{"id":"howard-wu","hidden":false,"ipfs":"QmdzFuriyu9uXV3p2fZFJgztqQPbTARfhhuFVf3tJPoHqs","language":"en","transactionHash":"0x144ac7cbdb7d1b7064d46d5508091acf5c03371fb98fc45db69ff2cff844b86b","created":"2026-09-09T22:40:20.164Z","updated":"2026-09-09T22:40:20.164Z","title":"Howard Wu","summary":"Howard Wu is a person that is a cryptographer and entrepreneur who cofounded and leads projects building zero-knowledge technology and privacy-focused blockchain products.","content":"**Howard Wu** is an American cryptographer and entrepreneur known as a founder and the first chief executive officer of the privacy-focused [blockchain](https://iq.wiki/wiki/blockchain) project [Aleo](https://iq.wiki/wiki/aleo). Based in the United States, he has built his career around [zero-knowledge proofs](https://iq.wiki/wiki/zero-knowledge-proofs-zkps) and [elliptic-curve cryptography](https://iq.wiki/wiki/elliptic-curve-cryptography-ecc). [\\[1\\]](#cite-id-p78jpsmclk)​[\\[2\\]](#cite-id-eu9omp2wti) In addition to Aleo, Wu is co-founder and CEO of Provable, an Aleo Labs company, managing partner of [Dekrypt Capital](https://iq.wiki/wiki/dekrypt-capital), and CEO of ShieldFi (also styled ShieldApp).[\\[3\\]](#cite-id-rd9ytqjkna)​[\\[2\\]](#cite-id-eu9omp2wti)​\n\n## Education\n\nHoward Wu earned a Master of Science in Electrical Engineering and Computer Sciences from the University of California, Berkeley (2018). He previously completed a Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science and Applied Mathematics at UC Berkeley (2012–2016).  [\\[1\\]](#cite-id-p78jpsmclk) \n\n## Career\n\n### Early Roles and Investing\n\nWu began his professional career around his university years. He worked as a search engineer at Google from January 2016 to January 2017, and later held a software engineer role at the company from approximately 2018 to 2019.[\\[4\\]](#cite-id-s9acocaqlj)​[\\[3\\]](#cite-id-rd9ytqjkna) During this period he was also involved with [Blockchain at Berkeley](https://iq.wiki/wiki/blockchain-at-berkeley), a student and research organization at his alma mater, where he is described as a co-founder and served as an advisor from January 2016 to January 2022.[\\[3\\]](#cite-id-rd9ytqjkna)​[\\[4\\]](#cite-id-s9acocaqlj)​\n\nIn January 2017 Wu became managing partner at [Dekrypt Capital](https://iq.wiki/wiki/dekrypt-capital), a cryptocurrency investment firm that he is also credited with co-founding.[\\[1\\]](#cite-id-p78jpsmclk)​[\\[3\\]](#cite-id-rd9ytqjkna)​\n\n### Aleo\n\nWu is a founder and the first chief executive officer of [Aleo](https://iq.wiki/wiki/aleo), a [blockchain](https://iq.wiki/wiki/blockchain) protocol that uses zero-knowledge technology to enhance digital privacy. Aleo's stated mission is to build a secure and privacy-first internet by enabling privacy-preserving applications through zero-knowledge proofs.[\\[4\\]](#cite-id-s9acocaqlj)​[\\[1\\]](#cite-id-p78jpsmclk)​[\\[3\\]](#cite-id-rd9ytqjkna)​\n\nWu served as co-founder and CEO of Aleo Systems from December 2019 until November 2022. In a company release dated November 2022, he handed the CEO title to [Alex Pruden](https://iq.wiki/wiki/alex-pruden) and became the company's chief technology officer.[\\[3\\]](#cite-id-rd9ytqjkna) \n\n### Provable\n\nFollowing a reorganization of the [Aleo](https://iq.wiki/wiki/aleo) effort, Wu became co-founder and CEO of Provable, beginning in November 2022.[\\[3\\]](#cite-id-rd9ytqjkna)  As an author on Provable's site, Wu has been associated with posts including \"_Introducing ARC-0046: Strengthening Aleo Network Security Through Prover Staking_,\" \"_Discover Provable_,\" and \"_Welcome to Provable_,\" the latter two documenting the company's transition and identity.[\\[5\\]](#cite-id-wzmoro31rz)​\n\n### ShieldFi\n\nWu is CEO of ShieldFi, also referred to as ShieldApp, an on-chain privacy protocol positioned for regulated institutions. He has framed the project around the argument that earlier privacy protocols \"ignored compliance, which put them out of reach for regulated institutions,\" and that traders need to protect their trading activity while still meeting regulatory requirements.