# Francesco Agosti

> Francesco Agosti is the San Francisco-based CTO and co-founder of Phantom, the consumer crypto application he started in 2021 with Brandon Millman and Chris Kalani. A Duke computer science graduate and former Yelp engineer and 0x tech lead, Agosti has helped turn Phantom from a browser extension tested by 40,000 beta users into a multichain product used by more than 20 million people, while keeping his technical attention on security, infrastructure, and removing the awkward mechanics that make self-custody difficult for ordinary users.

- **Role:** CTO and co-founder at Phantom
- **Organizations:** Phantom, 0x, Yelp, Duke University
- **Education:** Computer Science, Duke University
- **Known for:** Co-founded Phantom and led its technology function from launch into a multichain consumer product., Helped scale Phantom from a 40,000-user beta community to a product whose website reports more than 20 million users., Co-authored Phantom's early security program describing transaction simulation, clearer transaction previews, anti-phishing warnings, and safer support channels.

## Career timeline

- **2012** — Worked as a physics research fellow at Duke University under particle physicist Mark Kruse.
- **2015-2018** — Worked as a software engineer at Yelp.
- **2018-2020** — Worked at 0x, advancing to tech lead.
- **2021** — Co-founded Phantom with Brandon Millman and Chris Kalani and became CTO.
- **2021** — Phantom launched its beta with a community of 40,000 active testers and later raised a $9 million Series A.
- **2022** — Phantom raised a $109 million Series B and Agosti appeared in interviews about the wallet's origins, security, and multichain expansion.
- **2024** — Joined the Phantom squad that prepared infrastructure for the JUP token airdrop after the preceding WEN claim exposed scaling limits.
- **2025** — Phantom raised a $150 million Series C at a $3 billion valuation; its official history reported more than 15 million users.
- **2026** — Publicly recruited for an internal AI engineering initiative intended to rethink how Phantom ships software.

## Achievements

- Co-founded Phantom and led its technology function from launch into a multichain consumer product.
- Helped scale Phantom from a 40,000-user beta community to a product whose website reports more than 20 million users.
- Co-authored Phantom's early security program describing transaction simulation, clearer transaction previews, anti-phishing warnings, and safer support channels.
- Helped prepare Phantom's infrastructure for the JUP airdrop, including coordinated load testing after an earlier 8,000-request-per-second surge exposed bottlenecks.
- Previously served as a tech lead at 0x after beginning his professional software career at Yelp.

## Latest updates

- **2026-04** — Said AI was changing software engineering and recruited an engineering leader to build Phantom's internal AI harness and rethink product delivery.
- **2025-10** — Authored Phantom's announcement of a new Head of Security and the company's membership in the Crypto Information Sharing and Analysis Center.
- **2025-01** — Phantom announced a $150 million Series C at a $3 billion valuation, with the company reporting more than 15 million users.

## Links

- Website: https://fragosti.com/
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/fragosti
- Twitter/X: https://x.com/fragosti
- GitHub: https://github.com/fragosti

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Profile page: https://yespress.io/francesco-agosti
Published by YesPress — https://yespress.io
Last updated: 2026-09-27