Fundraising
About Uphold
Founded in 2013 by Halsey Minor, Uphold evolved from a Bitcoin storage service into a multi-asset trading platform, pioneering 'all-asset interchange' and real-time proof of reserves. In 2019, it launched CredEarn, a third-party yield product, which collapsed in 2020 when Cred went bankrupt, causing over 6,000 customers to lose $34 million. In April 2026, the New York Attorney General forced Uphold to pay a $5 million settlement for promoting this fraudulent scheme, marking a major regulatory milestone. In June 2025, CEO Simon McLoughlin revealed the board had hired FT Partners to explore an IPO or sale, targeting a valuation above $1.5 billion, signaling a strategic shift. In 2024, Uphold announced it would terminate support for stablecoins like USDT and DAI ahead of Europe's MiCA regulation, demonstrating proactive compliance. It also launched dollar interest accounts offering up to 4.5% APY, expanding its yield products. These events highlight Uphold's evolution from a niche platform to a compliance-focused, strategically expanding player.
Over the past six months, Uphold announced several major developments:
In April 2026, launched Auto-Invest, enabling paycheck-direct-deposit users to automatically invest in up to 10 assets including digital assets, a USD Interest Account, or precious metals, with XRP cashback rewards.
On July 8, 2026, introduced Flexible Staking for US users—no lockup, weekly rewards, and the ability to sell or swap staked assets anytime.
On July 21, 2026, launched equities trading: US customers can convert crypto to over 4,000 US stocks/ETFs in a single step within the app, with fractional shares and no Uphold commission, from as little as $5. Plans include expanding to nearly 24/5 trading hours.
On July 30, 2026, introduced crypto-backed instant loans via Exactly DeFi Protocol: users can collateralize BTC, ETH, XRP, or USDC to receive USDC in minutes, no credit checks, fixed rates from 4.28% APR, and flexible repayment.
Future focus: continue building an all-in-one financial platform for traditional and digital assets; expand 24-hour equities trading; leverage DeFi for practical crypto use cases like lending; and advance on-chain financial infrastructure.
Halsey Minor: Founder of Uphold. American tech entrepreneur who founded CNET, later founded Bitreserve (2014, renamed Uphold) and companies such as Live Planet and VideoCoin.
Simon McLoughlin: CEO of Uphold. Graduated in law from Cambridge University, served as Managing Director at Euromoney Institutional Investor, joined Uphold in 2018, held roles including SVP, President & COO, and has been CEO since 2022.
Nancy Beaton: President and Chief Revenue & Marketing Officer of Uphold. With 25 years of experience in marketing and technology, she previously served as Head of Strategy & Marketing at MetaJuice, led the launch of cryptocurrencies like VCOIN and NFTs, and was named one of the Top 25 Women in the Metaverse.