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TRES Finance: Building the Financial Backbone for Web3

Meet Tal Zackon, Forbes 30U30 CEO of TRES Finance ($18.6M raised). Discover his journey & how TRES tackles crypto accounting complexity.

April 17, 2025 • Estimated Reading Time: 8 minutes

Tal Zackon & TRES Finance: Building the Financial Backbone for Web3 

The world of digital assets moves at lightning speed. Fortunes are made, protocols are launched, and innovation happens daily. But behind the scenes, a critical challenge looms large for any serious player: managing the complex financial operations. How do you account for assets across dozens of blockchains? How do you stay compliant in a rapidly evolving regulatory landscape? Enter Tal Zackon and TRES Finance.

Sri Misra, Founder of aarna protocol recently had the chance to sit down with Tal for an in-depth conversation on the alpha un# podcast, exploring his journey from Israeli Special Forces to venture capital, and finally to founding TRES Finance, a company tackling the intricate world of crypto accounting and compliance head-on. It was a fascinating discussion shedding light on the often-unseen infrastructure powering the Web3 revolution.

🎧 You can dive into the full, unfiltered conversation with Tal Zackon on the latest episode of alpha un# here

From Special Forces Ops to Venture Capital Insights 

Tal's path to founding a leading Web3 infrastructure company wasn't conventional. Originally from South Africa, he moved to Israel as a kid. His formative years included a significant stint – nearly six years – serving as a Major in the Israeli Intelligence Special Forces. It was here, amidst high-stakes operations, that he met his future co-founder, Eilon Lotem. This experience undoubtedly honed his operational strategy skills and perhaps offered early insights into cybersecurity – valuable assets in the fintech world.

"So I moved to Israel when I was a kid, grew up here, served for about six years in the Israeli Special Forces. That's where [I] met my co-founder Elon."

After his military service, Tal pursued higher education, earning an honors Bachelor's Degree in Business Administration from IDC Herzliya, including a stint at the University of Southern California which broadened his global perspective. He didn't just excel academically; he was consistently on the Dean's List.

His next move took him into the heart of Israel's vibrant tech ecosystem: venture capital. Joining F2 Venture Capital, Tal spent four years immersed in early-stage technology investing. He rose from the investment team to Associate and then Principal. Crucially, this period ignited his interest in blockchain.

"When I got back to Israel, I joined an early stage venture capital firm based in Tel Aviv... part of what I was looking at and researching was blockchain and crypto. And in 2019, I led the first crypto oriented investment in a company... Turned out to be a great company, was acquired by Shapeshift later on. And ever since, [I] was fascinated with the technology and the use cases."

Despite a crypto winter pause, the rebranding to Web3 in 2021 reignited the space. Tal's experience investing in the domain revealed a critical gap.

The "Aha!" Moment: Identifying the Web3 Financial Operations Gap 

While investing and observing the burgeoning Web3 market, Tal noticed a recurring problem. Existing financial tools were woefully inadequate for the unique demands of digital assets, DeFi, and multi-chain ecosystems. CFOs and compliance officers were struggling.

"At the end of 2021, I was thinking about my next move. And I knew that I wanted to build a company that is an infrastructure company, a data company, and that is involved in the digital asset Web3 space... when Eilon, my co-founder, and I started researching the space, we saw that there was a significant gap when it comes to how CFOs and compliance officers are able to engage with digital assets..."

Traditional finance operates on relatively simple rails. Crypto finance? It's a different beast altogether.

"When it comes to digital assets, you will see companies that have 10 people create the amount of transactions… that is equivalent to the monthly transactions that Walmart need[s] to process... You'll see companies working on 10, 20, 30 different blockchains..."

This complexity – massive transaction volumes, assets fragmented across numerous chains, intricate cost basis calculations, and the need for compliant reporting – demanded a new solution. This realization, born from his VC insights and tech understanding, was the genesis of TRES Finance, co-founded with Eilon Lotem in early 2022.

