Michael Shaulov Fireblocks: From Unit 8200 to Stablecoin Payment Rails

Michael Shaulov is CEO and co-founder of Fireblocks, the institutional digital-asset infrastructure company that markets custody, transfer, wallet, tokenization, and payments tooling used by banks, payment firms, and crypto-native operators. Fireblocks' executive team page describes him as a cybersecurity entrepreneur who co-founded Lacoon Mobile Security (acquired by Check Point), led mobile and cloud security products at Check Point, served in Israel's Unit 8200, and holds a BSc in Computer Sciences and Physics from Ben-Gurion University (Fireblocks executive team).

On 4 September 2025 Fireblocks launched the Fireblocks Network for Payments, a purpose-built extension of the Fireblocks Network aimed at stablecoin payouts, remittance, merchant settlement, and cross-border treasury. The company-authored launch post and the parallel PR Newswire release both quote Shaulov framing Fireblocks as the backbone of stablecoin payments and cite more than 40 providers, 100+ countries, and 60+ currencies, with monthly stablecoin payment flows described in the hundreds of billions on the broader Network (Fireblocks blog, 4 Sep 2025; PR Newswire, 4 Sep 2025).

This founder highlight maps Shaulov's path from Unit 8200 and Lacoon into Fireblocks, what the September 2025 Network for Payments launch actually claimed versus Circle Payments Network-style single-issuer rails, how SCI already covers Fireblocks how-tos and reviews without a durable founder page, and where marketing language still stops short of a finished vendor diligence memo.

For Stripe's Bridge operator peer, see Zach Abrams. For Circle's CEO founder lane, see Jeremy Allaire. For a dual-charter RLUSD CEO peer, see Brad Garlinghouse.

How to Enable Fireblocks Agentic Payments Gateway for Stablecoin Settlement (2026)

Operator how-to for Fireblocks agentic payments gateway settlement flows.

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Key Takeaways

• Michael Shaulov is CEO and co-founder of Fireblocks with co-founders Pavel Berengoltz (CTO) and Idan Ofrat (CPO); prior stack includes Lacoon Mobile Security (acquired by Check Point), Check Point mobile/cloud product leadership, Unit 8200, and a Ben-Gurion BSc in Computer Sciences and Physics (Fireblocks team page; Consensus 2025 speaker bio).
• Fireblocks was founded in 2018 after the founders' Check Point-era work on exchange-hack investigations; the firm markets institutional custody, transfer, and issuance infrastructure and states it has secured more than over ten trillion in digital-asset transactions across 120+ blockchains (PR Newswire about blurb, 4 Sep 2025).
• Fireblocks Network for Payments launched 4 Sep 2025 with 40+ providers (Bridge, Circle, Zerohash, Yellow Card, Banxa, OpenPayd, and others listed in primary materials), targeting 100+ countries and 60+ currencies for payouts, remittance, merchant settlement, and treasury (Fireblocks blog; PR Newswire).
• Fortune (4 Sep 2025) reported Fireblocks' last funding valuation at $8 billion (2022 round), more than 40 Network participants at launch, and a July 2025 record of $212 billion in stablecoin volume processed on Fireblocks infrastructure, citing company data shared with Fortune (Fortune).
• SCI already publishes Fireblocks product how-tos, alternatives reviews, and news (Kakao Pay MoU, MoneyGram, agentic payments gateway) but had no durable michael shaulov fireblocks founder page before this highlight; competitor SERP slots are thin team bios and event posts, not operator maps.

Who Michael Shaulov is

Shaulov's public company bio is consistent across Fireblocks' team page and conference speaker notes: CEO and co-founder; Lacoon Mobile Security co-founder then Check Point Head of Products for Mobile and Cloud Security after Lacoon's acquisition; Unit 8200 alumni with an Israeli Presidential Excellency Honor cited in those bios; BSc Computer Sciences and Physics from Ben-Gurion University, Israel (Fireblocks team; Consensus 2025 speaker page).

Stablecoin Insider's read: Shaulov sells Fireblocks as security-first institutional plumbing that grew from exchange-hack response culture into a payments network thesis. That sits next to issuer CEOs (Allaire, Garlinghouse, Ardoino) who sell a named dollar, and next to Bridge's Zach Abrams who sells orchestration for Stripe's stablecoin stack.

Fireblocks: custody rail that became a payments network

Fireblocks markets itself as digital-asset infrastructure for custody, transfer, wallet-as-a-service, tokenization, and payments. The 4 September 2025 PR Newswire about section states thousands of organizations (examples named: Worldpay, BNY Mellon, Galaxy, Revolut) trust Fireblocks to secure more than over ten trillion in digital-asset transactions across 120+ blockchains (PR Newswire).

