NOMINATION HIGHLIGHTS

As Chief Information Security Officer at Xapo Bank, Andrew Mannoukas has spearheaded Xapo Bank’s digital asset security. By combining advanced cryptographic technology, physical security and the controls of a regulated institution, Xapo has cemented itself as the Fort Knox of Bitcoin. Since he began working with Xapo Bank in 2021,the company has maintained its record of no customer Bitcoin lost to a security incident in its operating history. For Xapo Bank’s high net worth members, security is of the utmost importance, and this standard would not be possible without Andrew.

A landmark achievement of Andrew’s career to date was spearheading the bank’s transition from Multi-Signature (multisig) infrastructure to advanced Multi-Party Computation (MPC) in 2023. Using distributed key generation, key shards are held across geographically dispersed, network-segregated environments and the full private key is never assembled at any point, removing reliance on any single key or seed phrase. It also allowed for operations to be streamlined, eliminating the need for security personnel to manually process daily transactions between hot and cold wallets, vastly improving operational efficiency while tightening overall security.

The innovation lies not only in the use of MPC, but in the layered security architecture built around it. Every transaction request passes through Xapo’s Transaction Authorisation Policy engine before a signature can be produced. High-value operations require approval from stakeholders across different teams, material transactions operate under dual control, and destination addresses are whitelisted. Changes require a cross-organisational quorum and an additional waiting period.

These institutional controls are reinforced by member-level protections, including the BTC Vault’s mandatory 48-hour withdrawal delay, biometric authentication and optional hardware security keys. Xapo also holds SOC 2 Type II certification, while its financial statements are audited annually by KPMG.

In an ecosystem where billions of dollars have been lost to self-custody errors, compromised passphrases, and malicious hacks, Andrew’s defence-in-depth model provides a proven, repeatable blueprint for safe digital finance. The defense in depth absolute security framework he manages, allows Xapo Bank to safely protect massive reserves. Andrew’s visionary approach to hybrid security makes him a definitive industry leader and a highly deserving candidate for CISO of the Year.