Executive team
BlackOpal is led by a seasoned team with deep expertise across credit markets, asset management and emerging market investment. Together, the team combines institutional-grade financial expertise with ground-level operational knowledge of Brazilian credit markets and blockchain infrastructure.
JASON DEHNI
Based in Dubai, UAE, Jason Dehni is Co-Founder & CEO at BlackOpal. With over 25 years of senior management experience spanning North America, Latin America, Asia, and the Middle East, Jason brings deep expertise across credit markets, fund management, and emerging market investment. His executive career includes roles as Group COO & MENA CEO of a publicly traded digital asset management company, Founder & CEO of a trade finance platform, and CEO of a Hong Kong-based insurance and wealth management firm. He previously served as Global Head of Strategy for a top-10 global insurance and wealth management company and spent a decade in banking, including senior roles in international private banking across Latin America and corporate debt markets.
Jason began his career as a consultant at McKinsey & Company. He holds an MBA from Harvard Business School and an Honours BA in Economics & Political Science from the University of Toronto
PEDRO VIEGAS
Based in São Paulo, Brazil, Pedro Viegas is Co-Founder, COO & Head of Payments Infrastructure at BlackOpal. He brings over 18 years of leadership experience in fintech and asset management across Latin America, Asia, Europe, and the Middle East. Pedro's most notable achievement includes building an end-to-end acquirer platform in Brazil. His expertise encompasses product structuring and management, stablecoin asset allocation execution, financial engineering, and technological innovation across asset management, fintech, banking, e-commerce, and logistics sectors.
Previously, Pedro served as Engineering Leader at UAE's leading digital bank where he was responsible for architecting and managing the bank's payment rails infrastructure.
LUCAS VINICIUS
Based in São Paulo, Brazil, Lucas Vinicius is Co-Founder & Head of Receivables Financing at BlackOpal. He brings over 15 years of experience across product launches, business development, and sales in internet businesses.
Throughout his career, Lucas has successfully built and launched more than a dozen products across multiple sectors, with end-to-end responsibility from product development through go-to-market execution. His expertise encompasses credit origination structuring, institutional partnership development, product strategy, and B2B sales across Latin America, the United States, and Europe. Previously, Lucas held leadership positions as Head of Product for a creator platform, Head of Sales covering US, Europe, and LatAm markets, and served as Consultant and Brazil Ambassador for an AI fintech platform. Earlier in his career, Lucas co-founded a digital travel marketplace where he served as Chief Operating Officer.
Lucas holds a Bachelor of Business Administration with a focus in Marketing from Pontifícia Universidade Católica do Rio Grande do Sul and completed business administration studies at the University of California, San Diego.
