Crypto startup Zerohash raises $104 million

Crypto Robot

🔥 In a major vote of confidence for crypto infrastructure, Zerohash has raised $104 million from financial giants including Morgan Stanley, SoFi, Apollo, and more. This funding round signals a powerful shift: traditional finance isn’t just watching crypto anymore—they’re actively building its future.  In this video, we break down why Zerohash’s $104M funding round matters for the broader crypto and blockchain ecosystem. From fueling custody and compliance solutions to onboarding institutions into Web3 payments and trading, this move could reshape the way banks and fintechs integrate crypto. We’ll also discuss what this means for retail investors, altcoin markets, and long-term adoption.  👉 Subscribe for daily alpha on crypto market trends, bold Bitcoin predictions, and altcoin gems that could 10x your portfolio! – https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCpjN8bNE-CoAgpfMatghM9g  📧 Email: cryptorobothelp@gmail.com  💰 Affiliate Links  Sofi Checking & Savings – Get $25 free ➝ https://www.sofi.com/invite/money?gcp=16a53d0f-b4b2-441d-9100-cfb506305260&isAliasGcp=false  Sofi Investing – Free $25 in stock ➝ https://www.sofi.com/invite/invest?gcp=ab31edd8-701e-4109-9225-51b41e35d246&isAliasGcp=false  Coinbase Exchange – Earn up to $300 BTC ➝ https://coinbase.com/join/YPUQLCY?src=referral-link  Tracking Tools – CoinGecko | CoinMarketCap  Trading Tools – Get $15 off TradingView ➝ https://www.tradingview.com/pricing/?share_your_love=cryptonextsteps  #Zerohash #CryptoNews #MorganStanley #SoFi #Apollo #Blockchain #CryptoAdoption #CryptoStartups #Bitcoin #Ethereum #Altcoins #CryptoMarket #Web3 #TradFi #Funding

Transcript

00:00welcome back to the deep dive today we are cracking open a story that I think perfectly

00:10illustrates this huge shift happening in the digital asset world the headline itself almost

00:16sounds like well an oxymoron really Wall Street money you know the really deep pools of traditional

00:21finance is pouring over a hundred million dollars into this like small corner of web3 infrastructure

00:27that's right and the company name is zero hash it's a crypto infrastructure startup and yeah

00:31they've just pulled in a staggering 104 million dollars but honestly the dollar figure while big

00:37is almost secondary to the names who are actually writing the checks here exactly that's the key

00:42bit this isn't just your typical crypto native VC money we're talking about real institutional

00:48heavyweights think Morgan Stanley the absolute Titan of investment banking then you've got SoFi that

00:54modern fintech disruptor everyone knows and Apollo the private equity behemoth so the big question

00:59we need to answer for you the listener is this when these huge financial gatekeepers could just be

01:05buying and holding Bitcoin or Ethereum for profit why on earth are they spending a hundred and four

01:10million dollars to buy the digital equivalent of picks and shovels instead it's a really calculated

01:16strategic move and I think it signals a major shift in maturity for the space they seem to be moving

01:22away from just owning the speculative assets themselves and focusing more on controlling the

01:27underlying utility and compliance layers the goal isn't just return on investment in the old sense

01:32it's more like a return on infrastructure control they want to own the toll booth you know yeah not

01:36just buy a ticket for the ride okay let's unpack this right before we really get into the specifics

01:40of why this deep dive into Wall Street's thinking is so critical and frankly why this funding round

01:45tells us so much about the long-term safety of the whole web3 ecosystem we need to just talk for a

01:51second about why we actually do this show yeah absolutely we spend I mean countless hours digging

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02:38support so thank you now let's get back to the mission for today our goal here is to dissect this

02:44104 million dollar fundraise for zero hash and figure out exactly what it signals about the long-term

02:49safety the maturity and the direction of the web3 ecosystem it's really about shifting the

02:56conversation firmly from just volatile speculative tokens to the foundational more durable infrastructure

03:03underneath okay let's start with those headline numbers again 104 million dollars for zero hash and

03:09like you said this isn't seed funding this is serious late-stage capital coming in but crucially

