Stellar Development Foundation Appoints Asiff Hirji of MoonPay to Board of Directors 

SAN FRANCISCO — 9 March, 2023 — The Stellar Development Foundation (SDF) today announced the appointment of Asiff Hirji, President of MoonPay, to its board of directors. Hirji brings over 30 years of experience in financial technology and services to support SDF’s mission of creating more equitable access to the global financial system.

As President of MoonPay, he heads up a leading Web3 infrastructure company providing end-to-end solutions for digital asset management and more. Previously, he served as President of Figure, a company transforming financial services through blockchain technology, and as President and COO of Coinbase, where he led the launch of new assets and products and expanded into new geographies.

“Asiff has been on the forefront of innovative technologies in financial services and beyond, driving their development and adoption when they were nascent," said Denelle Dixon, CEO and Executive Director of SDF. "He has a deep understanding of how to scale the real-world application of blockchain technology, motivated by the goal to bring down the cost of financial services and make them more accessible for everyday users. I believe Asiff’s vision will help guide SDF and the Stellar ecosystem to deliver greater impact for more people.”

“Financial services are still too expensive and too complicated. We can do better, and SDF is one of the only organizations in the space that is relentlessly focused on making cross-border payments cheaper and more efficient, leveraging blockchain technology,” said Asiff Hirji. “I’ve long admired the work that SDF does, targeting high-value solutions that are accessible to everyone. I look forward to working with Denelle and the board to advance this work.”

Hirji realized early on in his career that his passion was in the application of technology to solve hard problems. Throughout his career, Hirji’s strategic expertise has been tapped by companies including Andreessen Horowitz, where he helped portfolio companies scale effectively, and Hewlett-Packard (HP), where as Chief Restructuring Officer he created and drove plans to maximize HP’s value. He has led companies building financial software, online investment platforms, and infrastructure. He has also served in a variety of private equity and venture capital investor and advisor roles.

His appointment is effective immediately. ‍

About Stellar

Stellar is a decentralized, fast, scalable, and uniquely sustainable network for financial products and services. It is both a cross-currency transaction system and a platform for digital asset issuance, designed to connect the world’s financial infrastructure. Financial institutions worldwide issue assets and settle payments on the Stellar network, which has grown to over 7 million accounts. For more information, visit stellar.org.

About the Stellar Development Foundation

The Stellar Development Foundation (SDF) is a non-profit organization that supports the development and growth of Stellar, an open-source network that connects the world’s financial infrastructure. Founded in 2014, the Foundation helps maintain Stellar’s codebase, supports the technical and business communities building on the network, and serves as a voice to regulators and institutions. The Foundation seeks to create equitable access to the global financial system, using the Stellar network to unlock the world’s economic potential through blockchain technology. For more information, visit stellar.org/foundation.