Digital Asset Summit 2024

Attend expert-led panel discussions and fireside chats 

Panels

Hear the latest developments directly from policymakers and experts  

Regulatory

Grow your network with TradFi and crypto industry leaders  

Networking

Experience

What you can expect from DAS London

Stats from our previous Digital Asset Summits

By The Numbers

Tickets

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Prices are subject to increase. Register today and save! *Mainstage sessions on Day 1 will follow Chatham House Rules and closed to press.

Speakers 

Featured 

Dan Tapiero is a renowned macro-focused investor with over 25 years of investing and entrepreneurial experience. He is the Founder, CEO and CIO of 1Roundtable Partners (1RT) and 10T Holdings (10T), which collectively manage over $1.4 billion of investments in 24 active companies across the Digital Asset Ecosystem (DAE). 1RT is a growth equity fund focused on mid-to-late stage companies in the DAE. Dan serves on several boards including Ledger, LEDN, Futureverse, and Quicknode. Before founding 1RT and 10T, Dan was Managing Partner of DTAP Capital Advisors, a global macro investment fund that he founded in 2003. He is Co-Founder of Gold Bullion International (GBI), a physical precious metals platform for the wealth management industry. GBI expanded into the cryptocurrency business through its integration with Uphold (fka Bitreserve) in 2014. Prior to GBI, he was formerly Co-Founder of the Agricultural Company of America (AGCoA), one of the largest farmland REITs in the U.S. at the time of its sale to the Canadian Pension Plan Investment Board (CPPIB) in 2013. Previously, from 1992-2012, Dan was a macro-focused portfolio manager and analyst at Duquesne Capital Management, SAC Capital Advisors, Tiger Management and Steinhardt Management Co. Dan graduated Phi Beta Kappa from Brown University, where he earned his B.A.'90 and M.A.'91 in European History. Dan has been on the Board of Trustees of the Lawrenceville School for the past 15 years and currently leads the Investment Committee for its endowment.

Dan Tapiero

Pascal Gauthier is the Chairman &amp; CEO of Ledger, a tech company that specializes in developing secure consumer devices for storing and managing cryptocurrencies and NFTs. He began his career at Kelkoo, later acquired by Yahoo, and was COO at Criteo, where he played a key role in the company's pivot to advertising and global expansion. Pascal Gauthier also worked as a Venture Partner at Mosaic Ventures, a London-based VC firm, and is non-executive chairman of Kaiko, a leading digital data analytics provider. Since he became Chairman &amp; CEO of Ledger in 2019, Pascal Gauthier has expanded the company's product line with Ledger Live, an intuitive digital asset management app, and a next-generation consumer device, Ledger Stax. He is committed to driving ownership and security in the cryptocurrency industry.

Pascal Gauthier

Anthony Scaramucci is the founder and managing partner of SkyBridge, a global alternative investment firm, and founder and chairman of SALT, a global thought leadership forum and venture studio. Prior to founding SkyBridge in 2005, Scaramucci co-founded investment partnership Oscar Capital Management, which was sold to Neuberger Berman in 2001. Earlier, he worked in Private Wealth Management at Goldman Sachs &amp; Co. In 2022, Scaramucci was ranked #47 in Cointelegraph’s Top 100 Influencers in Crypto and Blockchain. In 2016, he was ranked #85 in Worth Magazine’s Power 100: The 100 Most Powerful People in Global Finance. In 2011, he received Ernst &amp; Young’s New York Financial Services “Entrepreneur of the Year” Award. Anthony is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations (CFR) and a board member of the Federal Enforcement Homeland Security Foundation. He is the author of five books. Scaramucci served on President Donald J. Trump’s 16-person Presidential Transition Team Executive Committee, and in 2017 briefly served as Chief Strategy Officer of the Export-Import (EXIM) Bank and White House Communications Director. Scaramucci, a native of Long Island, New York, holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Economics from Tufts University and a Juris Doctor from Harvard Law School.

Anthony Scaramucci

Michael Sonnenshein is an executive with over 15 years experience across financial services. As the current COO of Securitize, Michael is bringing compliant digital security solutions to institutional and individual investors, bridging the traditional and decentralized finance worlds. Prior to Securitize, Michael Sonnenshein was CEO of Grayscale Investments, the world’s largest digital currency asset manager. With over a decade in the crypto industry, Michael established Grayscale as the definitive leader in crypto investing, offering a wide range of investments including single-asset and diversified products. Under Michael’s leadership, Grayscale paved the way for the approval of Bitcoin ETFs in the US market. Michael is regularly featured on CNBC and Bloomberg and was honored in 2021 as one of 100 People Transforming Business by Business Insider and in 2018 as one of the publication’s Rising Stars of Wall Street. Prior to joining Grayscale, Michael was a financial advisor at JP Morgan Securities, covering HNW individuals and institutions, and an analyst at Barclays Wealth, providing coverage to middle‐market hedge funds and institutions. Michael earned his Bachelor of Business Administration from the Goizueta Business School at Emory University and his Master of Business Administration from the Leonard N. Stern School of Business at New York University.