03:13it's where this capital is going that makes the story it's earmarked specifically for crypto

03:17infrastructure which i guess we can basically describe as the secure compliant back office plumbing

03:22needed to make it all work right exactly and that figure 104 million dollars especially coming now

03:28in 2025 tells us a lot about the market's current mood its appetite yeah it really signals that this

03:34specific sector the infrastructure side has finally matured enough to actually command significant late

03:41stage funding that's a really noticeable shift from say the kind of generalized often pretty indiscriminate

03:47hype-driven vc funding we saw back in 2021 oh yeah i remember that money was chasing pretty much

03:52anything with blockchain in the name right back then capital chased almost any idea today the money seems

03:59much more selective it's focused on you know proven business models that are centered on compliance and real

04:04utility and that selectivity is proven i think by the names involved here morgan stanley sofi apollo

04:10like we said these aren't peripheral players they're the established institutional gatekeepers yeah let's

04:15maybe dissect the strategic significance of each one starting with morgan stanley i mean an investment bank

04:21of that size doesn't move lightly what does their involvement specifically signal morgan stanley's

04:26participation is uh probably the highest level of validation you could get it demonstrates real operational

04:32confidence confidence confidence that crypto technology is moving beyond just the trading floor stuff

04:38and actually getting into core traditional finance portfolio management processing systems

04:43the serious back-end stuff just think about what a global investment bank like that actually needs

04:49to service its big institutional clients who want exposure to digital assets right they need guarantees

04:54totally they need guaranteed segregated custody they need low latency trading apis and maybe most

05:01importantly they need complex multi-churisdictional regulatory reporting capabilities it's a nightmare

05:07otherwise and those regulatory capabilities are completely non-negotiable right especially in places

05:12like europe with method to requirements or just globally with basic kyc ml mandates you can't skip that

05:18precisely so for morgan stanley the choice is basically either spend hundreds of millions maybe billions

05:25in years trying to build their own proprietary compliance and settlement apis internally which is slow it's

05:31risky it's incredibly expensive or they can invest in and partner with a firm like zero hash that already

05:38specializes in compliant infrastructure as a service like a size model so it's a build versus buy decision

05:44essentially exactly and investing in zero hash shows they view the technology as permanent they're

05:48building the on-ramps they need to serve as massive amounts of institutional wealth it validates the tech

05:53at the highest levels of banking it says this is here to stay and we need the tools okay so if that's the case

05:58for morgan stanley what about sofi what does their backing imply because they're already you know

06:03a modern tech forward fintech they already offer crypto trading to retail users why do they need to invest

06:09in infrastructure right so sofi's investment is a bit different i think it's about

06:13solidifying their supply chain and really preparing for institutional scale they're obviously

06:17familiar with the retail exposure side but as they grow they need resilience they need the system to

06:23just work reliably so their investment in zero hash shows they're deepening their institutional

06:28crypto footprint it means they want to move beyond just offering simple trading they want to start

06:34controlling the underlying tech and the compliance layers that make sure those retail offerings

06:39and any future institutional ones are stable secure and scalable so less being a reseller more owning

06:45the pipes kind of yeah it's a shift from being just a reseller of crypto products to securing and maybe

06:52potentially owning down the line the back-end rails that actually power them yeah they need reliable

06:57audit systems to maintain their public standing and customer trust you can't have outages or compliance

07:02issues at their scale okay that makes sense and then there's apollo which brings in a completely different

07:07element private equity apollo deals in massive long-term capital commitments they usually focus on

07:13cash flowing assets utility plays stuff that just works and makes money reliably apollo's backing is

07:20absolutely key because it links crypto directly to the world of alternative investments it signals a really

07:27long-term utility outlook you know private equity models are built on finding fundamentally sound

07:32businesses businesses that generate predictable stable cash flows often over decades not just next

07:38quarter the toll booth businesses exactly they love toll booth businesses their presence here signals

07:43they view zero hash not as some volatile tech platform that might disappear next year but as a utility

07:49provider a company that can charge steady recurring fees like basis points on transactions for essential

07:54services like trade settlement custody regulatory reporting and critically they can charge those

