Maria Ribeiro

Established the legal and compliance frameworks governing token distribution, AML/KYC procedures for users and merchants, and contractual templates for merchant settlements. Led internal legal analyses to determine UTK classification across key jurisdictions and prepared filings and disclosures required by exchanges and payment partners. These documented legal positions directly influenced which venues listed UTK and under what operational constraints. Designed compliance workflows and merchant due‑diligence processes that enabled scaled onboarding while meeting regulatory obligations, reducing counterparty risk that had previously impeded enterprise adoption. Drafted the legal structure for the buyer protection fund and reserve mechanisms to cover refunds and disputes, codifying how funds would be held and when they would be deployed. Engaged with external counsel and regulators to respond to inquiries about token utility and corporate conduct, negotiating interpretative positions that shaped operational limits and reporting. The concrete outputs — KYC/AML policies, token classification memos, reserve and escrow agreements — materially affected market confidence, exchange acceptance and the permissible commercial uses of UTK.