Ilya Veller
I build the financial infrastructure that early Web3 companies need before they become institutional: entities, token/foundation structures, banking and crypto rails, Fireblocks / multisig treasury, payroll, QuickBooks / ApprovalMax / CryptoWorth automation, investor reporting, and audit-ready finance operations. I was a co-founder and CFO of a billion-dollar fully-diluted Layer-1 protocol (Vara Network / Gear Technologies) with Coinbase listing. I personally (with my very technical co-founder) identified, set up calls, negotiated, legally structured and raised $12M+ from tier-one crypto VCs. Built and automated the entire finance, treasury, and compliance stack at Blum, TON's largest Telegram Mini App DEX with 90M+ Telegram users, in two months. I have 5+ years hands on operating experience as the founder and C-suite level in Web3, on top of 20+ years across institutional and traditional finance at Renaissance Capital, Morgan Stanley, and Bank of America.
Proficient in multi-jurisdictional structuring, institutional fundraising, treasury automation, and audit-ready reporting that turn early-stage crypto projects into businesses institutional capital can underwrite. My strongest fit is with Web3 founders who have strong product and engineering teams, but need someone who can open international banking/crypto/payment rails, choose jurisdictions, structure token/foundation entities, build treasury controls, and make the company finance-ready for investors and exchanges.
Experience
Head of Finance & Operations / CFO
Blum Labs Inc.
Remote
Web3 Telegram Mini App DEX on TON · 90M+ Telegram users · @blumcrypto Built the entire finance and operations stack from scratch in under six weeks (inherited a single Excel file), taking the company from no infrastructure to institutional-investor-ready. Compressed monthly close from 30 days to 5 days by architecting an automated accounting, approvals, and reconciliation pipeline using CryptoWorth, ApprovalMax, and QuickBooks.
Designed and rolled out global crypto payroll and contributor payment rails (Request Finance, RainCards, Tonkeeper, Fireblocks and other apps) for a distributed team across multiple jurisdictions. Established internal controls, AML and KYC workflows, and compliance documentation positioned for institutional partnerships and exchange requirements.
Managed investor relations with gCC, OKX Ventures, Spartan Group, No Limit Holdings, YZi Labs, Wintermute Ventures, and others. Structured treasury reporting and financial forecasting through a hyper-growth user acquisition phase.
Co-Founder, CFO & Head of Capital Formation
Gear Technologies / Vara Network
Non-EVM Layer-1 protocol · $1B+ fully diluted valuation · Messari Report Co-founded and scaled the protocol from pre-seed through token generation event to $1B+ fully diluted valuation; led all finance, treasury, legal, and operations as founding CFO. Raised $12M+ across multiple rounds from tier-one crypto VCs: Lemniscap, Distributed Global, Blockchange Ventures, Mechanism Capital, Spartan Group, P2P, Signum, Bitscale, and many others.
Structured the Coinbase listing process end-to-end, including exchange due diligence, legal coordination, and counterparty management. Designed and implemented the multi-entity corporate structure across Switzerland, Cayman Islands, BVI, and the United States, optimized for token issuance on Coinbase, IP protection, and regulatory compliance.
Managed investor relations for 40+ institutional investors with quarterly auditor requests, board materials, and annual IFRS financial reporting and filing. Built and automated all internal infrastructure: treasury (Fireblocks), reconciliation (ApprovalMax & QB) Owned people operations, contractor agreements, payroll architecture for 100+ contributors.
Institutional Equity Sales
Renaissance Capital, Morgan Stanley, Bank of America
Equities, fixed income, derivatives · institutional and HNWI clients Generated $20M+ in cumulative sales commissions as a top-3 equity sales producer at Renaissance Capital, from an institutional client base that included VC, hedge funds, asset managers, and HNWI accounts. Built and led equity sales desks at Aton, Unicredit, and ITI Capital attracting tier-one institutional and HNWI clients across global equity, fixed income, and FX markets.
Earlier US-side roles: MD of CentreInvest Securities, a boutique investment bank, New York; Equity and Derivatives Sales & Trading at Morgan Stanley; Derivatives Sales & Trading at Bank of America.
Education
New York University
Risk Management
University of Wisconsin-Madison
B.A.
Finance, Investments & Banking
Skills
CORE CAPABILITIES
Capital Formation & Investor Relations
Closed $12M+ across SAFTs, token warrants, and equity rounds with Lemniscap, Distributed Global, Mechanism Capital, Spartan Group, HashKey Capital, P2P, Signum, Bitscale, and Blockchange Ventures. Responsible for all investor relations matters including external audit requests, IFRS reporting, board materials, and cap table management (Carta).
Treasury & Crypto Finance
Fireblocks, multisig, and MPC workflows. On-chain and off-chain payment rails. Stablecoin and token treasury management at protocol scale. Bank & crypto exchange global account opening and risk management with full AML / KYC and preventive OFAC compliance documentation.
Multi-Jurisdiction Structuring
Designed and managed 12+ different entities across Switzerland, Cayman Islands, BVI, and Delaware. Foundation structures, foundation subsidiaries, development companies and token issuer setups optimized for hiring, marketing, IP protection and regulatory compliance.
Accounting Automation
Compressed monthly close from 30 days to 5 days at Blum using CryptoWorth, ApprovalMax, and QuickBooks. Audit-ready IFRS and US GAAP financial statements reporting from day one.
HR & Global Payroll
People operations for 100+ globally distributed contributors across 20+ jurisdictions. Crypto and fiat payroll via Fireblocks, Request Finance, RainCards, and Tonkeeper.