Open to opportunities

Nikol Falzon

@nikolfalzon

Message

I am a payments and crypto operations manager optimizing settlements, liquidity, and compliance.

Malta

Message

What I'm looking for

I'm seeking a senior payments or crypto operations role where I can lead settlements, optimize liquidity and compliance, drive automation, and expand commercial partnerships within a fast-moving, security-focused fintech or blockchain team.

I am a payments and crypto operations professional with experience managing full-cycle operations for high-volume cryptocurrency platforms and traditional payments environments. I led trade execution, reconciliations, vault balance updates, and independently executed and settled 500+ OTC crypto trades.

I design and implement internal tools and SOPs—pricing, P&L tracking, merchant invoicing, risk scoring, and exception handling—and have renegotiated commercial contracts while building CRM groundwork to expand merchant outreach. I regularly liaise with technical teams and third-party providers to drive automation, security improvements, and operational efficiency.

With a foundation in compliance and AML investigations, bank and FX reconciliations, and a Certified Cryptocurrency Expert credential, I represent companies at industry events to grow partnerships and scale payments operations across markets. I bring pragmatic, process-driven leadership to fintech and blockchain teams.

Experience

Work history, roles, and key accomplishments

Current

Operations Manager / OTC Trader

Current

MetaWallet

Jan 2024 - Present (1 year 8 months)

Managed full-cycle operations for a high-volume crypto-asset exchange, executing and settling 500+ OTC trades while improving reconciliation and P&L visibility through internal tooling. Led partner onboarding, renegotiated commercial contracts, and drove security, automation, and process improvements across fiat and crypto platforms.

Operations Management OTC Reconciliations SOP Development Onboarding Risk Management Automation)

Senior Settlements Analyst

Alpha Group Limited

Aug 2023 - Dec 2023 (4 months)

Performed settlements, bank and FX reconciliations and managed payment queries to ensure timely release of outbound payments and accurate booking of incoming funds. Collaborated with internal teams to resolve issues and proposed system and process improvements during project work to increase reconciliation accuracy.

Settlements Bank Reconciliation Query Management Process Improvement

Payments Manager

Payhound Limited

Jan 2019 - Aug 2023 (4 years 7 months)

Established and managed payments operations for a merchant-focused crypto processing and OTC segment, designing processes, SOPs and a financial query system to reduce delayed payments. Managed fiat movements, liquidity snapshots, bank/KYC communications and secured new banking and liquidity partnerships to optimize rates and mitigate volatility exposure.

Payments Operations KYC SOP Development OTC Stakeholder Management

Payments Manager/Payments Agent

Cubits

Jan 2018 - Dec 2018 (11 months)

Promoted to Payments Manager and implemented departmental structure, SLAs, reconciliation systems and transaction monitoring to flag suspicious behaviour while managing OTC operations. Led operational migration from Berlin to Malta, delivered financial reporting and daily liquidity snapshots, and trained new recruits.

Payments Operations Transaction Monitoring Reconciliations Financial Reporting Training

Education

Degrees, certifications, and relevant coursework

Malta College of Arts, Science and Technology (MCAST)

Bachelor of Arts (Hons) in Business Enterprise, Business Enterprise

2014 - 2015

Activities and societies: Thesis: An Evaluation of the Financial Management Practices adopted by Maltese Football Clubs; coursework included Human Resource Management, Business Data & Statistics, International Business Operations, Consumer Behaviour, Entrepreneurship, Project Management, Strategic Management.

Completed a Bachelor of Arts (Hons) in Business Enterprise focusing on financial management, entrepreneurship, and strategic management; thesis examined financial management practices of Maltese football clubs.

Malta College of Arts, Science and Technology (MCAST)

Higher National Diploma in Business Management, Business Management

2012 - 2014

Activities and societies: Key modules: The Business Environment; Managing Financial Resources & Decisions; Organisations & Behaviour; Marketing Principles; Business Strategy Research; Project Managing; Human Resources; Management Operations.

Completed a Higher National Diploma in Business Management covering core business functions, financial resource management, and organisational operations.