Alumni | How Ophelia Snyder (MBA ’16) Expanded Access to Crypto and Redefined Modern Finance

Ophelia Snyder (MBA ’16), cofounder of 21Shares, discusses her journey from Stern to building a global crypto investment firm, and how the management frameworks she developed—informed by her Stern experience—shaped her approach to leading teams and scaling an organization.

Ophelia Snyder (MBA ’16) didn’t set out to become a founder. But a simple observation—that something promising was also deeply inaccessible—set her on a path to building one of the most influential companies in crypto finance.

Synder, who grew up between New York and Rome, was introduced to Bitcoin not through Wall Street, but at home. After graduating from Stanford, where she studied earth systems, she recalls her mother raising a practical concern: crypto might be compelling, but it was far too complicated to invest in.

“That disconnect stayed with me,” Snyder says. “The idea made sense, but the product wasn’t usable for most people.”

That insight became the foundation for 21Shares, the company Snyder co-founded in 2018. The firm pioneered crypto exchange-traded products (ETPs), allowing investors to access digital assets through traditional brokerage platforms—much like buying an S&P 500 ETF. What began as a solution to a personal frustration quickly scaled into a global business, with more than $11 billion in assets under management and products listed across Europe, the Middle East, and the United States.

Learning to Build at Stern—and Beyond

Before launching 21Shares, Snyder enrolled at NYU Stern to build the financial expertise she knew she lacked.

“I hadn’t even taken an economics class as an undergraduate,” she says. “I wanted a structured foundation in finance and Stern offered that alongside a culture that felt dynamic and practical.”

For Snyder, Stern stood out for its energy and connection to the real world. “There’s a bias toward doing, not just discussing ideas, but actually building,” she says.

That mindset proved essential when she entered investment banking and even more so when she left to start her own company at 25.

In its early days, 21Shares faced a landscape where crypto was often viewed as untouchable. Basic infrastructure posed challenges, from opening bank accounts to finding partners. At one point, Snyder and her cofounder navigated conversations with 27 regulators to bring their product to market.

“Being a founder is about doing hard things with limited resources and then doing it again the next day,” she says.

The breakthrough came through deep, detail-oriented work. While studying exchange regulations, Snyder identified a narrow pathway—“a subsection of a subsection”—that made it possible to structure a crypto ETP within existing rules. That insight enabled 21Shares to launch one of the first such products in Europe in 2018.

Over time, the company grew to 150 employees across three offices and expanded to more than 50 products globally. In 2025, 21Shares was acquired by FalconX in what Snyder describes as the largest exit by a female founder in crypto.

Leading with Structure and Looking Ahead

Despite these milestones, Snyder emphasizes that building a company required learning how to lead.

“I underestimated how much of leadership is a discipline,” she says. “Management is a science.”

Drawing on lessons from Stern—particularly Professor Dolly Chugh’s course—Snyder developed structured frameworks centered on clarity, defined roles, and measurable goals. “When everyone is aligned on what success looks like, it changes everything,” she says.

Snyder’s conviction in crypto extends beyond investment products. She sees blockchain as foundational to a more integrated financial system. “Traditional finance and decentralized finance won’t exist separately, they’ll converge,” she says.

Now back in New York following the company’s sale, Snyder is taking time to reflect, invest, and advise while staying connected to the Stern community. She has been recognized on Forbes’ “30 Under 30” and continues to advocate for responsible blockchain adoption and financial inclusion.

Outside of work, she finds balance in the performing arts, attending Broadway, opera, and ballet. “You need a place to step away from the pressure,” she says. “Art gives you that.”

Her advice to aspiring entrepreneurs is candid: “If there’s anything else you’d rather do, try that first,” she says. “But if you’re willing to run through walls, it can be incredibly rewarding.” From Stern to Switzerland and back to New York, Snyder’s journey reflects a defining belief: the most impactful ideas are often the ones that make something complex finally accessible.