Why Bryan Benson Left Comfort Behind — Betting Everything on AI Finance

At the AURUM Global Launch in Dubai this January, Bryan Benson sat down for an interview that turned into something more personal than expected. The CEO of Aurum — a fintech company merging crypto banking with AI-powered trading — spoke candidly about the path that brought him here: from childhood memories of hyperinflation in Peru to 27 years in traditional finance, and finally to building something at the intersection of two forces he believes will reshape money forever.

From Peru to Wall Street to Crypto

Benson talks about money the way someone does who has seen it break, bend, and finally reinvent itself. When he describes cryptocurrency as "freedom money," it's not a slogan — it's a lived conclusion.

The story starts in Peru, during severe financial instability. Hyperinflation wasn't an abstract economic term; it was something he held in his hands. One year, the government dropped six zeros off the currency. A year later, three more. A childhood allowance came in paper bags full of bills — ironed and stacked in neat bundles — before the realization set in that the spectacle of abundance was an illusion. The money was practically worthless.

Alongside that instability came a subtler distortion: favoritism. In Peruvian banks, certain people were pulled out of line and ushered forward — not for efficiency, but status. As a child, it felt flattering. In retrospect, it struck him as deeply wrong.

"Finance should be a level playing field, not a system of invisible hierarchies," Benson says. "Crypto offered something radically different: the ability for anyone, anywhere, with nothing more than a smartphone and internet connection, to send, receive, and hold money without asking permission."

The Leap: Leaving Comfort Behind

That ideal — open, borderless, indifferent to social rank — is what ultimately pulled him out of a "super comfortable" position and into territory many once dismissed as speculative or fringe.

Before Aurum, the career path included a role as Director at Binance LATAM, helping expand one of the world's largest crypto exchanges across Latin America. But even that wasn't enough. The goal was to build, not just grow someone else's vision.

"Without great risk, there is no great reward," he says simply. The bet wasn't just on prices rising — it was on technology that would redefine access to finance itself.

Looking back, there's validation not only in crypto's growth but in its institutional embrace. Major players like JPMorgan, Janus Henderson, and WisdomTree now pour capital into the space, even as some of their leaders once publicly criticized it. The quiet irony of that shift isn't lost on anyone paying attention.

Why AI Finance Is the Next Frontier

At Aurum, the thesis goes beyond just holding or spending crypto. The company runs AI trading systems that operate around the clock, removing human emotion from the equation.

But when asked about artificial intelligence in finance, Benson draws a careful line between what machines can remove and what they can never replace.

"AI excels at stripping emotion from trading — eliminating panic on the downside and euphoria on the upside," he explains. "But it cannot replicate the deeper, messier human emotions that shape markets and lives: greed, anger, joy, love. An algorithm might optimize returns, but it will never feel the happiness of seeing a child, or the pull of ambition that drives people to risk everything for something better."

Finance, in this view, is as psychological as it is numerical — and that human core is irreducible. AI is a tool, not a replacement.

On Bitcoin, Predictions, and the Future

The outlook on crypto's future reflects that same blend of realism and conviction. Benson refuses to offer dramatic price predictions, noting how few forecasters get it right.

"Markets cannot be timed," he says, echoing advice from his Binance days: "If someone claims they can predict the market, bet against them."

The focus instead is on adoption — especially in countries facing economic turmoil. Venezuela and Turkey come up as examples, where citizens have turned to Bitcoin, gold, and other alternatives as safe havens when local currencies falter.

"In moments of global uncertainty, volatility spikes precisely because people are searching for something stable — something outside the reach of failing systems."

One thing is certain in his mind: Bitcoin is not going to zero. Beyond that, no bravado. The belief is that crypto will continue to draw people not because it promises riches, but because it offers an exit from systems that no longer serve them.

The Search for Fairness

In the end, this story is less about chasing the next big thing and more about a lifelong search for fairness in money.

From ironing inflated bills as a boy in Peru, to navigating global finance, to leading a company betting on AI and crypto converging — the journey mirrors the evolution of money itself. Away from centralized control. Toward something more open, more human, and in Benson's words, freer.

"We're not building for the next bull run," he says. "We're building for the next generation of finance."