Hany Rashwan

Hany Rashwan is an Egyptian businessman, entrepreneur, and computer engineer born May 7, 1990. Rashwan was born in Cairo, Egypt and grew up in Alexandria, where his grandfather—a career intelligence officer in the Egyptian army and expert in cryptography and programming—introduced him to computing at age 11. After moving to the United States for high school, he built two gaming sites aged 14, with one attracting 600,000 unique annual visitors and advertising revenue.

Rashwan attended Ohio State University in 2008 to study economics and computer science, before transferring to Columbia University. He received a BA in History, graduating magna cum laude. During his undergraduate years at Columbia, Rashwan built Kolena, an online interactive town-hall using Facebook Connect that was used by tens of thousands of Egyptians during the Egyptian revolution. He dropped out of Columbia to start Payout.com.

Career history

• Payout.com — enterprise fintech company
• Ribbon — social commerce company
• 21.co (formerly Amun) — co-founded in July 2018 with Ophelia Snyder
• Amun AG — co-founder providing crypto exchange-traded products

21Shares was co-founded in July 2018 by Hany Rashwan and Ophelia Snyder and is headquartered in Zurich, Switzerland, with offices in New York City and London. The company issues cryptocurrency exchange-traded products (ETPs) and manages $11.2 billion in assets. In January 2024, 21Shares partnered with ARK Investment Management to launch the ARK 21Shares Bitcoin ETF, which became one of the first approved spot Bitcoin ETFs in the United States. Rashwan is recognized as a Forbes 30 Under 30 alum, and his career reflects a consistent drive to make financial technologies more accessible and user-friendly.

What Hany Rashwan could bring to 21Shares as Co-founder and Co-chair: With a track record of pioneering cryptocurrency exchange-traded products in multiple jurisdictions and securing groundbreaking regulatory approvals, Rashwan brings deep expertise in navigating complex regulatory landscapes and scaling fintech ventures from concept to multi-billion dollar enterprises. His technical foundation in computer science, combined with earlier entrepreneurial ventures in payments and commerce, equips 21Shares with strategic oversight to expand crypto asset accessibility globally.