Sovereignty
People should keep what they earn and decide what to do with it – spend it, save it, or move it – without asking permission or paying exorbitant fees.
A short history of money
From shell to stablecoin
Prehistory
Shells
Cowrie and conch shells were among the first forms of money, traded across Africa, Asia, and the Indian Ocean. They were durable, hard to fake, and easy to count. The conch is the inspiration for our logo.
c. 3000 BC
Commodities
In Mesopotamia, value was measured in barley and silver by weight. The shekel began as a unit of grain.
c. 600 BC
Coins
The kingdom of Lydia struck the first standardized coins from electrum, a natural alloy of gold and silver. Value became portable and uniform.
48 BC
Pharsalus
At the Battle of Pharsalus, Julius Caesar defeated Pompey and took control of Rome and its mint. He made the gold aureus a regular coin, and in 44 BC became the first living Roman to put his own portrait on money.
1024
Paper
Song dynasty China issued the jiaozi, the first government-backed paper currency.
1659
Checks
The oldest surviving English cheque was written in London in 1659. Money could now move by written instruction.
1950
Cards
Diners Club launched the first multipurpose charge card. Bank-issued credit cards followed within the decade.
2009
Bits
Bitcoin showed that value could move directly between people over the internet.
Today
Stablecoins
Stablecoins carry the dollar on internet rails, settling globally in seconds, at any hour.
Manifesto
Our thesis
Our financial system is being rebuilt. The AI economy and the accelerating adoption of stablecoins in emerging markets are creating the need for a new financial infrastructure.
Our core beliefs
Access
Open, programmable, global rails give a worker in Lagos or a business in Mexico City the same financial products the largest institutions use today. Access should not depend on where you live or how much you hold.
Efficiency
Technology should remove the intermediaries between people and their money, so what remains is cheaper and faster. We back companies that share those gains with customers as well as shareholders.
Conviction
In each segment we look for the one company that will define it, and aim to own as much of it as we can. We are patient with the asset class and concentrated in our best ideas.
Portfolio
EreborNational bank for the innovation economy
Fun.xyzGlobal payments infrastructure
Standard EconomicsPayments and credit for the unbanked
CatalystAgentic execution for markets
ZARCash on-ramps to digital dollars
PrivyWallet and onboarding infrastructureAcquired by Stripe
CrusoeAI infrastructure
N3XTStablecoin settlement and neobanking
LimitedStablecoin banking with self-custody
LighterVerifiable high-throughput trading
Morfi MarketsOpinion markets for every debate
OpenFXCross-border FX settlement
EternisIdentity and proof of reality
PlasmaStablecoin-native blockchain
Zodia MarketsInstitutional digital asset trading
Yellow CardStablecoin payments across Africa
HawalaGlobal payments
Sesame VaultStablecoin treasury
AcctualStablecoin invoicing and bill pay
CheckerYield infrastructure
HyperdriveStablecoin yield and leverage
YieldClubYield for everyone
SoterDigital asset insurance
FuzeDigital asset infrastructure
BerachainLayer-1 blockchain
RaiseCrypto and gift-card payments
SovraSimple savings in digital dollarsIncubation
Investments made by Pharsalus-managed vehicles. Inclusion does not indicate performance.
Team
Anthony Ghosn
Founding PartnerAnthony founded Pharsalus Capital and leads the firm's investment strategy. He has been investing in and building tech-driven financial businesses since he graduated from Stanford in 2015.
Early in his career, he served as Chief of Staff to Joe Lonsdale during the formative years of 8VC, where he helped to identify portfolio companies and support the development of the firm. He went on to found, invest in, and operate several ventures at the intersection of emerging technology and financial infrastructure, including Hearth, a vertical fintech business in the home improvement market which has originated over $1 billion of loans through a network of 15,000 home improvement contractors. Raised between Tokyo and Paris, he saw the collapse of the Lebanese financial system in 2019 at first hand, which shaped his conviction that the world needs better financial infrastructure.
Patrick Elyas
PartnerPatrick sources new investments, and oversees the firm's legal, regulatory, and operational matters, including relationships with financial institutions and certain investors and portfolio companies. He joined Pharsalus in 2026 after serving on its advisory board.
He joined from Circle, where he led international and corporate operations. He previously held roles at Coinbase, Snap, Coatue, and McKinsey. He holds JD, MBA, BA, and BS degrees from the University of Pennsylvania.
Lorenzo Haggiag
PartnerLorenzo works across sourcing, diligence, portfolio strategy, and investor partnerships. He serves on the board of Zodia Markets, the Standard Chartered-backed digital asset trading and settlement firm.
He began his career in equity research and strategy in New York, building the proprietary research function at Zyyo and serving as Chief of Staff to its CEO. He later led new business and investment efforts at Hiltzik Strategies. He holds a BA from UCLA, where he graduated with highest honors, and an MS in Finance from Baruch's Zicklin School of Business.
Sebastien Parfitt
Head of TalentSebastien runs talent at Pharsalus, where he manages recruiting, events, and social media on behalf of the fund, and leads sourcing for its portfolio companies.
Before joining Pharsalus, Sebastien led the technology and data practice at Highbridge Partners, an executive search firm. Prior to that, he spent two years in retained search at Stonehaven International, a Heidrick & Struggles spinoff in London, working on executive search, board formation, and compensation advisory across its financial technology and hedge fund practices. Across his career he has delivered multiple searches spanning the C-suite, technology, and quant research.
Sebastien holds a Master of Accounting from the University of Cambridge.
Contact
Building in fintech? We would like to hear from you.
OfficeNew York, NY
Email
info@pharsalus.comFoundersSend a short note and a deck. We read everything.