Alena Vranova

Alena Vranova is a Czech Bitcoin entrepreneur and security advocate. She is best known as co‑founder and former Chief Executive Officer of SatoshiLabs, the company behind the Trezor hardware wallet, and as former Head of Strategy and Business Development at Casa, a United States‑based Bitcoin security company.^[3] She later turned her focus to personal security and safety technology, advising Bitcoin‑focused projects, co‑authoring The Little Bitcoin Book, and founding the security and investigations venture Gart, which develops privacy‑preserving safety and alerting tools for high‑risk Bitcoin users and other high‑net‑worth individuals.^[4]​^[1]​^[5]​

Early Life & Education

Vranova was born in former Czechoslovakia and has lived in Prague since 2002.^[3] She studied economic diplomacy at the University College of International and Public Relations Prague, where she completed a master’s degree. She also earned a master’s degree in marketing communication and a master’s degree in German studies at Comenius University in Bratislava.^[1]

Career

Vranova spent the first part of her career in banking and insurance, where she helped build a franchise network of insurance brokers and financial advisors that was later acquired by Marsh.^[3] She later shifted her focus from traditional finance to Bitcoin and digital asset security.

SatoshiLabs and Trezor

In 2013, after leaving the traditional financial industry, Vranova co‑founded SatoshiLabs in Prague with Marek “Slush” Palatinus and Pavol “Stick” Rusnak.^[3] At SatoshiLabs she helped launch the Trezor hardware wallet, one of the earliest dedicated devices for Bitcoin self‑custody. She was also involved in related projects developed by the company, including Slush Pool, an early Bitcoin mining pool, and CoinMap, a map of merchants accepting Bitcoin. Vranova served as Chief Executive Officer of SatoshiLabs for several years, focusing on making hardware wallets and self‑custody tools more accessible to individual Bitcoin holders.^[3]​

Casa

In 2018 Vranova joined Casa as Head of Strategy and Business Development.^[3] Casa is a Bitcoin security company that offers hardware Bitcoin and Lightning Network full nodes and multisignature key‑management products. At Casa she contributed to the launch of the Casa Node, a plug‑and‑play Bitcoin and Lightning node, and worked on the company’s multisignature key‑management services. Her role focused on making self‑custody and multisignature key management usable for individual Bitcoin holders seeking to secure their own coins.^[4]​^[3]​

Later Ventures and Advisory Work

After her role at Casa, Vranova continued to advise and invest in Bitcoin‑focused and other financial projects, including advisory positions with firms such as Chimes Broadcasting and IMC Invest.^[4]​^[1] In 2019 she co‑authored The Little Bitcoin Book, which presents introductory perspectives on Bitcoin’s economic and social implications.^[4]​^[1]​

In February 2025 she founded Gart, described as a security and investigations company that develops privacy‑preserving personal safety and alerting tools aimed at business owners, high‑net‑worth individuals, and high‑risk Bitcoin users.^[1] The related GLOK project, launched in 2025, offers training and technology‑based solutions to address security threats, including kidnappings and other forms of physical coercion faced by cryptocurrency holders.^[5] Through these ventures she has shifted her focus toward personal security and safety technology that seeks to protect both users’ digital assets and their physical safety.