investor try and effectively do an aggressive takeover.” ([05:02])

Edward's Background & Early Influences

• London to MIT: Grew up in the UK with a Spanish mother. Rejection from Oxford gave him drive; went to MIT, where exposure to early Bitcoin thinking seeded his fintech interests.
  • “The reason I came honestly was I got rejected from Oxford and I always say... that was the best thing for me because it kind of gave me this itch... For me that was MIT.” ([07:11])

The Evolution of Zero Hash

• Pivoting to Infrastructure: Started as a B2C exchange idea, pivoted to B2B infrastructure — now powers core operations for major companies.
  • “We were trying to build effectively an exchange for institutions and then very quickly realized... we want everything behind the scenes. Right. The infrastructure as a service.” ([10:30])
  • Now expanded from Bitcoin and ETH to stablecoins (now majority of business) and tokenization.
• Customer Base & Products: Works with startups to global banks (Stripe, Interactive Brokers, BlackRock).
  • Three core lines:
    • Trade (enabling banks to offer crypto)
    • Transact (movement of stablecoins)
    • Tokenization (tokenized assets infrastructure) ([12:46])

Tokenization & Stablecoins: The Global Impact

• Explaining Tokenization: Not a binary trend; represents decentralized ledgers that reduce friction and enables value transfer.
  • “Tokenization is a mechanism, a ledger of ownership that is decentralized and can remove intermediaries.” ([14:54])
• Stablecoins as 'Tokenized Dollars': Tokenized dollars revolutionize value transfer ("money in motion"), especially relevant for payroll and global payments.
  • “Tokenized dollar is an incredible way to move value. But that dollar can also become untokenized when that dollar is at rest.” ([14:54])
  • “Stablecoins are growing massively. That's why people are so excited about it, because despite it being a largely unusable technology, people are using it.” ([16:55])
• Unlocking Usability: Global connective “network of networks” is approaching, just as SMS exploded once interoperable.
  • “When you make this technology which has immense value and you connect it all, that's where you have the unlock.” ([16:10])
• Macro Effects: Increased access and velocity grows GDP; it's directly relevant to common use cases like payroll.
  • “The ability to move value more quickly, more cheaply to anyone, anywhere really matters.” ([19:23])

Building & Culture at Zero Hash

• Founding Team Concept: Credits 'founding team' (first 50 hires) for setting culture and values, regardless of titles or roles.
  • “The founding team... set a culture, they've set a tone. And that's why we call... the concept of a founding team; wherever they are in the company, they drive and instill the value of a founder.” ([20:08])
• Hard Lessons with Investors: Experience with both good and harmful investors; learned to separate from those not aligned with long-term goals.
  • “If you don't want to be here, I'll find you an exit... It's either be quiet, right, and help or get off. Those are the two options.” ([25:08])
  • Advice: Seek investors who value “influence” over “power.”
    • “If they had power and then they try to use it, then they frankly lost influence with me.” ([26:25])

Infrastructure Business Model & Defensibility

• Pricing: Usage-based pricing (monthly min. + volume) aligns interests; focus on value, not on being the lowest price.
  • “We have a monthly minimum and then... a usage component based on the volume... If you create... an all you can eat model, you just wouldn’t share in the upside.” ([29:25])
  • “No business is better than bad business.” ([30:44])
• Defensibility: Trust is the ultimate moat — encompassing regulation, cyber-security, and reputation.
  • “Trust for us is our biggest defensibility. And trust can mean a lot of things. It can mean, do you have the right regulatory structure, do you have the right cybersecurity posture?” ([32:28])

Rapid-Fire Insights & Personal Highlights

• Metric He Watches: Revenue — tracked daily; also developing a churn metric weighted by employee performance ([33:33])
• Book Recommendation: “Stablecoins for Babies” — his own children’s book on stablecoins. ([34:32])
• Leadership Inspiration: Tom Sosnoff, who modeled intensity and customer-first mentality ([35:00])
• Critical Habit: Weekly massage — the rare moment fully unplugged from tech to process and think deeply ([35:36])
• Potential Problem if Not at Zero Hash: Global health — interested in problems with maximum impact/surface area ([36:00])
• Zero Hash in Five Years: Aiming for infrastructure touching 20-50% of the world’s population ([36:25])
  • "We want to have surface area of 20 to 50% of the globe's world's global population is intersecting on our rails in some capacity. And I truly, truly believe that that will be the case." ([36:25])

Notable Quotes

• "I just fundamentally believe that what we can do in the next two plus years would dwarf what we've done in the last eight." — Edward Woodford ([02:23])
• "Tokenization is a mechanism, a ledger of ownership that is decentralized and effectively can remove intermediaries." — Edward Woodford ([14:54])
• "Stable coins are growing massively. That's why people are so excited about it, because despite it being a largely unusable technology, people are using it." — Edward Woodford ([16:55])
• "No business is better than bad business." — Edward Woodford's chief business officer, referenced by Edward ([30:44])
• "Trust for us is our biggest defensibility." — Edward Woodford ([32:28])

Key Timestamps

• 02:20 – Edward on rejecting the Mastercard offer and his long-term vision
• 05:02 – Resilience during COVID and separating identity from business
• 07:11 – Background: from London to MIT, early exposure to crypto
• 10:30–12:46 – Evolution & core business lines of Zero Hash
• 14:54–16:55 – Deep dive into tokenization and stablecoins, usability challenges, and global impact
• 19:23 – How fintech infrastructure increases velocity and democratizes payroll globally
• 20:08 – Founding team culture and company values
• 25:08 – Lessons from harmful investors, importance of influence vs. power
• 29:25/30:44 – Infrastructure pricing model and the necessity of selectivity in customers
• 32:28 – Defensibility through trust, not just regulatory barriers
• 33:33–36:25 – Rapid-fire: metrics, book, leader, routines, and the next five years

Memorable Moments

• Edward's resolve in declining a $2B exit at the height of acquisition fever, underscored not only by vision but by practical mechanisms to reward his team and future-proof the company.
• Honest recount of the brutal COVID period, near-closure, and survival thanks to supportive mentors and core team.
• Anecdotes about building a business model around value and walking away from customers (and investors) that don’t align.
• Personal touches — like writing a children’s book (“Stablecoins for Babies”) — showing Edward’s passion to demystify and democratize finance and technology.

Tone

Conversational, candid, and practical. Edward balances visionary optimism about blockchain’s future with hard-won wisdom from fintech’s trenches, speaking with humility and clarity. The episode is both a “how we built this” and a playbook for founders navigating emerging technology and high-stakes decisions.

For more fintech leadership lessons and founder stories, visit the full episode or subscribe to Fintech Leaders.