07:59fees regardless of whether the price of bitcoin is up or down next week as long as people are using

08:04the system okay so putting those three names together morgan stanley focused on compliance and servicing

08:10big portfolios sofi focused on scale reliability for retail and maybe institutional and apollo the private

08:17equity giant focused on predictable long-term utility the core signal seems pretty undeniable

08:24wall street isn't just interested in crypto anymore they're strategically investing in the

08:27infrastructure side it feels like they're confirming their belief in the longevity of the underlying

08:32technology itself maybe more than the volatility of any specific token absolutely and if you connect the

08:39zero hash deal to the broader picture of venture capital flows right now the shift is really stark the

08:44money is let's say wiser now it's demanding clear paths to actual revenue demonstrable regulatory compliance it

08:52validates this very selective resurgence we're seeing in late stage funding but only for platforms that

08:56can genuinely bridge the gap between legacy finance and these new decentralized rails is targeted right let's

09:02drill down now on this central concept picks and shovels we need to define exactly what that analogy

09:08means in the context of web 3 and specifically what is it that zero hash provides that's so appealing to

09:15these huge institutions like morgan stanley and apollo yeah as we touch on the analogy comes straight from the gold rush right

09:21right the real lasting fortunes weren't always made by the guys digging for gold often it was the

09:28businesses supplying the miners with the picks the shovels the jeans whatever they need or enablers

09:33exactly so in the digital world these picks and shovels companies like zero hash are essentially building the

09:39necessary rails the digital middleware they're creating the secure compliant high throughput financial

09:45plumbing that the whole system needs to run on okay so what does that plumbing actually look like

09:49functionally when we say infrastructure we're talking about more than just like a fancy website right

09:54this is deep tech oh absolutely we are talking about highly specialized back office sauce software as a

10:01service and api solutions these are tools for other businesses for instance zero hash probably offers

10:07something like a unified api this lets an institution say morgan stanley connect to multiple different digital

10:13asset exchanges all at once so they can get the best execution price for their clients but even more

10:18critically they offer the compliant custody solutions how do you hold these assets safely they provide

10:24the trade settlement engines how do trades actually clear and they offer that crucial transaction

10:29monitoring layer needed for all the regulatory reporting you have to track everything right so this

10:33allows for example a morgan stanley client to trade crypto while morgan stanley itself maintains the

10:39necessary audit trail and you know keeps the regulators happy peace of mind okay this moves us right into

10:45that discussion of safety versus speculation because if institutions are deliberately bypassing direct

10:51token investment to buy the infrastructure instead this model must seem inherently safer for their massive

10:57pools of capital why is this model potentially safer maybe even for an individual listener thinking about

11:03where to put their money well the safety really comes down to the revenue model how do they make money

11:07infrastructure firms like zero hash profit from volume and activity not necessarily from the price of the assets going up

11:14they generally operate on a fee-based utility structure often it's basis point fees tiny

11:19percentage is charged on transaction volume or settlement actions or assets under custody okay so as long

11:25as the entire web3 ecosystem continues to grow meaning more transactions more institutional participation

11:30the infrastructure firm makes reliable predictable revenue they are in theory somewhat indifferent if

11:35bitcoin is hundred thousand dollars or ten thousand dollars next month as long as transactions are still

11:40happening on their rails let's pause there for a second can you elaborate on how that differs

11:44fundamentally from the speculative model of just buying coins sure the speculative model just buying tokens

11:50like bitcoin or ether relies entirely on the highly volatile often sentiment driven appreciation of that specific

11:57assets price the value is tied almost completely to market psychology future hopes network effects it's hard to pin down

12:06sometimes yeah very unpredictable right and infrastructure play by contrast is more like a bet on the utility

12:12function of the entire ecosystem it's inherently a less volatile clearer business model because the

12:18revenue stream is ideally more predictable and tied to the consumption of a service not just wild market swings

12:24this is closer to the definition of stable institutional grade revenue that companies like apollo look for

12:30and this recognition then that crypto provides maybe a superior settlement layer or a new way to handle assets

12:38that seems central to this financial plumbing argument you mentioned it sounds like crypto is transitioning

