# Juan Llanos

**Chief Compliance Officer** — New York City, NY, United States

> Crypto-native compliance executive and product builder with 15+ years translating novel product architectures into regulator-defensible controls, embedding compliance into product design through AI and automation.

Career Archetype: **Launchpad Navigator** (HS-DG) — One of the first Launchpad Navigators on Saywise

## Links

- LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/in/juanllanos

## Experience

### Chief Compliance Officer, Félix (2024-03 – 2026-10)
New York, New York, United States · Leading design and execution of compliance, AML, sanctions, risk, and licensing infrastructure for a Series C cross-border payments platform using stablecoins. Designed the GRC model enabling cross-border USDC remittances through third-party and non-custodial infrastructure. Directed Felix's U.S. money transmitter licensing strategy, completing 42 applications in four months with 29 approved within the first year, and engaged directly with regulators on stablecoin settlement and hybrid fiat/crypto flows. Built AML/CFT, sanctions, monitoring, and governance infrastructure supporting rapid expansion while prototyping AI-enabled compliance workflows for regulatory analysis and policy design.

### Director, Global Fiat Strategy and Operations, Binance (2020-04 – 2021-10)
New York, USA · Designed and led global fiat onboarding and operating strategy across EMEA and Latin America during rapid global scaling. Reduced licensing implementation costs by 50% through modular global licensing methodology, enabled 3x faster time to market by standardizing banking and payments partner onboarding, and expanded regional fiat volumes by 25% through improved API features and onboarding flows. Advised executives on regulatory and banking engagement across Europe, Latin America, and the Gulf.

### FinTech & RegTech Lead + Entrepreneur In Residence, ConsenSys (2017-03 – 2018-10)
New York, New York, United States · Translated emerging decentralized technologies into regulatory, compliance, and product frameworks during early Ethereum phase. Drove RegTech product vision, built global product team, and secured $2.5M to create company's first AML compliance platform. Built cross-functional product governance and risk-requirements process for compliance tooling. Worked with leading global legal teams on token classification, securities-law risk, and regulatory-perimeter analysis for blockchain protocols. Collaborated with Monetary Authority of Singapore and UK FCA Innovation Hub on decentralized identity and token classification.

### Founder & Managing Director, Juan Llanos Advisors (2015-06 – 2020-07)
New York, USA · Founded advisory firm delivering compliance and risk management strategy guidance to crypto fintech startups across three bear markets. Supported crypto wallets, exchanges, OTC desks, cross-border money transmitters, and payment processors in formulating strategy and executing product and operational design. Co-created concepts of Minimum Viable Compliant Product (MVCP) and Minimum Viable Compliance (MVC). Designed operating models, risk assessments, policies, controls, and regulator-ready documentation. Served as external compliance and policy advisor to financial regulators and blockchain associations globally.

### Chief Compliance Officer + EVP of Strategic Partnerships, Bitreserve HQ, Inc. (now Uphold) (2014-03 – 2015-06)
San Francisco Bay Area · Founding team member responsible for global compliance strategy, go-to-market planning, money-transmitter licensing, and product controls for digital payments and cryptocurrency wallet services. Built compliance program and product onboarding controls with Product and Finance teams. Completed 22 money-transmitter license applications in three months using productized project-management methodology. Helped accelerate launch of custodial cryptocurrency wallet by designing compliant onboarding and account-opening workflows.

### Chief Compliance Officer, Ripio (2013-11 – 2023-06)
New York, New York, United States · Served as early advisor to founders, consulting on strategy and operations over multiple years before transitioning to Chief Compliance Officer role following Series B. Provided guidance on regulatory, product, and operational strategy for the growing crypto platform.

### Chief Compliance Officer | EVP of Operations | Co-Founder, Unidos Financial Services, Inc. (2006-08 – 2014-03)
New York, New York, United States · Co-founder managing overall operations including consumer experience, IT infrastructure, software development, and quality assurance. Recognized as early leader in launching GPR prepaid card capability in Mexico. Increased user engagement by 50% and transaction speed by 2x through POS GUI redesign. Led compliance and operations for regulated consumer financial services, owning controls across customer experience, IT, software development, and QA to improve transaction integrity and customer outcomes.

