Who Is Zac Prince: BlockFi Founder Upheaval Explained

Investing in cryptocurrency can be risky, not only due to its inherent volatility but also because of the untrustworthy platforms that are sprouting every now and then. Having heard numerous horror stories about people losing their fortune at unreliable exchanges, a guy named Zac Prince decided to put an end to it.

He founded BlockFi, a wealth management company for cryptocurrency investors. The American entrepreneur and investor played a significant role in the promotion and adoption of crypto, which helped him rise to fame.

Unsurprisingly, Prince’s inventive approach to crypto lending earned him worldwide recognition, allowing people to grow their financial portfolios by investing in digital assets. Let’s learn all about his career!

Zack Prince: Early Life and Background

A prominent figure in the realm of digital finance, Zack Prince, was born and raised in Irmo, South Carolina, where he spent his early years. As a young boy, he was keen on sports, especially soccer, which he played in high school. He was also a member of the USYSA III Pool Team in 2003 and 2005.

Despite his athletic talent, Prince never pursued a career in sports.

He ventured into the business world in 2008 when he graduated Cum Laude from Texas State University with a BA in International Business and a minor in Spanish. Interestingly enough, he funded his studies by playing online poker.

For the first couple of years after graduation, Prince worked for several platforms, some of them being Admeld, Sociomantic Labs, and Orchard Platform. In 2016, however, he decided to be “his own boss” and set up his own enterprise. The first to come was Better Finance Guru.

Better Finance Guru was a website whose aim was to provide users with information on the best fintech projects and investment opportunities. Yet, his first business venture lasted for barely over a year.

In October 2017, Zac Prince teamed up with investor Flori Marquez to start a new mission.

Founding of BlockFi

With the idea of creating a safe and reputable place to store crypto, Prince set out to found BlockFi in 2017. Two individuals insisted on him launching BlockFi—one was Zac Prince’s wife, and the other was investor Flori Marquez.

At the time of its launch, BlockFi wasn’t a platform only for exchanging cryptocurrencies. It also enables crypto owners to benefit from keeping them in their BlockFi accounts, i.e., to yield rewards on their crypto deposits.

Before founding BlockFi, Prince—the CEO—used to work in sales, while Marquez—the COO—managed financial portfolios for Bond Street, a small-time lender. BlockFi was established in Jersey City, NJ, only to expand to New York, Singapore, Poland, and Argentina in the upcoming years.

A few months after the launch, in January 2018, BlockFi introduced its first offer—loans in USD backed by crypto. In other words, customers had a chance to deposit Bitcoin (BTC) or Ethereum (ETH) to take out loans in fiat currencies.

2018 was all about venture capital money flowing in quickly. In March 2019, BlockFi introduced a crypto deposit account that enabled customers to reinvest BTC or ETH and yield a compound interest rate of 6.2% APY. In August 2019, the company witnessed another cash flow amounting to $18.3 million, and in December, it expanded to crypto trading.

The trading model it offered was a bit different from its competitors, as BlockFi charged zero fees. Instead, it profited by selling data to crypto companies which provided it with liquidity.

Everything was going smoothly until May 2020, when BlockFi suffered a minor hack. Luckily, no funds were lost, but the attacker gained access to confidential information about the company’s customers. 2022 was decisive—in the summer, everything started going down the drain, only to end up in bankruptcy.

Zac Prince: Notable Achievements and Acclamations

Zac Prince’s career has undoubtedly been filled with both achievements and controversies. He was centered around one simple goal: to expand access and inclusion in digital markets for all investors.

Prince’s academic accomplishments served as a solid foundation for his career in the international business arena. While he was a university student, he didn’t only obtain an academic diploma; he also sharpened his leadership and entrepreneurial skills.

Prior to founding BlockFi, he held the position of vice president of business development at Orchard Platform. Yet, it was with BlockFi that he gained worldwide recognition, along with a fair share of controversy.

