Life is a Journey

Irina was born in the Soviet Union. She came of age during its transition into democracy. This allowed her to have unique insight into the formation of the new economy and first-hand experience of the impact of economic instability, business breakthroughs, and opportunism.

Growing up in the family of an economist and builder, Irina’s first job was working for her family charter travel business “Fobos” (company registration was number 10 in post-Soviet ). She witnessed many entrepreneurs succeed and fail. This drove her desire to understand human behavior. After graduating high school two years earlier than standard, Irina earned an accelerated bachelor's degree in Psychology.

She arrived in America in January 1998 and right away fell in love with people and life in Texas.

The freedom to be anything you want to be was very inspiring. After working as a server and nanny, Irina decided it was time to become an entrepreneur.

This is when her fintech journey began.

In 2003, Irina Founded a gaming company.

Later, she met her husband, a brilliant technologist... Together they automated the business by building custom hardware and software.

When they became parents, they sold their business and Irina embraced her life as a parent. But, being driven, a relentless dreamer, she was making space for her next venture.

At the end of 2013, the couple decided that it was time to take an active role in the design of global financial infrastructure and co-founded a US-based Bitcoin exchange.

They successfully launched their exchange at DEMO (a prestigious launch platform) and later pivoted to a retail bank in Mexico.

With a decade of experience in the blockchain industry and almost 20 years in fintech, Irina is passionate about innovations.

She is a relationships cultivator, executive, and global speaker.

She excels in strategy, leadership, and executive vision and is driven by innovation's implementation.

Irina is an active participant in the New Space and serves executive roles across private, public, and non-profit organizations.

Irina is driven by innovations, the democratization of opportunities in Space, and the right to work.

As all things balance, Irina is dedicated to her family and loves being a mother and a wife.

She enjoys spending her leisure time at her family ranch, dancing ballet, and creating art.

Irina leads with passion.