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      Walter Hessert

      Walter Hessert

      Head of Strategy

      Paxos

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      Walter Hessert is an experienced entrepreneur and strategist, with a decade building software businesses in highly regulated industries. As Head of Strategy at Paxos, Walter leads Corporate Development and Growth functions. Walter has served as the primary architect of Paxos’ most complex and large-scale digital asset partnerships, including PayPal, Mastercard and Interactive Brokers. His agility and innovative approach to building long-term enterprise agreements has allowed Paxos to distinguish itself as the trusted, regulated infrastructure provider to multinational tech and financial brands. Additionally, he led the fundraising efforts for the Company’s Series C ($145 million) and Series D ($300 million) investment rounds.

      Before joining Paxos, he was co-founder and Chief Product Officer of Derby Games, a leading regulated gaming company based in NYC. Walter worked closely with regulators to get licenses to operate in 37 states and multiple international jurisdictions, led negotiations with operators globally to gain access to live racing content from over 200 race tracks around the world and worked with top tech companies such as Facebook and PayPal as a launch partner for their expansion in to serving real money gaming. After Derby Games, Walter built a software development studio based in Yerevan, Armenia. Walter holds a BA in Political Science from Notre Dame.

      Speaking at SFF 2026

      • 1:45–2:15pmWed 18 NovPolicy StageHall 3, Singapore EXPOOpen

        Policy Rewiring

        Stablecoins: From Fringe to Framework

        Policy StageHall 3, Singapore EXPOOpen

        About this session

        Stablecoins have moved out of the regulatory grey zone and into a proper legal framework. That shift changes the question facing every institution, from whether to engage at all to exactly how. Regulators in different markets are setting the terms at different speeds, and institutions no longer have the luxury of waiting for global consensus before deciding. This discussion works through the practical choices on the table: issuing, distributing or custodying stablecoins directly, against the risk of simply watching deposits drift toward whichever option moves fastest. Participants leave with a sharper sense of where their own institution sits on that spectrum, and what waiting actually costs under the new rules. One key question the discussion will dive into: whether to issue, distribute or custody stablecoins themselves, or simply watch deposits migrate to them regardless.