### BSA Compliance Officer + VP of Service, Remesas Quisqueyana, Inc. (now DolEx) (2002-02 – 2006-08)
New York, New York, United States

## Education

### American Literature (United States), Mars Hill University (1991-01 – 1991-01)

### History, Virginia Commonwealth University (1991-01 – 1991-01)

### MBA in Strategic Marketing, Universidad de Palermo

### BAs, Graduate Diploma in English, Linguistics, Translation and Education, Universidad del Salvador

## Skills

Document Management, Process Design, Document Lifecycle Management, Money Transfers, Licensing, Advisory Board, Legal Document Preparation, Project Management, Trading Systems, Remittances, Customer Due Diligence (CDD), Transaction Monitoring, Intercultural Communication, Partnership-building, Third-Party Vendor Management, Regulatory Technology, Employee Training, Smart Contracts, Public Key Cryptography, Entrepreneurship, Cryptocurrency, Regulatory Compliance, Analytical Skills, Emerging Trends, Internal Audits, Risk Consulting, Regulatory Examinations, Organizational Development, Risk Management, Strategy, Business Development, Financial Services, Anti Money Laundering, Business Strategy, CRM, Financial Risk, Strategic Planning, Analytics, Business Intelligence, Enterprise Risk Management, Product Management, Start-ups, Sanctions Governance, Enterprise Governance, Partner Risk, Operating Model Redesign, Decision Rights Design, Data Visualization, Agentic AI, Automation Tools, Figma, Google Workspace, Looker Studio, Miro, Notion, Python, SQL, Tableau, KYC/KYB, Stablecoin Compliance, Non-custodial Infrastructure, Money Transmitter Licensing, Compliance Product Design, Crypto/Digital Assets, Cross-border Payments, Blockchain Infrastructure, Token Models, Policy Development, Control Frameworks, Scalable Compliance, Regulator-ready Documentation, Financial Crime Risk, Licensing Strategy

## Credentials

- **14 NYC People in Bitcoin You Must Know** — AlleyWatch (issued 2014-10)
- **Permanent Resident Status "By Reason of Extraordinary Ability"** — United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (issued 2008-08)
- **Certificate of completion: Claude 101** — Anthropic (issued 2026-05)
- **Certificate of completion: Introduction to agent skills** — Anthropic (issued 2026-05)
- **Certificate of completion: Introduction to subagents** — Anthropic (issued 2026-05)
- **Claude Code in Action** — Anthropic (issued 2026-05)
- **LangChain for LLM Application Development** — DeepLearning.AI (issued 2025-09)
- **ACP: Agent Communication Protocol** — DeepLearning.AI (issued 2025-07)
- **DSPy: Build and Optimize Agentic Apps!** — DeepLearning.AI (issued 2025-07)
- **Event-Driven Agentic Document Workflows** — DeepLearning.AI (issued 2025-07)
- **Build Apps with Windsurf's AI Coding Agents** — DeepLearning.AI (issued 2025-06)
- **Building Agentic RAG with LlamaIndex** — DeepLearning.AI (issued 2025-03)
- **Building toward Computer Use with Anthropic** — DeepLearning.AI (issued 2025-03)
- **Multi-Agent Systems with CrewAI** — CrewAI (issued 2024-09)
- **AI Agentic Design Patterns with AutoGen** — DeepLearning.AI (issued 2024-08)
- **AI for Good Specialization** — Coursera (issued 2023-11)
- **AI For Everyone** — Coursera (issued 2023-11)
- **Generative AI for Everyone** — Coursera (issued 2023-11)
- **TRM Advanced Crypto Investigator (TRM-ACI)** — TRM Labs (issued 2023-04)
- **TRM Crypto Compliance Specialist (TRM-CCS)** — TRM Labs (issued 2023-04)
- **TRM Crypto Fundamentals Certification (TRM-CFC)** — TRM Labs (issued 2023-04)
- **Certified Anti-Money Laundering Specialist** — ACAMS (issued 2003-07)
- **After BitMEX: Regulation Must Change for the Digital Age**
- **Preparing for Blockchain Regulation in the Post-Obama Era**
- **Will Bitcoin Change How We Think About Regulation?**
- **No Banking, No Bitcoin**
- **The End of Bitcoin as We Know It**
- **The Criminal Precedent that Could Curb Bitcoin's Enthusiasm**

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Source: https://saywise.com/member4986 (last modified 2026-10-07T02:40:06.783Z)