12:43from being seen only as a volatile asset class like digital gold to being recognized as an essential financial

12:49utility a new layer for things like global payments custody maybe faster cheaper settlement that is i think

12:56the pivotal shift that's driving this kind of investment traditional finance the big banks they can't just

13:01adopt raw blockchain technology easily it doesn't just plug into their ancient mainframes no kidding they

13:07need compliant littleware they need translators essentially they aren't going to build an entire

13:11custody reporting solution from scratch for every new asset type it's too complex too slow so they will

13:16partner with a compliant vc-backed firm like zero hash that specializes in that specific security piece that

13:23regulatory integration aspect because honestly it saves them enormous amounts of time money and probably

13:28most importantly regulatory risk and headache and this directly fuels mainstream adoption doesn't it

13:34when a bank uses zero hash behind the scenes to settle a trade involving a turkanized asset

13:39or when sofi uses their apis to manage customer crypto balances in a compliant way it expands the actual

13:46usage far beyond just the crypto native communities exactly we're talking about pushing usage into

13:53like structured financial products maybe treasury management for companies maybe even high

13:57volume cross-border payments eventually that's the key metric i think the true measure of

14:02mainstream adoption isn't just how many people own a particular token it's how deeply the underlying

14:08technology gets integrated into foundational global financial products and processes

14:13infrastructure like zero hash facilitates the smooth compliant movement of these digital assets which is the

14:18absolute necessary prerequisite for any major financial player to even consider participating at scale we're

14:25literally watching the integration happen now but it's happening at the operational level behind the

14:29curtain and that's far more profound in the long run than just retail trading hype okay so the involvement of

14:35these big traditional finance firms like morgan stanley apollo it seems intrinsically linked to the whole regulatory

14:42landscape i mean when firms like these commit nine figure sums over a hundred million dollars they're not

14:48just sitting back and passively hoping for regulatory clarity someday are they it feels like they're actively

14:53investing in platforms that basically enforce clarity from day one that's a really key distinction yes

14:59institutional backing like this actively accelerates regulatory clarity or at least the adoption of best

15:05practices these firms demand compliance first operations from any partner they work with especially with this

15:10amount of money involved which often means that a company like zero hash has probably already built

15:15its platform to adhere to the strictest potential global regulatory standards standards that maybe haven't even been

15:21fully codified yet for all digital assets they have to anticipate so they're building for the future regulator

15:27in a way yes they're essentially saying through their investment we will invest heavily we'll put our name

15:33behind this but only if you provide the robust governance the auditability the reporting framework

15:39that keeps us safe and compliant so it's the market leaders themselves setting the compliance standard

15:46effectively de-risking the whole sector for everyone else who follows exactly this kind of

15:51investment acts like a powerful gravitational force it pulls the entire sector towards more mature

15:58institutional grade operational standards the investment itself is almost certainly contingent on things like

16:04strong internal controls proper balance sheet management segregated customer funds

16:08you know all the basic hallmarks of traditional finance governance that were sometimes missing before

16:13and we learned why that strong governance is absolutely non-negotiable through some

16:17really painful very public failures didn't we we kind of have to use the cautionary tales here like the

16:22collapses of blockfi and celsius to underscore why compliant infrastructure is so desperately needed now

16:27oh those collapses were just devastating for the industry's reputation and for the customers involved

16:32and what they fundamentally exposed was the massive systemic risk inherent in those non-compliant often

16:39highly speculative models that just lacked auditable institutional grade controls the core issues when you dug into

16:46them involve things like really opaque balance sheets the commingling of customer funds with company funds

16:52aggressive centralized lending practices and a lot of it was conducted outside the kind of rigorous oversight that

16:58traditional investors expect and regulators demand so when wall street looks at a company

17:02like zero hash today they must be seeing the absolute antithesis of those failed models

17:07precisely they are essentially investing in the fix they're backing the solution zero hash

17:13being an infrastructure firm is expected to provide services like um non-custodial or properly segregated

17:20custody solutions automated aml kyc screening built-in real-time transaction reporting capabilities

17:26this is the safer compliance focused solution that institutional money demands now that appetite in

