NASA's new head appointed by Trump made a significant investment in cryptocurrency while simultaneously embarking on a space journey.

• Jared Isaacman, who later became NASA's leader, led his payments company Shift4 into the crypto market before being chosen by President-elect Trump.
• In 1999, when Isaacman was 16, he founded Shift4 and grew it into a $9.3 billion company, in part due to a successful bet on stablecoins.
• Shift4's Pay with Crypto feature now allows the 200,000 merchants on its platform to accept crypto payments for hotel, restaurant, and stadium purchases.

Jared Isaacman, the 41-year-old space enthusiast, was chosen by President-elect Donald Trump to lead NASA.

He's also a crypto billionaire.

Isaacman, the founder of a fintech company that offers secure payment processing solutions for businesses, has seen his company's stock price increase by almost 40% this year, resulting in a market cap of $9.3 billion. Isaacman started the business in 1999 at the age of 16 and took it public on the New York Stock Exchange in 2020.

Trump announced on Dec. 4 that Jared has shown exceptional leadership in building a groundbreaking global financial technology company.

The bold bet on crypto made almost three years ago contributed to that success.

In Isaacman's apartment near Central Park, in a lofted conference room with glass walls above the living area, Isaacman and his executive team met with Alex Wilson and Pat Duffy, entrepreneurs who were in the final stages of selling their crypto donation marketplace to Shift4. This was early 2022.

They brainstormed on how blockchain technology could be utilized across the payment company's operations with a whiteboard as their background.

A few months ago, the market had hit a record, increasing sixfold from the end of 2019 to the close of 2021. Numerous digital tokens were generating substantial returns. The market was bubbly, moods were optimistic, and meme coins were at their peak.

While Elon Musk was promoting dogecoin and investors were investing in NFTs, Wilson, Duffy, and Isaacman were concentrating on a less flashy area of the digital asset market: stablecoins.

Cryptocurrencies that are linked to the value of a real-world asset and are commonly referred to as stablecoins are worth approximately $200 billion today. They are often utilized for international money transfers at a significantly lower cost compared to traditional payment systems.

At Isaacman's house, Wilson, 31, stated that the group around the table agreed that stablecoins were more likely to be used as a regular medium of exchange than bitcoin or ethereum. They aimed to create products that utilized blockchain technology but were token-agnostic.

Wilson stated that our goal was to meet customers where they were and enable our merchants to accept payments in any form preferred by their customers.

Isaacman, the CEO of a company with over 3,000 employees, walked in front of the whiteboard with a marker in hand, discussing ways crypto could be applied to the broader Shift4 business. Wilson remarked that Isaacman has an impressive ability to focus on details despite his leadership role.

Shift4 acquired The Giving Block, a company founded by Wilson and Duffy, for $54 million and aims to leverage its crypto donation capabilities to increase its embedded cross-sell opportunity, which is valued at $45+ billion. The deal also includes a potential earnout of up to $246 million.

Shift4's crypto team is now being led by Duffy and Wilson. In October, they unveiled a Pay with Crypto service that will be made available to all 200,000 merchants on the platform, enabling users to spend crypto at hotels, restaurants, and stadiums.

Wilson stated that the current development represents the largest stride towards mainstream adoption of crypto payments in the industry.

Isaacman stated to CNBC that he is thrilled to see the original vision he shared with Wilson and Duffy during the acquisition process being realized, as crypto is gaining more mainstream attention and momentum.

Isaacman finds himself at the center of the action.

Since Trump's election win in November, the crypto market has experienced a more dramatic upswing, with Bitcoin reaching a new high of $108,000 on Tuesday, up over 55% since election night. The overall market cap of tokens has also surpassed $3.7 trillion.

The surge in spot bitcoin exchange-traded funds and other options products since January has attracted more institutions and retail investors to the market.

Stablecoins have moved closer to the mainstream as well.

In October, Stripe purchased Bridge Network, a stablecoin platform, for $1.1 billion, signaling a shift in the way businesses transact using digital currencies. This move served as a significant wake-up call for traditional credit card companies.

In the U.S., credit card networks currently account for 80% of all credit card volume, as per data from the Nilson Report. These networks charge a transaction fee to payment processors like Stripe for using their so-called rails. The costs, which include a flat fee plus a percentage of each payment that can be up to 3.30%, are typically passed along to the customer.

New Stablecoin entrants

Stablecoins allow for transactions to cost less than a penny and be completed instantly, making them ideal for cross-border transactions, which are crucial to most of Stripe's users.

"Sands stated that the value of the Stripe ecosystem extends beyond the cards network and local payment methods, as it can also be utilized for cryptocurrency."