What is TRES Finance? Solving Crypto's Back-Office Nightmare 

TRES Finance isn't just another crypto app. It positions itself as a comprehensive digital asset financial operations platform. What does that mean?

"We like to define ourselves as a digital asset financial compliance solution because today we offer for on-chain and for off-chain compliance and also TradFi compliance because we do connect to bank accounts. And we offer more than just accounting. We also offer all the preparation, taxation, reconciliation."

In essence, TRES provides the tools for businesses interacting with digital assets to manage their finances accurately and stay compliant. It bridges the gap between the chaotic on-chain world and the structured requirements of traditional finance, accounting, and regulation.

Key Problems TRES Solves:

  • Data Aggregation: Pulling data from wallets across multiple blockchains, centralized exchanges, and even traditional bank accounts into one unified view.

  • Transaction Classification: Automatically identifying and labeling complex DeFi activities (staking, LPs, swaps) using metadata and machine learning, while allowing custom rules for payments and other transfers.

  • Accurate Accounting: Calculating cost basis (supporting different methodologies like per-asset or per-wallet), tracking inventory, and enabling reconciliation.

  • Audit & Tax Readiness: Generating reports and providing workflows that streamline preparation for annual audits and tax filings.

  • Compliance: Helping businesses navigate evolving regulatory frameworks like MiCA in Europe or VARA in the UAE, providing the data needed for licensing and reporting.

They've built a sophisticated Financial Operating System (FOS), acting as a central hub. Other innovations mentioned in their dossier include a Proof of Funds tool for exchanges, a Staking Data API, and upcoming features like an Alerts Center and an AI-powered Tres Analyst.

Security and trust are paramount. TRES has achieved SOC 1 and SOC 2 Type 2 compliance, demonstrating a high commitment to data protection and operational integrity.

Growth, Funding, and Vision 

Since launching in February 2022, TRES Finance has demonstrated significant traction:

  • Seed Round (Sept 2022): Raised $7.6 million led by Boldstart Ventures and Alchemy Ventures.

  • Series A (Dec 2023): Secured $11 million, led by Faction Ventures, bringing total funding to $18.6 million.

  • Team Growth: Expanded to 40 people (as of the podcast recording) spread across Tel Aviv (HQ), London, France, and the US.

  • Market Expansion: Strengthened presence across key markets: US, EU, and APAC.

Tal emphasized the importance of the team during our conversation, sharing a poignant moment:

"Last year in July, we brought the whole team together from all over the world to Israel for a week... We grouped up... to take a team picture and when they were taking the pictures, [I] just looked around and I said, I really, really love these people. They are amazing... I want this company to succeed... mainly for them."

Despite early challenges ("Initially, selling the product was difficult... I thought I made a mistake... but then we signed our first contracts, and everything changed"), the company's focus on user experience and solving tangible problems has fueled its growth.

What's the long-term vision? Tal sees TRES becoming indispensable infrastructure:

"Today, there are three critical products every company that touches digital assets will need. The first one is where to store their assets... They'll need some kind of AML cybersecurity solution... But when it comes to financial compliance... TRES is positioned and is already the market leader and is the next big company when it comes to critical infrastructure for digital assets. So we will be the standard for any company that touches a digital asset to get all their compliance in place."

The Man Behind the Mission: Always Building 

Beyond the impressive resume – Forbes 30 Under 30 honoree, experienced VC, Special Forces Major, angel investor in notable startups (like Justt, Darrow, Astrix, Safebase) – Tal Zackon's LinkedIn summary simply reads: "Always building."

His journey reflects this drive: from serving his country to identifying gaps in venture capital, and now constructing essential financial infrastructure for the future of the internet. TRES Finance, under his leadership with co-founder Eilon Lotem, is tackling a complex but fundamental challenge. As the digital asset ecosystem matures and institutional adoption grows, the need for robust, reliable, and compliant financial operations will only increase. Tal Zackon and TRES Finance are positioning themselves squarely at the center of that evolution, building the backbone required for Web3 to reach its full potential.