Florian Alexandre Bielak is the Chief Information Security Officer (CISO) at the cryptocurrency trading platform BitMEX. He has over 15 years of experience building and leading global security programs for financial services institutions and blockchain technology companies, primarily in the Asia-Pacific region. ^{[1] [2]}​

Education

Bielak earned a Master's Degree in Information Technology from EFREI Paris, a French engineering school, completing his studies between 2000 and 2005. During this period, he also engaged in international studies, attending Birkbeck, University of London in 2002 to study International Business Communication. In 2004, he also briefly attended Nanyang Technological University in Singapore. ^[2]

Career

Bielak's career has been focused on information technology, cybersecurity, and risk management within the financial sector. He began in a technical support role before transitioning into security and risk management at major financial institutions, eventually taking on leadership positions at prominent blockchain and cryptocurrency firms. ^{[2] [1]}​

BitMEX

Bielak joined BitMEX in October 2021 as the Head of Security. After nearly a year in that role, he was promoted to Chief Information Security Officer (CISO) in September 2022. As CISO, he leads the platform's information security, IT, and risk management functions. His responsibilities include overseeing the comprehensive security strategy to protect the firm's assets and client data, ensuring operational resilience, and enhancing the platform's overall security posture. He is part of both the Leadership and the Risk and Compliance teams at the company. ^{[2] [3]}​

Block.one

Prior to joining BitMEX, Bielak served as the Head of Cybersecurity at Block.one from October 2018 to October 2021. In this capacity, he led the cybersecurity program for the open-source software publisher, best known for developing the EOSIO blockchain protocol. ^{[2] [1]}​

BlackRock

From January 2016 to September 2018, Bielak was the APAC Technology Risk Management Regional Lead for BlackRock, the global investment management corporation. Based in the Asia-Pacific region, he was responsible for overseeing technology risk management frameworks and operations. ^{[2] [1]}​

Societe Generale and Early Career

Bielak spent a significant portion of his early career, from 2007 to 2016, at Societe Generale Corporate and Investment Banking (SGCIB). During his tenure, he held several roles with increasing responsibility in the domains of risk and technology. His positions included Change and Release Management, Information Security Coordination Officer, Internal Controller, and Operational Risk Manager. His career began in Paris at ICY SOFTWARE, where he worked as a Support Specialist from February 2006 to October 2007 before moving into the financial services industry. ^[2]​

Key Initiatives

During his tenure as CISO at BitMEX, Bielak has led significant security transformation projects aimed at modernizing the company's defense capabilities and integrating security more deeply into its development processes. ^[4]​

BitMEX Security Operations Transformation

Between 2022 and 2023, Bielak spearheaded a strategic initiative to overhaul BitMEX's security operations. The project involved transitioning from a reliance on a traditional Managed Security Service Provider (MSSP) to a proprietary, in-house security model. BitMEX engaged the Swiss software engineering and innovation firm Zühlke to assist with this 12-month transformation. ^{[4] [3]}​

The primary goals of the project were to increase the company's control over its security infrastructure, improve incident response times, and create security measures more closely tailored to the specific needs of a high-frequency cryptocurrency trading environment. The initiative established a systematic DevSecOps model, shifting from ad-hoc security testing to an integrated approach. ^[4]​

Key components of the transformation included:

• Shift-Left Approach: Security protocols and testing were integrated earlier into the software development lifecycle to identify and mitigate vulnerabilities proactively.
• CI/CD Pipeline Security: A secure and functional Continuous Integration/Continuous Deployment (CI/CD) pipeline was established to automate security checks within the development process.
• Developer Empowerment: The project included training developers in secure coding practices and empowering them to manage change controls more effectively as system complexity grew.
• Configuration-as-Code: This practice was adopted to deploy asset security controls, enabling consistent threat prioritization and automated monitoring.

In a November 2023 report on the project, Bielak was quoted on its success, stating, “With the right people, a refined set of processes and a selection of consolidated security tools as the linchpin, BitMEX was able to construct a stronghold that amplifies the effectiveness of our overall security ecosystem.” ^[4]​

Public Engagements

Bielak is a recognized speaker at industry conferences, where he shares his expertise on cybersecurity, blockchain security, and financial technology, particularly within the context of the Asia-Pacific market. ^[5]​

He was a featured speaker at Consensus Hong Kong in February 2025, an event focused on the digital asset and Web3 ecosystem. His session was titled "Crypto Builders & Security Meetup," which took place on February 11, 2025. ^[6]​

Bielak has also been profiled as a speaker for events hosted by the Asia Securities Industry & Financial Markets Association (ASIFMA), such as its Tech & Ops Conference. His participation in these forums highlights his experience leading cyber defense and security functions across both traditional finance and digital asset firms. ^[1]​

Professional Certifications

Bielak holds multiple industry-standard certifications in the fields of information security management and risk control from ISACA (formerly the Information Systems Audit and Control Association).

• Certified in Risk and Information Systems Control (CRISC): Obtained in 2018.
• Certified Information Security Manager (CISM): Obtained in 2014.

These certifications underscore his long-standing expertise in managing enterprise information security and mitigating technology-associated risks. ^[2]