# Raphael Nicolle > Raphael Nicolle is the Founder and CTO of Bitfinex, and a former System Administrator, with a background in Biological Engineering from Université Lyon 1. - Canonical URL: https://iq.wiki/wiki/raphael-nicolle - Categories: People in crypto - Tags: Developer, Founder - Created: 2023-11-15T13:58:58.000Z - Last updated: 2024-01-11T07:57:19.380Z - Source: IQ.wiki — the world's largest blockchain and crypto encyclopedia (https://iq.wiki) --- **Raphael Nicolle** is the Founder and Chief Technology Officer (CTO) of [Bitfinex](https://iq.wiki/wiki/bitfinex), a [cryptocurrency](https://iq.wiki/wiki/cryptocurrency) exchange. Prior to establishing Bitfinex, Raphael Nicolle was a System Administrator for three different tech companies, providing advice and developing web applications for these organizations. [\[1\]](#cite-id-egr95478ojp) # Education Raphael Nicolle started academics at IUT A - Université Lyon 1, obtaining a Diplôme Universitaire de Technologie (DUT) in Biological Engineering from 2004 to 2006. During this period, he engaged in various activities and societies related to Biological and Biochemical Analyses. [\[1\]](#cite-id-egr95478ojp) # Career Raphael Nicolle started as a helpdesk and development technician at Helpline from January 2009 to June 2010. Beginning with telephone support responsibilities, he transitioned to on-site interventions from October 2009 to June 2010, handling Windows operating systems, office applications, and networks. [\[2\]](#cite-id-zw0upo7lajb) From December 2010 to April 2013, Raphael assumed a new role as a freelance Linux administrator at Optisolutions EURL, offering his services in system administration, web development, and VBA/Visual Basic development. [\[2\]](#cite-id-zw0upo7lajb) From June 2010 to December 2010, Raphael served as a helpdesk and development technician at Levallois-Perret. He provided user support at level 2 for web-based business applications, coupled with occasional development tasks in VBA to enhance overall productivity. Transitioning to a long-term engagement with Gutenberg Networks, Raphael worked as a freelance system administrator from January 2011 to April 2013. This role involved handling helpdesk responsibilities for various web applications while concurrently managing Linux servers hosting these applications. [\[2\]](#cite-id-zw0upo7lajb) In October 2012, taking on the role of Founder and CTO of [Bitfinex](https://iq.wiki/wiki/bitfinex), Raphael played a key part in launching the Bitfinex trading platform. His contributions included implementing an original [P2P](https://iq.wiki/wiki/peer-to-peer-trading-p2p) lending formula for exchanging [Bitcoins](https://iq.wiki/wiki/bitcoin-btc) and trading with [leverage](https://iq.wiki/wiki/leverage). Following the launch in 2013, Raphael transitioned to a technical advisory position in May 2015, as experienced investors took over the management of the growing company. [\[2\]](#cite-id-zw0upo7lajb)[\[3\]](#cite-id-fvswyhnzlcp) From January 2013 to April 2017, Raphael was a Freelance Developer for Ruby on Rails, a server-side web application framework written in Ruby. [\[2\]](#cite-id-zw0upo7lajb)[\[4\]](#cite-id-smuftj2s5sk)[\[5\]](#cite-id-mngyuuzyhxp)