Ripple has introduced its stablecoin, RLUSD, and BitGo is reportedly planning to do the same. Additionally, U.K. fintech Revolut is considering following suit.

PYUSD, a U.S. dollar-pegged coin launched by a company that was relatively early to the market in August 2023, topped $1 billion in market cap in August but has since fallen below $500 million as competition for market share heats up.

The market is dominated by Tether's USDT and Circle's USDC, with $140 billion and $42 billion worth of coins in supply, respectively, accounting for about 90% of the market combined.

Experts are eagerly anticipating how big credit card companies will react to the increasing popularity of cryptocurrencies and whether they will create their own coins.

In October, Visa unveiled the Visa Tokenized Asset Platform (VTAP) to simplify the process for banks to introduce their own stablecoins. According to Cuy Sheffield, Visa's head of crypto, the platform enables banks to issue and manage fiat-backed tokens.

Sheffield stated that Visa is "enabling many of these features for them."

Last July, Mastercard launched its Multi-Token Network (MTN), allowing for payments of fully collateralized stablecoins and other digital assets on the platform.

Raj Dhamodharan, Mastercard's head of crypto and blockchain, revealed to CNBC that MTN plans to introduce crypto functionalities, including the flexibility of digital currency, to banks, which hold vast amounts of dollar deposits.

The crypto meltdown of 2022 posed challenges for stablecoin issuers, as seen with the collapse of TerraUSD (UST) and sister token Luna, resulting in the loss of billions of dollars in value and undermining confidence in the reserves backing certain stablecoins.

In October, the Wall Street Journal reported that the Department of Justice is investigating Tether for potential violations of sanctions and anti-money laundering rules. However, a Tether spokesperson stated that the story was based on speculation and that the company has no knowledge of any such investigations.

The market is gaining broader credibility as more established financial players enter the scene.

The crypto ecosystem and the traditional financial system are connected through stablecoins, as stated by Ari Redbord, global head of policy at blockchain intelligence company TRM Labs.

Redbord stated that the reason for the leading fintechs, including Stripe, PayPal, Visa, and others, to heavily focus on stablecoins is due to their use of this technology.

'Huge growth story'

For years, the crypto industry has advocated for stablecoin legislation to protect these dollar-backed digital assets and their issuers. According to Brian Armstrong, founder and CEO of one of the industry's most prominent companies, stablecoins have gained significant momentum.

"According to Armstrong, crypto initially focused on trading but has recently shifted towards utility, particularly payments. He stated that stablecoin volume reached $10 trillion last year and could potentially double or triple this year, making it a significant growth story for crypto as people begin to consider how to make transactions faster, cheaper, and more global."

Through acquisitions, Shift4 has experienced growth, including the purchase of Vectron Systems in Germany, Card Industry Professionals in the U.K., Eigen Payments in Canada, and other payment firms.

According to Wilson, the company sees stablecoins as relevant to two distinct markets. One group comprises wealthy crypto enthusiasts who want to use their tokenized dollars to purchase luxury items such as jets and helicopters. The other market consists of individuals residing in Latin America and Africa, where stablecoins are preferred for daily transactions due to low Visa and Mastercard adoption.

Stablecoins are crucial for economies in emerging markets, such as Nigeria, where they enable individuals and businesses to make international USD payments without having to export hard currency, according to a survey conducted by Castle Island Ventures, Visa, and other partners.

According to a recent report by Standard Chartered, stablecoins currently account for 1% of financial transactions in the U.S. and a similar percentage of foreign exchange transactions. The bank predicts that as they gain legitimacy, a move to 10% is "feasible."

Isaacman is shifting his focus to the public sector as Shift4 aims to lead the stablecoin momentum.

Isaacman, aside from his finance career, has commanded crews on multiday trips around the Earth through SpaceX, leading two private spaceflights in 2021 and 2024. His spaceflight aspirations have strengthened his bond with SpaceX CEO Musk, who is one of Trump's biggest supporters and is set to play a significant role in the administration.

Isaacman informed his "Shift4 Family" on Dec. 4 that he would continue as CEO until his appointment is confirmed by the Senate.

"Isaacman, who dropped out of school and built Shift4 from his parents' basement, wrote that he has been dedicating his life to the company since he was 16 years old. However, he believes it is now time for him to give back to the nation that allowed him to achieve the American dream."

Isaacman stated that his nomination to lead NASA is driven by his passion for expanding human presence in space, unraveling the mysteries of the cosmos, and enhancing life on Earth.

In March 2022, Wilson recollected a dinner with Issacman at an Italian restaurant called Lago at the Bellagio in Las Vegas, where they talked about Issacman's early business beginnings as a teenager.

Jared's dedication and hard work as the founder is unmatched, as Wilson stated.

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