[\\[2\\]](#cite-id-eu9omp2wti)​\n\nTo illustrate the problem ShieldFi addresses, Wu described meeting with a trading firm that used fresh addresses across different networks in the belief that its activity could not be linked. He said his team tested this assumption by indexing recent [blocks](https://iq.wiki/wiki/block) across those networks and cross-correlating trades by size and [gas](https://iq.wiki/wiki/gas), demonstrating that supposedly separate addresses could be tied together.[\\[2\\]](#cite-id-eu9omp2wti) \n\n## Cryptographic Contributions\n\nWu's research work centers on [zero-knowledge proofs](https://iq.wiki/wiki/zero-knowledge-proofs-zkps) and [elliptic-curve cryptography](https://iq.wiki/wiki/elliptic-curve-cryptography-ecc). His profile identifies him as a co-author of libsnark, a widely used C++ library for succinct non-interactive [zero-knowledge proofs](https://iq.wiki/wiki/zero-knowledge-proofs-zkps); DIZK, a system for distributed [zero-knowledge proof](https://iq.wiki/wiki/zero-knowledge-proofs-zkps) generation; and Zexe, a construction for decentralized private computation.[\\[2\\]](#cite-id-eu9omp2wti) He was a 2018 co-author of the Zexe paper on decentralized private computation, the design later implemented by [Aleo](https://iq.wiki/wiki/aleo).[\\[3\\]](#cite-id-rd9ytqjkna)​\n","recentActivity":null,"operator":{"id":"0x4a2bC97afBF41a2Cbf4b4628F63420682Ff4CF2a"},"categories":[{"id":"people","title":"People in crypto"}],"tags":[{"id":"Advisor"},{"id":"Developer"},{"id":"Founder"},{"id":"Investor"},{"id":"Researcher"}],"images":[{"id":"QmNYoLojYxzKmEdrCMNPWg52zhopwFGVFy3pv7CJQBp1xy","type":"image/jpeg, image/png"}],"media":[],"linkedWikis":{"founders":[],"blockchains":[],"speakers":[]},"events":[{"id":"e7537e59-29d2-4c30-9a71-b08b3de5a838","type":"DEFAULT","date":"2017-01-01","multiDateStart":null,"multiDateEnd":null,"country":null,"continent":null,"title":"Managing Partner at Dekrypt Capital (role start)","description":"Began role as Managing Partner at Dekrypt Capital.","link":null},{"id":"0bfe5f94-9816-4a77-888d-20add8fe2d36","type":"DEFAULT","date":"2019-01-01","multiDateStart":null,"multiDateEnd":null,"country":null,"continent":null,"title":"Co‑founder and CEO of Aleo (role start)","description":"Became co‑founder and CEO of Aleo.","link":null},{"id":"417b384f-38c0-4050-b610-d9c41268811a","type":"DEFAULT","date":"2022-11-01","multiDateStart":null,"multiDateEnd":null,"country":null,"continent":null,"title":"Transition from CEO to CTO at Aleo","description":"Moved from CEO to CTO at Aleo.","link":null},{"id":"61149222-e753-43fc-b43f-7fb455b999ea","type":"DEFAULT","date":"2016-01-01","multiDateStart":null,"multiDateEnd":null,"country":null,"continent":null,"title":"Graduated from University of California, Berkeley","description":"Completed degree at UC Berkeley.","link":null}],"founderWikis":[],"blockchainWikis":[],"metadata":[{"id":"twitter_profile","value":"https://x.com/1HowardWu"},{"id":"linkedin_profile","value":"https://www.linkedin.com/in/1howardwu"},{"id":"references","value":"[{\"id\":\"p78jpsmclk\",\"description\":\"LinkedIn: Howard Wu\",\"timestamp\":1789081956933,\"url\":\"https://www.linkedin.com/in/1howardwu/\"},{\"id\":\"eu9omp2wti\",\"description\":\"X - Howard Wu\",\"timestamp\":1789081969615,\"url\":\"https://x.com/1HowardWu\"},{\"id\":\"rd9ytqjkna\",\"description\":\"Silicon Valley - Howard Wu / Founder / CEO · Aleo\",\"timestamp\":1789081989653,\"url\":\"https://siliconvalleyinvestclub.com/companies/aleo/team/howard-wu/\"},{\"id\":\"s9acocaqlj\",\"description\":\"Clay - Who is the CEO of Aleo in 2026? Howard Wu's Bio\",\"timestamp\":1789082009533,\"url\":\"https://www.clay.com/dossier/aleo-ceo\"},{\"id\":\"wzmoro31rz\",\"description\":\"Provable - Howard Wu\",\"timestamp\":1789082023815,\"url\":\"https://provable.com/author/Howard-Wu\"}]"},{"id":"previous_cid","value":"QmdzFuriyu9uXV3p2fZFJgztqQPbTARfhhuFVf3tJPoHqs"},{"id":"commit-message","value":"Trim Howard Wu wiki by 384 words"},{"id":"previous_cid","value":"QmdzFuriyu9uXV3p2fZFJgztqQPbTARfhhuFVf3tJPoHqs"}],"user":{"id":"0x8af7a19a26d8fbc48defb35aefb15ec8c407f889"},"author":{"id":"0x4a2bC97afBF41a2Cbf4b4628F63420682Ff4CF2a"},"views":29}