From early internet investments to co-founding Tether, the world’s most transacted digital asset, William Quigley has quietly shaped the foundation of modern crypto.
William Quigley is a man who rarely takes the spotlight — but whose fingerprints are all over the infrastructure of modern digital assets. A venture capitalist turned blockchain architect, Quigley is best known as the co-founder of Tether, the world’s third most transacted cryptocurrency, and co-founder of WAX, the NFT-focused blockchain built for digital commerce.
But before that, he built a résumé few in crypto can rival: early investments in PayPal, NetZero, and MP3.com during the dotcom era, and a strategic leadership role at The Walt Disney Company, where he co-managed the licensing division and helped build Disney’s merchant banking arm.
Quigley’s career spans Web1, Web2, and Web3 — and his track record suggests he’s always been one step ahead of the curve.
Early Career and the Idealab Years
Born into a large family in the U.S., Quigley’s drive emerged early — turning a small newspaper route into a delivery empire by recognizing the power of scale and efficiency. That instinct would serve him well throughout a career that merged deep technical understanding with business-first thinking.
He studied accounting at the University of Southern California, then went on to earn an MBA from Harvard Business School, eventually landing at Arthur Andersen’s Financial Services Group. His transition to The Walt Disney Company gave him a front-row seat to global IP, finance, and operational scaling — a combination that would later influence how he approached tokenization.
In the late 1990s, Quigley joined Idealab Capital Partners, the world’s first internet-focused venture firm. There, he invested in and helped scale some of the internet’s early giants — companies that shaped digital payments, content delivery, and user monetization.
The Stablecoin That Changed Crypto: Founding Tether
Of all his contributions to crypto, Tether (USDT) is easily the most impactful — and the one that forever changed how value moves across blockchains.
Founded in 2014, Tether was the first fiat-backed stablecoin pegged to the U.S. dollar. It was designed to solve a very specific — and very real — problem: crypto was too volatile to be a functional currency. For crypto to work as a financial system, it needed a stable unit of account. That’s what Tether provided.
“If you are a trader, the only way to calculate your profit from a trade is for one side of the trading pair to be stable. If both sides are moving, it’s kind of a theory as to whether you made money or not, right?” Quigley explained during his appearance on The CoinRock Show.
Tether wasn’t just a workaround — it was infrastructure. It gave traders, developers, and exchanges a way to transact, settle, and build without the chaos of price swings. And unlike other attempts at stablecoins that came and went, Tether endured.
“I would say the Federal Reserve and then other people who were proponents of tokenizing fiat were not very effective or even ignored what the benefits were to the consumer or to the business. The benefits are massive, but they weren’t being articulated.”
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Quigley believes stablecoins aren’t a niche — they’re the future of money infrastructure, especially for emerging economies. Tether, for him, was the first step in replacing outdated banking rails with programmable, globally accessible alternatives.
He also pushed back on regulatory fear-mongering, especially in the U.S., arguing that governments already control traditional banking systems far more invasively than they’d ever admit. Stablecoins, he suggests, could actually increase transparency, not reduce it.
Tether today moves billions of dollars in daily volume and remains the most widely used stable digital asset globally — a far cry from the early days when few believed a tokenized dollar could scale.
WAX and the Rise of Tokenized Gaming Economies
Quigley didn’t stop with stablecoins. In 2017, he co-founded the Worldwide Asset eXchange (WAX), a blockchain designed for digital collectibles and virtual items — particularly within the gaming industry.
WAX offered a purpose-built platform for NFTs and item trading, long before the NFT boom of 2021. Quigley’s vision was simple: if games already had vibrant economies, why not make them trustless, transparent, and global?
The platform became a favorite among Web3 gaming projects, emphasizing ease of use, fast transactions, and customizable digital ownership.
With Tether, Quigley stabilized money in crypto. With WAX, he enabled ownership.
Looking Ahead: Cycles, Shifts, and Strategy
Despite being a veteran of multiple financial revolutions, Quigley remains surprisingly measured about what comes next. Quigley envisions a future where blockchain technology and digital assets are seamlessly integrated into everyday transactions. He anticipates that NFTs will evolve beyond collectibles to serve as verifiable proofs of authenticity and ownership across various industries. Moreover, he foresees the adoption of central bank digital currencies (CBDCs) as governments recognize the efficiencies and transparency offered by blockchain-based monetary systems.
William E. Quigley’s trajectory from traditional finance to the forefront of blockchain innovation exemplifies a commitment to identifying and nurturing transformative technologies. His foundational roles in establishing Tether and WAX highlight his foresight in addressing the needs of the digital economy. As the landscape of digital assets continues to evolve, Quigley’s contributions remain integral to shaping a decentralized and efficient financial future.
Where You Can Find William Quigley You can follow William Quigley and explore more of his work across the blockchain space through his verified profiles and project links:
Twitter: @WilliamEQuigley
LinkedIn: William E. Quigley
WAX Official Site: www.wax.io
