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Their backgrounds in financial services, infrastructure, and enterprise software will help strengthen commercial and technical teams as the company expands globally and supports more regulated institutions in digital assets.
Xander Carpousis, Head of Americas
Xander brings over a decade of experience in finance, institutional sales, and digital asset go-to-market strategy. His prior roles include leadership positions at Strike, Hoseki, Alpaca, Darktrace, and AB Bernstein, focusing on connecting traditional finance with emerging technologies.
Most recently serving as COO/CRO at Hoseki, he led operations for a proof-of-reserve infrastructure platform. At Strike, he was Head of Strategy and Partnerships, driving business development for Bitcoin-powered payments. His tenure at Alpaca involved scaling an API-first brokerage, while at Darktrace he expanded cybersecurity solutions for global financial institutions.
At Dfns, Xander oversees go-to-market efforts across the Americas, managing enterprise sales and ecosystem partnerships in regulated markets. Based in New York, he collaborates with product leadership to drive adoption among financial institutions, fintechs, and crypto platforms. His focus includes refining sales strategy, expanding partner engagement, and facilitating secure wallet infrastructure integration.
Luis Almeida, Senior Software Engineer
Luis brings expertise in backend engineering, financial systems, and high-availability infrastructure. As Senior Software Engineer at Nash crypto exchange, he built scalable platforms for crypto-native banking using Elixir and functional programming. He spent four years at EBANX developing payment systems and reliable APIs.
Earlier experience includes work at Ericsson on 5G infrastructure and telecom services with emphasis on distributed systems. At Dfns, Luis joins the engineering team under CTO Noah Cornwell, focusing on expanding blockchain integrations and building API connections to third-party services like staking and yield products.
Mark Passando, Staff Software Engineer
Mark possesses over 15 years of full-stack engineering experience, emphasizing robust frontend systems and scalable backend services. At Thirty Madison, he led teams developing user-facing dashboards, mobile apps, and real-time systems. His previous role at MonetaGo involved building secure applications for institutional financial platforms.
He demonstrates deep expertise in React, Next.js, and modern interface development. At Dfns, Mark leads frontend and backend initiatives, particularly improving the developer dashboard and mobile experience. He also evolves internal architecture and development practices while maintaining quality standards for a platform supporting billions in monthly transaction volume.