HAYVN

HAYVN, established in 2018 by co-founders Christopher Flinos and Ahmed Ismail, positioned itself as a financial institution focused on digital assets. The founders, both with backgrounds in traditional finance at firms like Merrill Lynch, aimed to create a regulated and secure platform for institutional investors to engage with the cryptocurrency market, which they perceived as lacking a trusted intermediary. Ismail brought over 15 years of investment banking experience, including a role as CEO for Jefferies LLC in the Middle East, while Flinos also had a background in investment banking.

The company's core business revolves around providing over-the-counter (OTC) trading, custody for virtual assets, payment processing, and asset management. It primarily serves professional clients such as high-net-worth individuals, corporations, family offices, and other institutions. HAYVN's business model included HAYVN Pay, a payment gateway that enabled merchants to accept cryptocurrency payments and receive settlements in fiat currencies like USD, EUR, and AED. This service integrated with e-commerce platforms and point-of-sale systems, aiming for broad adoption by offering a seamless way to transact with digital assets without exposing merchants to volatility.

The firm actively pursued and obtained regulatory approvals to build trust in a lightly regulated industry. It received a Financial Services Permission from Abu Dhabi Global Market (ADGM) in late 2021 and also held licenses in jurisdictions including Australia (AUSTRAC), the Cayman Islands (CIMA), and Lithuania. However, the company faced significant regulatory challenges. In December 2023, CEO Christopher Flinos resigned amidst revelations that the company had voluntarily ceased operations with the ADGM's Financial Services Regulatory Authority (FSRA). Subsequently, in April 2025, ADGM's regulatory bodies imposed combined penalties of over $12 million on HAYVN entities and Flinos for serious misconduct. The investigations found that the company had engaged in unlicensed virtual asset activities, submitted false financial accounts, and Flinos was found to have directed fraudulent schemes and falsified documents. As a result, HAYVN's ADGM license was cancelled, and Flinos was permanently banned from financial services functions in the ADGM. In February 2024, it was reported that some of HAYVN's assets were acquired by Deus X, though this was not an acquisition of the company itself.

Keywords: digital asset trading, cryptocurrency custody, OTC crypto desk, institutional crypto platform, HAYVN Pay, crypto payment gateway, virtual asset services, fiat on-ramp, fiat off-ramp, Ahmed Ismail, Christopher Flinos, Abu Dhabi Global Market, ADGM, regulatory compliance, institutional digital assets, crypto asset management, cryptocurrency payments, blockchain finance, secure crypto trading, corporate crypto solutions