§00 — LONDON (SHOREDITCH) + EDINBURGH · REMOTE OK

SLAVASOLODKIY

Fintech & digital-identity founder — practitioner turned researcher

I've built a licensed bank from three founders to a US banking charter, run one of Asia's first fintech VC funds to nine exits, and published eighteen papers and research reports along the way. Now I'm learing-by-doing 'digital identity'-ish — cryptographic proof of which AI agent acted, on whose authority, provable after the fact.

Looking for wherever that operating record is most useful next: product / research / transformation leadership, an advisory or board seat, a fractional mandate, a research grant, or a funded PhD.

IAM asks: can this account log in?
digital identity x AI asks: was this agent authorised, by whom, under what mandate — and can you prove it afterwards?

2.5 YRSUS banking charter, IFE‑065, 2021 — Revolut & Monzo still don't have one

$150M+AUM at Arival · $1B+ lifetime transaction volume

9 EXITSAs a fintech VC — Simple, Fidor, SumUp, Rocketbank, Moven…

18+Books & research reports published since 2012

Email NO.01 Book a call NO.02 LinkedIn NO.03 solodkiy.cv NO.04

§01 — WHAT I'M LOOKING FOROPEN TO EMPLOYMENT · LTD CONTRACT · FRACTIONAL

Role

Head of / Director — Product Research & Innovation / Transformation Chief‑of‑Staff‑type Board seat / CEO advisor Fractional & advisory

Format & geography

Remote / hybrid preferred 100% office — fine London (Shoreditch) Edinburgh — particular interest Rest of UK EU considered

Right to work

UK Global Talent visa (Tech Nation, Exceptional Talent) → ILR granted → no sponsorship required

Grants & academia

UK/EU research & startup grants Incubators / accelerators Funded PhD or postdoc — UK preferred, EU considered

Particularly drawn to

Tools for Humanity / World ID · OpenAI · Anthropic · Google · Perplexity · Revolut · NVIDIA · Octopus Energy · SumUp · ANNA Money · the Deel orbit — plus fintech, digital-identity, energy/brownfield, defence-tech and AI-infrastructure startups, VC funds, banks and government bodies working on the same problems.

§02 — TRACK RECORD2012 — NOW

ARIVAL
BANK

Founder & CEO / CPO · Board Director
12.2017 – 02.2023 · Miami & Los Angeles, CA, US / San Juan, PR

The flagship proof of execution: a licensed US bank built in-house, front-end to core banking, with compliance treated as a product. Transitioned out in 2023; retains minority equity.

LicenceIFE‑065, OCIF Puerto Rico / NY Fed district, 2021 — one of the first issued that year; a 2.5‑year process led personally

Raised$25M+ seed → Series A

Scale3 co‑founders → 60+ employees

Reach500+ b2b2c clients across 26 countries, zero marketing spend

Balance sheet$150M+ AUM · $1B+ lifetime transaction volume

Regulator relationsInvited by FinCEN to showcase compliance innovation to 20+ regulators; SOC1 & SOC2 attained

PartnershipsRailsbank, Synapse, Cross River · crypto rails: Fireblocks, Gemini, CryptoAPI

AwardsFinovate Asia Best of Show 2018 · Tearsheet Challenger 2020 · London Design Award 2018 · FintechInn 2018

2022Fielded acquisition interest from Deel (decacorn) — much of the Arival team is there today

§02.1 — Venture investing

SREDA.Ventures

Founder & Managing Partner
09.2012 – 04.2018 · Singapore

One of Asia's first fintech‑focused VC funds. LIFE.SREDA VC launched October 2012 with Sir Richard Branson headlining.

Track record20+ deals, 9 exits — Simple (→BBVA, $117M), Moven (→Varo), Fidor (→BPCE), Rocketbank (→Otkritie), SumUp (led Series B 2014, now a decacorn), Anna Money

RecognitionTop‑35 global fintech investor, 3 consecutive years (Institutional Investor) · Top‑21 Fintech Influencers Europe · E&Y #FintechAsia100

RegulatorySecured a Singapore MAS capital markets services licence

PublishingAnnual "Money of the Future" reports — 50k+ readers, cited by INSEAD and Chris Skinner's Finanser

INSPIRASIA ACCELERATOR

Founder & CEO
10.2015 – 01.2021 · Singapore

Ranking#1–2 ranked fintech accelerator in Singapore, 2015–2019

PortfolioIncubated Osome, BASIS ID (→ ZignSec)

ProgrammeHosted Vitalik Buterin (2016) · partnered with INSEAD & Wharton · MAS hackathons

§02.2 — Also on the record

Researcher / learning-by-doing

04.2026 – NOW · London

W3C DID/VC infrastructure for cryptographic authorisation of AI agents in regulated finance. Pre‑seed.

Advisor / mentor / investor, Slava.ai

04.2023 – NOW · London

Independent research & advisory practice.

First investor & advisor, BASIS ID (→ ZignSec) / A.ID

12.2017 – 05.2019 · Estonia / Singapore

FinCEN Innovation Council.

Working‑group participant, IBM WorldWire / Stellar

01.2018 – 03.2019 · Singapore

—

Series B lead investor, SumUp

08.2014 – 08.2018 · Berlin

Now a decacorn.

