Yaya J. Fanusie is the global head of policy at Aleo Network Foundation, where he leads global policy engagement and regulatory strategy to advance privacy-preserving blockchain systems and stablecoin adoption across consumer, enterprise, and institutional markets. A pioneer in assessing the national security implications of digital assets, Fanusie previously served as director of policy for anti-money laundering and cyber risk at the Crypto Council for Innovation, where he remains a senior advisor, and earlier spent seven years at the CIA as an economic and counterterrorism analyst. During his tenure, he regularly briefed federal law enforcement, U.S. military leadership, and senior White House officials—including personally briefing President George W. Bush—and provided on-the-ground analytic support to military officials in Afghanistan.
After government service, Fanusie supported a global financial asset-recovery investigation involving a kleptocratic regime, then became director of analysis at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies’ Center on Sanctions and Illicit Finance. In that role, he led research on sanctions evasion, terrorist financing, and the illicit use of cryptocurrencies. His early analyses helped expose some of the first terrorist crypto crowdfunding efforts and documented how Russia, Iran, Venezuela, and China pursue blockchain-enabled financial infrastructure.
Fanusie holds an MA in International Affairs from Columbia University’s School of International and Public Affairs and a BA in Economics from UC Berkeley.