Operator split inside diligence: Fireblocks is usually the MPC/custody and network layer in a stack that still needs an issuer (USDC, USDT, PYUSD, RLUSD, or a white-label dollar), an on/off-ramp, and banking. SCI's existing product coverage includes how to enable Fireblocks Agentic Payments Gateway, best Fireblocks alternatives for stablecoin infrastructure in 2026, and the longer Fireblocks Review 2026.

4 September 2025: Fireblocks Network for Payments

Shaulov's company blog post frames stablecoin payments as having entered a production era and cites $300 billion in monthly payment flows over the Fireblocks Network as context for launching a payments-specific network layer. The post lists four design drivers: connectivity for global access, scaling with one integration, embedded compliance across markets, and revenue agility. Provider examples named in the launch materials include alfred, Banxa, Bridge, Braza Bank, B2C2, Circle, Conduit, dLocal, GSR, OpenPayd, Sygnum, Transak, Yellow Card, Zerohash, Zodia Markets, and others (Fireblocks blog).

The PR Newswire release quotes Shaulov: "Fireblocks is the backbone of stablecoin payments," and adds Bridge CEO Zach Abrams and Yellow Card CEO Chris Maurice as ecosystem quotes. It also states future integrations with Circle Payments Network (CPN) and WalletConnect to simplify liquidity and settlement access (PR Newswire).

Fortune's same-day exclusive adds color Shaulov gave reporters: companies building their own stablecoin networks face expensive engineering or error-prone manual flows; the Fireblocks Network for Payments is multi-stablecoin, whereas Circle Payments Network is USDC-centric in Fortune's comparison; Fireblocks' prior network was built more for crypto trading than for stablecoin sandwich corridors such as Brazil to the United States (Fortune).

How this differs from issuer CEOs and from Circle Payments Network

Jeremy Allaire and Heath Tarbert sell Circle and USDC; Brad Garlinghouse sells Ripple and RLUSD; Paolo Ardoino sells Tether. Shaulov sells the custody and network layer those dollars move across. Fortune's interview line is explicit that Network for Payments is multi-stablecoin and comparable in intent to Circle Payments Network without being limited to USDC (Fortune).

Bridge's presence on the Network directory also links this founder page to SCI's Zach Abrams profile and to Stripe/Bridge card and payout how-tos. Zerohash appears both as a Network participant in launch materials and as the subject of SCI's how to send a zerohash stablecoin payout.

Stablecoin Insider's opinion: if your diligence question is "who owns Fireblocks' stablecoin payments thesis," start with Shaulov's September 2025 primary posts and Fortune interview. If your question is "how do we turn Fireblocks on for agentic settlement," start with the Agentic Payments Gateway how-to. If your question is "who issues the dollar," leave this page and open Allaire, Garlinghouse, Cascarilla, or Ardoino.

Best Fireblocks Alternatives for Stablecoin Infrastructure in 2026

Comparison cluster for operators sizing Fireblocks against peer infrastructure.

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Peer map and SCI Fireblocks cluster

Shaulov sits beside Abrams (Bridge/Stripe orchestration), Allaire (Circle USDC), Garlinghouse (Ripple RLUSD), and Jesse Hemson-Struthers (BVNK rails) as infrastructure or issuer CEOs that treasury teams actually put in vendor questionnaires. SCI's Kakao Pay / KakaoBank Fireblocks MoU news and MoneyGram Fireblocks settlement coverage show the same platform showing up in Asia distribution tests and remittance rails (Kakao Fireblocks MoU; MoneyGram Fireblocks).

Thin competitor pages that currently occupy "michael shaulov fireblocks" style queries include Fireblocks' own team tile, Silicon Valley Investclub's short bio, Consensus speaker notes, and Fortune's launch exclusive. This SCI highlight is designed to be the durable operator map those pages are not.

Who this founder profile is for (and who should skip it)

Read this if you evaluate Fireblocks as custody or payments infrastructure, compare Network for Payments to Circle Payments Network, or need a named CEO object next to SCI's Fireblocks how-tos. Skip if you need a retail price thesis for a Fireblocks token (there is not one in this framing), a generic "what is a stablecoin" explainer, or a claim that a Network directory listing alone completes banking, Travel Rule, or MiCA obligations for your entity.

Fireblocks marketing will keep saying backbone, Swift-like connectivity, and trillion-scale settlement history. Your counterparty memo should still say which Fireblocks product surface you are buying (custody vs Network for Payments vs agentic gateway), which stablecoins and corridors are contractually in scope, and which licensed partners sit on the fiat legs you actually need.

FAQ

Zach Abrams: The Quiet Operator Behind Stripe's Stablecoin Bet

Peer founder map for Bridge/Stripe orchestration next to Fireblocks Network participants.

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This content is provided for informational and educational purposes only and does not constitute financial, investment, legal, or tax advice; no material herein should be interpreted as a recommendation, endorsement, or solicitation to buy or sell any financial instrument, and readers should conduct their own independent research or consult a qualified professional.