Imagine typing in your email, buying a digital collectible with a credit card, and never once worrying about seed phrases or bridging tokens. That’s the future Henri Stern, founder of Privy, is building. With roots in applied cryptography at Stanford and a stint at Protocol Labs, Henri left crypto—only to return with a mission to fix its biggest barrier: usability.
From Academia to Frustration with Crypto UX
Henri’s journey began in graduate school at Stanford under the legendary cryptography professor Dan Boneh. After diving deep into distributed systems and applied cryptography, Henri joined Protocol Labs (the team behind IPFS and Filecoin). Despite loving the foundational aspects of crypto, he was disheartened by one reality: developers rarely focused on usability. “Every crypto app I used felt clunky,” he recalls. “If we can’t onboard mainstream users, how can we expect true adoption?”
So, he left the industry. But the vision of an “open ownership layer for the web” still captivated him. Over time, Henri realized that the friction users faced—managing Metamask, storing seed phrases, bridging assets—was exactly the kind of technical problem he was trained to solve. Privy was born to lower the barrier and make crypto-based products accessible to everyone.
What Is Privy?
At its core, Privy is developer tooling that allows projects to onboard every type of user—from crypto natives with multiple wallets to absolute newcomers who don’t even know what a seed phrase is. With one simple library, developers can:
Let experienced users connect existing wallets
Generate and orchestrate embedded wallets for new or non-crypto-savvy users and companies alike
Customize security and UX flows (multi-factor authentication, email sign-ins, or advanced cryptography)
Henri likens Privy to a “customizable interface” for wallet creation, key management, and user communication. This eliminates the typical slog of downloading browser extensions, remembering seed phrases, or juggling multiple accounts. The result? A frictionless way to buy, sell, or interact with on-chain assets—much like you’d use any Web2 app.
Real-World Examples
OpenSea: Today, a new user can simply type in an email, verify it, and—under the hood—Privy creates a self-custodial wallet. Then they can purchase an NFT with a credit card. This means no more fumbling with extensions or bridging ETH.
Courtyard: A platform digitizing physical collectibles like Pokémon cards. Newcomers join with just an email, trade or bundle digital cards instantly, and never realize they’re interacting with NFTs behind the scenes.
SukuPay: An international payments app where users can instantly send stablecoins across borders. Privy handles the wallets and security, so folks can focus on transactions, not the complexities of crypto rails.
Security Without Overwhelming Complexity
“But is an email-based wallet really secure?” Henri points out that security is not a binary but a spectrum. Privy helps devs choose the right level of security (e.g., multi-factor auth for every transaction vs. quick one-click approvals) based on their use case. For higher-value transactions or power users, Privy can integrate robust cryptographic setups (MPC, enclaves, etc.) and user-owned recovery options.
The key is flexibility: new users might start with an email-based flow, but as they evolve (and store more assets), they can seamlessly transition to more advanced setups.
Building Products, Not Tech Demos
Henri’s frustration stemmed from crypto’s obsession with underlying protocols at the expense of user experience. Privy’s mission: help builders focus on product-market fit, user feedback, and real-world utility—rather than wrestling with the basics of wallet management and key custody.
A second insight from Henri? Don’t chase shiny technical developments at the cost of shipping. While zero-knowledge proofs or new L2s might be revolutionary, your product won’t matter if it never launches. “Much like NASA stuck with older compute tech for the Apollo missions, you sometimes have to settle on a workable tech stack, ship, and then iterate,” he says.
Advice for Founders
Know where to innovate: Decide which parts of your product truly need novel solutions vs. where you can rely on existing frameworks.
Listen to customers: Privy builds features only after seeing real demand. “We never chase a feature that doesn’t solve a tangible problem,” Henri emphasizes.
Hire slow, hire right: In a volatile market, bring on versatile, experienced folks who can adapt as your startup scales.
Eat when dinner is served: Whether you’re raising capital or shipping features, seize opportunities when they present themselves.
The Road Ahead
Henri sees two overlapping waves: crypto-native products going mainstream (like NFTs or prediction markets that anyone can use) and traditional industries adopting stablecoins or on-chain rails. Privy aims to be the trusted “bridge” for both. “If we can give devs a single library that handles everything from embedded wallets to advanced security, we remove friction—and open the door for real-world apps to take flight.”
Want to dive deeper into Henri’s story and the future of frictionless crypto? Watch the full interview to learn how Privy is making Web3 as easy as opening an email and clicking “buy.”