William Quigley is an American venture capitalist and cryptocurrency entrepreneur who co-founded Tether and now serves as CEO of WAX, a blockchain platform built for NFTs and virtual items in video games. His career spans traditional venture capital, early internet investing, and more than a decade in crypto.
Who Is William Quigley?
William Quigley holds a Master’s degree from Harvard Business School. That earlier profile additionally describes him earning an accounting degree from the University of Southern California, becoming a CPA, and being named a Kauffman Fellow, along with an early career as a Senior Consultant at Arthur Andersen advising banks on asset securitization and risk management, followed by a role at Walt Disney spanning finance, retail operations through Disney Consumer Products, equity investments, and merchant banking.
William Quigley’s Career and Contributions
Quigley’s venture capital career began at Idealab, described by one source as the most successful consumer internet incubator of the Web 1.0 era, where he led internet incubation efforts and helped launch Idealab Capital Partners, an early consumer internet venture capital fund.
He went on to co-found Clearstone Venture Partners, an early-stage firm valued at roughly $700 million that focused on communications and consumer technology investments. Through these ventures, Quigley made early investments in PayPal, NetZero, MP3.com, and GoTo.com.
In 2013, Quigley co-founded Crypto Currency Partners, described as the first dedicated cryptocurrency investment fund, with portfolio investments including Coinbase, Kraken, Bitfury, Authy, ChangeTip, and Circle. Then, a year later in 2014, he co-founded Tether, now widely described as the first fiat-backed stablecoin.
Other ventures include GoCoin, an early crypto payments processor, and he served as CEO of OPSkins, described as the world’s largest marketplace for video game virtual items. He is Managing Director of Cashel Enterprises, a cryptocurrency-focused investment vehicle that has incubated and invested in more than 40 Bitcoin, blockchain, and cryptocurrency ventures, according to PG Connects, a scope broadly consistent with Coinpedia’s separate claim of more than 30 blockchain-related ventures.
He currently serves as CEO and co-founder of WAX, described as the first purpose-built blockchain for NFTs, which grew directly out of the marketplace infrastructure and trading demand behind OPSkins, applying lessons from running a virtual goods marketplace to a dedicated blockchain built for trading digital collectibles and in-game items.
With the recent ventures cited, Quigley across his career has consistently moved from identifying a market inefficiency, whether in early internet commerce, virtual item trading, or dollar-denominated crypto settlement, to building dedicated infrastructure to address it, rather than operating primarily as a passive investor.
For profiles of other builders shaping the Web3 industry, visit our crypto personalities page.
William Quigley’s Views and Positions
Quigley has continued to advocate publicly for Bitcoin, stablecoins, and NFTs, participating in speaking engagements at blockchain and gaming industry conferences.
He has expressed the view that the stablecoin industry still has significant room to grow, framing it as infrastructure that can give traditional finance easier, faster payment options rather than a purely speculative crypto product.
His public commentary has generally emphasized the practical, infrastructure-building side of crypto, consistent with a career built more around founding and funding companies than around market commentary or price speculation.
For readers interested in Tether’s own operational and audit history specifically, our coverage of Tether’s first USDT audit with a Big Four firm covers a related development.
Frequently Asked Questions
Need a refresher? Here are the questions readers most often ask about William Quigley.
What is William Quigley’s role at WAX?
Quigley is CEO and co-founder of WAX, described as the first purpose-built blockchain for NFTs, a platform that grew out of his earlier work running OPSkins, a marketplace for video game virtual items.
Did William Quigley co-found Tether?
Yes. Quigley co-founded Tether in 2014, widely described as the first fiat-backed stablecoin, alongside his other crypto ventures including GoCoin and Crypto Currency Partners.
What venture capital firms has William Quigley been involved with?
Quigley co-founded Idealab Capital Partners and Clearstone Venture Partners before moving into crypto-focused investing, and currently serves as Managing Director of Cashel Enterprises, a cryptocurrency-focused investment vehicle.
What other companies has William Quigley founded or led?
Beyond Tether and WAX, Quigley has co-founded GoCoin, Crypto Currency Partners, Idealab Capital Partners, and Clearstone Venture Partners, and served as CEO of OPSkins before it evolved into WAX.
What does WAX actually do?
WAX is a blockchain built specifically for NFTs and digital collectibles, letting users trade video game virtual items and other digital assets. It grew directly out of Quigley’s earlier work, applying that same trading demand to a dedicated blockchain infrastructure.
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