Co‑launcher, "Banking on Blockchain" — Ethereum Foundation

04.2016 – 09.2016 · London

—

VC investor & JV, Fidor Bank AG

11.2013 – 04.2015 · Munich

—

Limited Partner, Anthemis Group

09.2013 – 04.2015 · London

—

Angel investor / lender, ANNA Money

12.2022 – 01.2024 · London

—

Head of Product (AML tooling), Anti‑Corruption Foundation

01.2012 – 12.2012 · Moscow

The "Navalny Card" campaign was shortlisted at Cannes Lions for social impact.

Marketing Director, Russian Standard Bank

pre‑2012 · Moscow

From age 25, under Rustam Tariko. EFFIE "Brand of the Year" 2010 & 2012. Earlier: BP/MGIMO research grant (2008, place marketing); early fintech conversations with Pavel Durov (2013).

§03 — REGULATORY & INSTITUTIONALUS · SG · UK

US bank charterIFE‑065, OCIF Puerto Rico, 2021 — personally led the 2.5‑year licensing process

FinCENInnovation Council member; showcased regtech to 20+ regulators

MAS SingaporeCapital markets services licence obtained for Life.SREDA

OpenID FoundationMember

Volunteer mentorTechNation (UK) · DigitalBoost (UK) · Help to Grow / Enterprise Nation (UK)

§04 — RESEARCH18+ PAPERS & REPORTS · 2012 — 2026

2025–26 wave

Europe's First Trillion‑Dollar Startup? Revolut, not?

ISBN 9798235275867 · DOI 10.6084/m9.figshare.32782464
revolut.hot · thrillion.eu

Futuroshock: When Reality Gets Outsourced

DOI 10.6084/m9.figshare.32688468
futuroshock.ai

The NVIDIA Innovator's Dilemma

dram.gold

Ready, Actually

defence.is

Backlist — 2012–2024 bank.run: Bank of Elon and IMF 2.0 · Following the Money (shadow banking & power games) · Unveiling the Underworld of Global Finance · Techno Optimism (nuclear, hydrogen, space) · Rethinking Justice in the Metastate Era of AI · Legal Future / Legal Leap · Revolut Mafia · The First Fintech Bank's Arrival · Navalny Card · Navalny.exe · Die Nächste Große Skandal (DE) · El auge de la banca en la sombra (ES) · The Arival Bank Story: From Forbes to OpenSanctions Watchlist · Money of the Future annual reports 2012–2017 · Obtaining a Financial License: Like Writing a PhD Dissertation · GIG economy is on the rise

Chapters in edited volumes

The RegTech Book (Wiley, 2019) — contributing chapter, p.181 · The FinTech Book (Wiley) — contribution · Reinventing Customer Engagement — contribution, p.255

Keynotes, judging & media

§05 — ARTEFACT PORTFOLIOPRACTITIONER → RESEARCHER

The claim that makes the portfolio distinctive: a straight line from an issued banking licence and a FinCEN showcase to DID/VC infrastructure, AI agency and legal ethics — research grounded in things actually built and licensed, not just written about.

Digital identity / DID / VC / eIDAS 2.0

identity.free · an 81‑competitor World ID analysis · Digital Identity Market 2025–26 report · a three‑component WSCD hardware prototype

Compliance / AML / OSINT / sanctions

Grounded in Arival practice · FOL‑constrained LLMs for verifiable AML reasoning · KYC/KYB/EDD landscape

Correspondent banking / CBDC / stablecoins

correspondent.cash · IMF 2.0 · iou.xxx

AI infrastructure / DePIN / edge / data centres

dram.gold · brownfield energy → data‑centre conversion research · local/edge AI hardware

GovTech / elections / visas

Election‑administration cost analysis across five countries · visa‑outsourcing market dossier

Legal ethics / self‑litigation / SLAPP

Rethinking Justice · Hercules ethics work

Defence, dual‑use

defence.is · decentralised data centres × defence

+ fringe‑but‑defensible: DNA‑computing simulation (Adleman), technodelics, sci‑fi as method (Gibson / Morgan / Card).

§06 — CAPABILITIES / Domain areasSELF‑RATED, 1–5

Fintech & digital banking strategyArival: 0 → licence → $150M AUM · 20+ investments

Compliance, AML/sanctions, KYC/EDD, regtechFinCEN council · compliance‑as‑a‑service · SOC2

Bank licensing & regulator relations (US/SG/EU)IFE‑065 · MAS CMS

Venture investing / accelerator ops9 exits · #1–2 Singapore accelerator

Content, research, publishing, public speaking18+ books/reports · Money20/20 and others

Digital identity / DID‑VC / biometrics landscape81‑competitor study · identity.free · OpenID member

CBDC / stablecoins / correspondent bankingResearch corpus + Arival practice

AI infrastructure / local AI / hardwareHands‑on Olares & mini‑PC fleet, CSI index — no production ML

Marketing / brandEFFIE ×2 · Cannes Lions shortlist

Hands‑on codingAI‑assisted ("vibe‑coding"); reads code fluently; not a production engineer

Academic research methodsDOI‑hygiene preprint discipline; doctoral coursework not completed

RussianNative

EnglishFluent

§07 — EDUCATION

2005–07

Bachelor's (2005) & Master's (2007)

Across St Petersburg State University, Moscow State University and the Stockholm School of Economics.

2007–09

Doctoral coursework (MSU) — not completed

Independent, publication‑led research practice since (see §04–05).