17:31the market for super high risk opaque speculative yield it seems to have been largely replaced by a

17:36demand for verifiable operational integrity show me the controls okay so if we connect this focus

17:41on integrity and compliance to actual institutional adoption metrics what data points out there support

17:47this thesis that big money is actively building the future now rather than just sort of waiting on the

17:52sidelines well look at the internal infrastructure requirements that institutional trading guests

17:57have they're incredibly demanding they need things like high speed very low latency api connections

18:04directly to exchanges they need guaranteed atomic settlement meaning the trade either happens completely

18:09or not at all instantly and they need rigorous pre-trade and post-trade compliance checks

18:15built into the workflow stuff that just wasn't there in the early days not at all

18:19so the growth we're seeing in specialized institutional crypto trading platforms which demand these kinds of

18:24advanced features confirms that big money isn't only present but it's actively demanding tools that

18:29mirror their existing highly regulated trading environments in stocks or bonds they aren't going

18:35to settle for using the same retail grade exchange interfaces you or i might use they need industrial

18:40strength zero hash level apis and infrastructure that raises an interesting point though if these

18:46institutions are already trading already incorporating sophisticated crypto functions

18:51does that mean they're actually much further down the adoption path than the public often realizes

18:56without a doubt i think the public mostly sees the volatile token prices on the news yeah right

19:02but behind the scenes the operational integration is accelerating really rapidly

19:06consider fidelity digital assets for example that's a huge traditional finance giant

19:12they aren't just investing in external firms like zero hash they're also building their own internal

19:17custody and trading services specifically for their institutional clients right they're doing it

19:22themselves too exactly and this internal investment further validates the entire infrastructure sector

19:28it indicates that compliant back office digital asset processing is now viewed as a core permanent

19:34business component for them not just some temporary external fad they're dabbling in the institutions are

19:39getting serious about long-term integration and frankly control okay so given this enormous infusion of

19:46institutional cash particularly from private equity like apollo we kind of have to look towards the

19:52eventual exit strategy right which brings us to the ipo question will these compliant infrastructure

19:58companies like zero hash eventually follow the path paved by others and see you know blockbuster public

20:05market exits go public on the stock exchange yeah for investors like apollo especially the public

20:10market exit the ipo is often the ultimate goal that's how private equity typically realizes those

20:15massive returns on their investment they build it up make it stable then sell it to the public markets

20:20they're definitely looking for liquidity and a big payoff on their infrastructure bet down the line and

20:25yes absolutely the precedent for this path has already been firmly established in crypto the coinbase ipo

20:29back in 2021 seems foundational here doesn't it it wasn't the ipo of some new volatile token it was the ipo of

20:36a compliant regulated exchange and custody provider a pure infrastructure player essentially coinbase was

20:43absolutely pivotal it showed wall street and the world that there was enormous public market appetite

20:50for crypto adjacent equity for stocks related to crypto it proved you could sell the digital picks and

20:56shovels to the public get valued in the tens of billions of dollars and maybe most crucially

21:01that regulators would actually allow a compliant crypto business to function as a public company

21:06that was a big hurdle cleared huge it fundamentally legitimized the infrastructure business model

21:12in the eyes of public market investors and regulators and we seem to be seeing that trend

21:16continue with other firms that prioritize utility over pure speculation like circle right the issuer

21:22of the usdc stablecoin their progress towards an eventual ipo seems to reinforce this idea that

21:28utility the plumbing is currently valued much higher by serious investors than just pure speculation

21:33circle is almost the perfect definition of stable compliant financial plumbing in the crypto world today

21:39issuing a regulated dollar-backed stablecoin like usdc that operates under intense regulatory scrutiny

21:46sure but it offers predictable massive scale utility people use it constantly for settlement

21:52and the market seems to be valuing that clarity that predictability and that regulatory framework

21:57very highly it offers a clear auditable business model that's far more appealing to institutional

22:03public market investors than say highly volatile crypto mining stocks or pure speculative trading

22:09platforms with unclear futures okay but going back to fidelity digital assets for a moment we have this

22:14interesting contrast if fidelity a huge incumbent is successfully building its own internal custody and trading

