Overview As the Payment Risk Strategy Lead at a fast-growing Payment Service Provider (PSP), you will be directly accountable for the company’s Loss Ratio, channel security (MID/VASP Health), and merchant settlement protection.
You must possess both deep regulatory insights and battle-tested payment risk operations experience. Focusing on i Gaming and CFD—two high-risk, high-frequency, and high-volume merchant verticals—you will build a dynamic, hybrid On-Chain & Off-Chain customer risk tiering framework. You will design differentiated On/Off-ramp risk rules, settlement reserve mechanisms, and real-time interception strategies to isolate illicit money, laundering schemes, bonus abuse, and fraud while maintaining optimal conversion rates.
Key Responsibilities1. Merchant Risk Tiering Framework (i Gaming & CFD) Establish a dynamic 4-tier risk matrix (Tier 1 to Tier 4) based on merchant licensing, transaction volume, historical loss ratios, traffic sources, and settlement models:Tier 1 (Top Tier / Fully Licensed - e.g., MGA, FCA, CySEC):Risk Strategy: Express Line. Automatic API-triggered quick settlements, high processing caps, lower rolling reserves, and real-time API payouts enabled. Tier 2 (Medium Risk - Curacao / Anjouan Licenses or New Brands):Risk Strategy: Standard Monitoring. T+1 to T+3 delayed settlements; 10%–15% rolling reserves (held for 90–180 days); secondary manual review triggered for single payouts exceeding 50,000 USDT. Tier 3 (High Risk - Unlicensed / Weak Licensing / High-Hedging CFD Platforms):Risk Strategy: Strict Caps. Tiered withdrawal limits (Daily/Weekly hard caps); mandatory physical segregation of C2B (deposits) and B2C (payouts) accounts; high rolling reserve requirements (20%+). Tier 4 (Observation Period / High-Risk Alerts):Risk Strategy: Real-Time Payout Hold. Immediate suspension of Off-ramp (fiat conversion) features, 100% deep on-chain transaction tracing (KYT), and secondary document verification.
2. i Gaming Micro-Risk Operations Anti-Smurfing, Structuring & Anti-Money Laundering (AML): Configure system-level logic rules targeting low-wagering behaviors (e.g., players depositing and immediately attempting to cash out). If stablecoin deposits do not meet a 100%–300% wagering ratio requirement, instant payout triggers are blocked. Syndicate Fraud & Bonus Abuse: Combine merchant-side device fingerprinting, IP/VPN proxy detection, and blockchain address cluster identification to intercept syndicates abusing stablecoin deposits for bonus harvesting and laundering. Payout & Off-Ramp Security Control: Build a "C2B (Deposit) vs. B2C (Payout) Address Mapping Pool." Automatically trigger a Pause-and-Check protocol if a payout target stablecoin address is blacklisted, associated with mixers, or has no historical link to deposit sources.
3. CFD / Forex Broker Risk Operations Auditing B-Book & Ponzi Architectures: Uncover the operational models of offshore CFD platforms. For B-book operations (unhedged, high-leverage client loss models), monitor withdrawal liquidity failure risks to prevent sudden exit scams via large stablecoin outflows. Liquidity Pool & Margin Hedging Control: Monitor CFD settlement flows to prevent brokers from unlawfully redirecting client margins into on-chain DeFi staking or high-risk yield farming. Enforce segregated wallet architectures.
4. Stablecoin & On-Chain Risk Engineering Real-Time On-Chain Contamination Screening (KYT / Sanctions): Deploy TRM Labs / Chainalysis APIs with custom Risk Score Thresholds. System-level auto-rejection and transaction freezes trigger instantly if a deposit address exhibits direct exposure to Darknet markets, OFAC sanctions, scams, or hacks. Anti-Mixers & Chain-Hopping Alerts: Develop on-chain aggregation algorithms and warning mechanisms to detect illicit funds hopping across chains (e.g., TRC20-USDT to ERC20-USDC) or DEXs/Mixers to obscure audit trails. Travel Rule Implementation: Integrate Travel Rule protocols (e.g., Notabene, Sygna) for high-value stablecoin transfers (> $1,000 USD/EUR equivalent) to achieve automated VASP-to-VASP identity matching and compliant clearing.
5. Channel Health & Loss Mitigation Banking Rails & Upstream Off-Ramp Protection: Formulate traffic routing and shielding strategies to prevent illicit flows from individual i Gaming/CFD merchants from contaminating upstream fiat banking partners and fiat rails. Chargeback & Dispute Recovery: Implement automated deduction mechanisms against merchant rolling reserves to cover fiat chargebacks resulting from stolen credit cards used to purchase crypto for i Gaming/CFD deposits.

Qualifications5+ years of hands-on experience leading Risk & Compliance operations at a PSP, Crypto Payment Gateway, Ramp provider, or 3rd-party payment institution. Direct operational risk experience handling transaction flows for i Gaming or CFD/Forex/Crypto Brokers. Ability to articulate common fraud vectors, laundering paths, and payout security logic in these domains. Hands-on experience with Chainalysis (KYT/Reactor), TRM Labs, or Elliptic. Ability to independently configure Risk Engine parameters and optimize False Positive vs. False Negative ratios. Directly accountable for key operational metrics, including Loss Ratio, Approval Rate, Chargeback Rate, and False Positive Rate. Deep understanding of USDT (Tron, Ethereum, Solana) and USDC on-chain mechanics, blacklist mint/burn functions, and settlement nuances.