Project Background
BlockFi is preparing a 12-week release for BlockFi Wallet focused on faster crypto transfers, clearer transfer status visibility, and reduced support contacts. Midway through planning, leadership introduces two new priorities: a compliance-driven travel rule update that must ship before quarter end, and a request from Growth to launch referral hooks in the same release window.
You manage an 8-person engineering team supporting Wallet backend, mobile, and web surfaces. The roadmap already includes 3 committed initiatives, and the CTO wants a revised plan within 5 business days. The project matters because Wallet transfer reliability is tied to customer trust, support volume, and retention during a volatile market period.
Key Stakeholders
- CTO wants the quarter-end commitment preserved and engineering focus maintained.
- Compliance requires the travel rule update by the regulatory deadline and has low tolerance for launch risk.
- Growth wants referral hooks included to support an upcoming campaign.
- Customer Support wants transfer-status improvements first because transfer-related tickets rose 18% last month.
- Product wants a coherent roadmap that can still be explained externally.
Constraints
- Timeline: 12 weeks, with launch no later than September 30
- Team: 8 engineers (4 backend, 2 mobile, 1 web, 1 QA), no additional headcount
- Budget: $120,000 remaining for vendor work and compliance review
- Dependencies: compliance sign-off requires 10 business days; third-party blockchain analytics vendor needs 3 weeks for API changes
- Current load: 2 engineers spend 20% of time on production support for BlockFi Wallet
Complications
- The blockchain analytics vendor signals their API update may slip by 1 week.
- A senior mobile engineer is scheduled for 2 weeks of PTO during weeks 7-8.
- Growth has already previewed referral functionality to the commercial team, creating pressure to keep it in scope.
Your Task
- Build a revised 12-week execution plan that keeps the roadmap aligned as priorities change.
- Explain what stays in scope, what moves out, and how you would make those trade-offs.
- Define stakeholder communication and decision checkpoints for the quarter.
- Identify the top execution risks and mitigation actions.
- Specify launch success criteria and a fallback plan if dependencies slip.
