“We are all very excited to introduce Leonardo as Chief Compliance Officer at Tether, as he joins us on what has already been a remarkable journey to date disrupting the legacy financial system. His depth of experience managing AML risk in capital markets, as well as the wealth management and commercial banking sectors, combined with his proven expertise in quality control management and strategy formulation will make him an invaluable asset to our company. All of us at Tether have every confidence in his ability to oversee and manage all relevant compliance issues as we continue to move forward and grow,” said Jean-Louis van der Velde, Chief Executive Officer of Tether.

An experienced professional within the traditional finance and funds compliance industry, Real was previously AML Quality Control Manager at the Bank of Montreal where he was responsible for establishing best practices, policies, and procedures in line with regulatory requirements to enhance the quality of the bank’s AML investigations. Prior to holding positions at the Bank of Montreal, Real was employed by Bridgeforce Financial, one of Canada’s leading Managing General Agents (MGA). He also has experience working in financial day, stock, and futures trading. Real is a proven thought leader in the industry, having co-written the 2016 ACAMS Today Article of the Year which focused on money laundering risks associated with cryptocurrencies. He also organized a Blockchain, Cryptocurrency, and AML event held in Toronto, Canada in August 2016, bringing together regulators, bankers, law enforcement professionals, and companies in the blockchain space to discuss responsible use of cryptocurrencies.

“Joining Tether as CCO is an an incredibly exciting move for me personally, and I am particularly impressed by the motivation, dedication, and talent of the Tether team. I look forward to helping showcase Tether’s commitment to transparency and regulatory compliance within the blockchain and cryptocurrency space. As a longtime advocate of blockchain technology and the integration of cryptocurrencies into the mainstream, I am looking forward to putting my experience in AML and regulatory compliance in traditional financial institutions to use, to ensure that the Tether project can continue its work disrupting traditional industries,” said Real.

Launched in 2014, Tether was the first blockchain-enabled platform to allow traditional currencies to be tokenized, enabling users to transact with fiat currencies across the exchange without the relative volatility associated with digital currencies. Tether Limited holds 1:1 reserves for all Tether generated in its contract, where each Tether is backed by its corresponding currency on deposit. A total list of balances issued to all Tether can be viewed, verified, and checked against the on-chain deployments of Tether contracts by any interested party.

“We are particularly excited to announce this key hire at a seminal point in the life of the blockchain and cryptocurrency sector. As the industry matures, all actors within the space shall be expected to meet a higher standard of industry best practices. As Tether continues to work to realise our vision of total transparency and unparallelled security within the cryptocurrency market, we will always endeavour to set the gold standard in regulatory compliance. Leonardo will play an important role in realising these aims, and we are very excited to welcome him aboard as we look forward to all that lies ahead,” concluded van der Velde.