Thomas Hyun is a Director, Cryptocurrency Compliance in FRA’s Washington, DC office. He has over 14 years of experience as a compliance leader, with a focus on Anti-Money Laundering (AML) compliance in emerging payment technologies across the blockchain and digital asset ecosystem.

Prior to joining FRA, Thomas was the Director of AML and Blockchain Strategy at PayPal for four years. He established PayPal’s financial crime policy and control framework for its cryptocurrency-related products, including PayPal’s first consumer-facing cryptocurrency offering on PayPal and Venmo and PayPal’s branded stablecoin. Thomas also led second-line AML program oversight over PayPal’s cryptocurrency business, which included authoring financial crime-related policies supporting the cryptocurrency business; developing governance and escalation processes for high-risk partners; providing credible challenge and oversight over first-line program areas; and reporting to the board and associated authorized committees regarding program performance.

Prior to PayPal, Thomas served as the Director of Compliance and Bank Secrecy Act (BSA) Officer of Paxos, a global blockchain infrastructure firm. During his time at Paxos, Thomas was responsible for implementing the Financial Crime Compliance (FCC) program (e.g., AML, Sanctions) around the firm’s digital asset exchange and its asset-backed tokens and stablecoins. He also aided the firm’s regulatory engagements, including efforts to secure regulatory approvals, supporting regulatory examinations, and ensuring adherence to relevant obligations and guidance with respect to digital assets.

Thomas has additional experience across payments and FCC matters and previously served as the Vice President of Compliance at Mastercard as a dedicated compliance officer for its consumer products portfolio. He also spent over seven years within the forensics practice at EY, working on a variety of FCC investigations for US and foreign-based financial institutions.

Thomas is a Certified Anti-Money Laundering Specialist (CAMS) and Certified Fraud Examiner (CFE). He graduated from New York University’s Stern School of Business with a Bachelor of Science in Finance and Accounting. He also serves on the board of the Central Ohio Association of Certified Anti-Money Laundering Specialists (ACAMS) Chapter.