22:20systems doesn't that maybe suggest a degree of distrust in external providers like zero hash i mean if they can

22:26build it themselves why would morgan stanley or sofi need to invest in someone else why not just build

22:30in-house that's a really critical point to debate actually fidelity's internal bill definitely serves as a

22:35proof of concept it validates the demand for secure compliant institutional access so that's positive for the space

22:43however the external investment in a firm like zero hash by other giants signals a couple of important

22:49things i think first probably speed to market building sophisticated proprietary financial

22:54technology takes years and huge resources investing in or partnering with zero hash means morgan stanley can

23:00potentially integrate specialized compliant api access far far faster than building it all themselves

23:06so time is money exactly yeah and second is specialization zero hash presumably is laser focused on

23:12just this one area they can potentially handle complex multi-jurisdictional compliance connect diverse

23:18blockchain ecosystems in a way that often exceeds what even a single large institution can efficiently

23:23build and maintain in-house especially when it's not their primary core business it's an investment in

23:28that deep specialization and the immediate integration capability it offers okay so maybe it's not necessarily

23:33distrust but more a recognition that building everything internally is just inefficient especially when you can partner

23:40with or invest in a best-in-class utility provider i think that's a fair way to look at it yeah

23:46and that brings us back around to sofi again fintechs like sofi thrive on agility being lean moving fast

23:53sofi already has significant parts of its business tied to offering crypto products to its massive retail customer base

24:00this investment in zero hash looks very much like securing their supply chain for the future they're

24:05essentially ensuring that their back-end infrastructure partner is robust compliant and

24:09well capitalized enough to scale reliably as sofi's own user base and perhaps institutional aspirations

24:15continue to grow they need that foundation to be solid so the long-term bet from all these different

24:20angles investment banking fintech private equity seems to be placed firmly on the pipes on the infrastructure it

24:26seems that way because the pipes carry all the transactions right regardless of the ultimate

24:31destination or the price volatility of whatever specific assets being moved through them the toll

24:36boot keeps collecting tolls hashtag hashtag tag outro so what does this all really mean when we put

24:42it together we started with that staggering 104 million dollar headline for zero hash and i think we've

24:47kind of concluded that this is far more than just a simple funding round it feels like it confirms a

24:52fundamental maybe irreversible shift in market psychology around crypto big money wall street

24:57money now seems to view crypto not primarily as a speculative token casino anymore but as essential

25:02financial plumbing for the future yeah the focus seems squarely on utility on compliance and on

25:08institutional grade security and reliability the investment thesis driving these big checks is

25:13seemingly no longer about chasing the absolute highest riskiest yield possible it's shifted towards

25:18securing the lowest operational risk investors are backing these compliant utility providers the

25:23ones who service the entire industry because they recognize this as a far safer more predictable place

25:29to deploy massive institutional capital compared to just chasing the next market pump in some token

25:35okay this shift towards institutional control often via owning or funding the infrastructure raises a

25:41pretty profound final question i think something for you the listener to maybe chew on will the heavy

25:46involvement of these giants like morgan stanley and apollo actually accelerate the legitimization and the

25:52necessary mainstream adoption of crypto faster than any token price rise or retail frenzy ever could

25:58or does this consolidation of control within these compliant infrastructure layers maybe run

26:03contrary to the original sort of decentralized ethos of crypto is there a tension there that's a great question

26:08and maybe a more personal one for listeners to consider given this dramatic shift in

26:13institutional focus and the potentially high valuation of these infrastructure plays would you now maybe

26:18pivot your own strategy would you consider investing in crypto infrastructure stocks things like

26:23a potential zero hash ipo down the line or maybe coinbase now seeking that potentially stabler utility-based

26:30growth or would you stick with the higher risk potentially high reward tokens themselves

26:35betting directly on the future value of those more volatile assets that choice really defines whether

26:39you're betting on the ecosystem's foundation the plumbing or on its most speculative potentially

26:45groundbreaking assets an essential distinction definitely and one worth pondering deeply as the

26:51space continues to mature that's it for this deep dive thanks for joining us and we'll catch you next time

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