A Platform Designed with Technology and Scalability at the Forefront—An Interview with Fireblocks CEO Michael Shaulov

──Could you tell us about your career journey up to now?

Michael Shaulov: It all started when I was taught programming by my father at the age of seven. Originally from Israel, I was drafted into the military at 18, where I began my career in cybersecurity.

In 2011, I co-founded a security company for mobile devices, which was later sold to Check Point, a major security firm that was the first to develop technologies like firewalls and VPNs. Today, Check Point is a global enterprise with a market capitalization exceeding $24 billion.

In 2017, I had the opportunity to investigate an incident where a South Korean cryptocurrency exchange was hacked by North Korea's Lazarus Group. During this investigation, we made two critical discoveries.

First, the security measures for institutional investors to transfer and manage cryptocurrencies were severely inadequate. While cold wallets like the Ledger Nano existed, there were no professional security solutions capable of institutional-level operations on a daily basis, leading many companies to develop their own non-professional systems, which increased the risk of hacking.

The second discovery was that the intrinsic value of cryptocurrencies lies in their 'rails'—the technology itself, which allows for value to be moved at the speed of the internet and is flexible and programmable. We saw a significant opportunity in providing a transaction processing infrastructure that combines speed, scale, and security for financial institutions and businesses. This experience led me to engage in the cryptocurrency industry in 2016.