Besides being the CEO of BlockFi, Zac Prince was also the Executive Chairman at an Oakland-headquartered company named Marqueta, Inc. This role helped him cement his reputation as a leader in the sphere of innovative and inclusive payment products.

By the end of 2022 and in 2023, BlockFi faced serious accusations and challenges. Yet, despite them, Prince remained dedicated to his mission of financial inclusion. He has consistently demonstrated his knowledge and capacity to lead and make innovations in the rapidly evolving digital finance sector.

Zac Prince: Impact on the Crypto Ecosystem

Even before he founded BlockFi, Zac Prince was aware of the inherent potential of cryptocurrency. In fact, his wife pushed him to launch the company because he was talking incessantly about crypto and its power.

Yet, BlockFi wasn’t a typical crypto trading or investing company. When starting BlockFi, Prince’s ambition was to establish a company that would providecredit services to the crypto market. Not only did he manage to found a crypto lending company, but he also enabled clients to reap APY on their BTC and ETH deposits.

Without a doubt, BlockFi was a pioneer in its industry. Up until 2017, there wasn’t such a lending company that enabled users to borrow money secured by crypto as collateral. Both loaners and lenders had a chance to benefit. The former had their cash, whereas the latter earned interest on their crypto holdings.

Back in 2018, Prince was aware of the fact that the future of banking may change dramatically due to cryptocurrencies. He even insisted that the crypto market could only benefit from the impending regulation and the clarity that would come with it.

Namely, in 2021, he stated that crypto had been the best-performing asset in the past decade. Not only did it help people generate wealth, but it also created numerous job positions. In his opinion, the long-awaited regulation could only help crypto businesses grow and continue innovating.

Zac Prince: Controversies and Obstacles

Even though BlockFi was among the fastest-growing companies in the crypto market, the crypto winter of 2022 and the fall of FTXtook their toll. In the summer of 2022, BlockFi received credit from the FTX exchange amounting to $400 million. This deal enabled FTX to purchase BlockFi for $25 million, which it almost did.

In November 2022, however, FTX collapsed. In only nine days, the company went to bankruptcy court. This had a terrible impact on BlockFi, as the lending company relied on FTX’s credit facility.

Due to the “lack of clarity” about FTX and its sister company, Alameda Research, BlockFi paused all withdrawals. This, however, proved to be a bad decision. On the same day when FTX filed for bankruptcy, BlockFi lost its lending license and began preparing for bankruptcy, too.

Zack Prince: Future Endeavors

After the collapse of FTX and the bankruptcy of BlockFi, Zac Prince doesn’t seem to be much active. He is currently facing accusations of fraud, dishonesty, and mismanagement. BlockFi’s Unsecured Creditors’ Committee (UCC) has filed a lawsuit against Prince for defrauding clients and engaging in undue excess.

Allegedly, Prince seemed to have ignored warnings from the BlockFi risk management team dating back to 2021. The team was concerned about BlockFi lending $217 to Alameda Research and warned Prince not to do it. However, he decided to ignore their advice, which eventually had adverse consequences for the lender.

Zac Prince’s crypto activities appear to have stalled as well, at least on the BlockFi platform, according to the company lawyer. Namely, none of the BlockFi management team has withdrawn any cryptocurrencies since October 14, 2022.

Key Takeaways

With a net worth of approximately $100 million, Zac Prince was an outstandingly successful young man. However, this sum seems to be much smaller than it used to be at the beginning of 2022. Back then, the figures were estimated at an astonishing $500 million.

However, specific circumstances, such as the crypto winter and the crash of FTX, caused Zac Prince's net worth to plunge. In 2022, he was even forced to cash out $10 million to pay for the taxes.

Nevertheless, Zac Prince’s impact on the entire crypto world cannot be diminished. Despite the decline of BlockFi, he still dared to establish a venture no one had before. As a company, BlockFi faced significant risks compared to traditional banks, mostly due to the notorious volatility of cryptocurrencies.