Michael Sonnenshein

Nadine is responsible for leading the development of Digital Asset Services for Citi’s Securities Services business. Joining Citi in 2006, she spent over twelve years as a Director in Global Product Development for the custody business, responsible for the developing on-exchange clearing and settlement services across Citi’s custody network. During this time Nadine also focussed on exploring custody services for digital assets. At her time with Citi, she was also EMEA Marketing Head of Financial Institutions for Citi’s Global Transaction Services business and prior to this was Asia Pacific Financial Institutions marketing head for GTS based in Hong Kong.  Before working with Citi, Nadine spent 11 years at KPMG in business development with their Hong Kong and China practice and began her career as a consultant in the Australian audit practice. Nadine has a Masters of Business and a Bachelor of Business (Finance and Accounting) from the University of New South Wales, Australia.

Nadine Teychenne

Brad is the CEO of Ripple and a member of the Board of Directors. Prior to Ripple, Brad served as the CEO of file collaboration service Hightail. From 2009 to 2012 he was President of Consumer Applications at AOL and prior to that he held various executive positions at Yahoo! from 2003 to 2009, including Senior Vice President.



Earlier in his career, Brad helped to pioneer the VoIP industry as CEO of Dialpad Communications. He currently serves on the Board of Directors of OutMatch and has held board positions at Ancestry.com and Tonic Health.

Brad Garlinghouse

Sergey Nazarov is the co-founder of Chainlink, the standard for high-quality onchain data and secure cross-chain interoperability, powering leading tokenized assets and unifying global markets onchain.



The Chainlink standard has securely enabled over $17 trillion in transaction value, powering onchain finance across banking, tokenization, DeFi, global trade, and other major sectors. Sergey has worked in the blockchain industry since 2014, when he founded one of the earliest tokenization platforms, along with tools for composing and supporting live smart contracts. His work in capital markets dates back to 2016, when he demoed one of the first-ever "smart bonds," which used oracle infrastructure to connect existing Swift messaging standards to blockchain networks. Sergey continues to collaborate with major market infrastructure providers and institutional banks such as Swift, DTCC, Fidelity International, ANZ, and many others, giving him a unique perspective on what’s required to accelerate the global adoption of blockchain technology and tokenized assets.

Sergey Nazarov

Vanessa Grellet

Avi Felman is a Principal and Head of Digital Assets Trading at&nbsp;GoldenTree&nbsp;Asset Management. Mr. Felman is also a General Partner of&nbsp;GoldenChain, a wholly owned subsidiary of&nbsp;GoldenTree&nbsp;that manages the Firm’s funds focused on digital assets. Mr. Felman is one of the longest tenured traders in digital assets and has held several prominent positions, including most recently as Co-Portfolio Manager and Head of Trading for&nbsp;BlockTower&nbsp;Capital where he grew the flagship fund portfolio from $40mm at time of joining to over $800mm. Previously, Mr. Felman was Lead Trader at Wave Financial where he co- led the development of the first SEC-regulated Bitcoin fund and he also was responsible for the derivatives strategy and trading execution. Prior to joining Wave Financial, Mr. Felman founded Ledger Capital, a firm focused on cryptocurrency trading and investments. Mr. Felman received a B.S. in Chemical Engineering&nbsp;from&nbsp;Washington University.

Avi Felman

Rune Christensen is a pioneering figure in the blockchain industry, best known for founding MakerDAO and developing DAI, one of the first decentralized stablecoins. Under his leadership, MakerDAO has emerged as a pivotal player in the decentralized finance (DeFi) industry, celebrated for its innovative impact. As a respected thought leader, Rune actively voices his insights on the future of DeFi and blockchain, championing financial inclusion and transparent financial systems. His ongoing work significantly shapes the evolution of decentralized finance and its integration into global finance.

Rune Christensen

Tony Ashraf, Managing Director, is globally responsible for Digital Asset Transformation at BlackRock.  In this role, he partners both internally and across the industry to leverage blockchain to disrupt traditional operating models, with a focus on partnerships, scale creation and product innovation.  His work includes the firms efforts around DLT to redefine market infrastructure, tokenisation and our efforts to develop institutional grade cryptoassets solutions. 



Tony’s experience spans across both the buy &amp; sell side, having worked in various Operational, Technology, Project Management, Business Management &amp; Client Service roles in the UK, Japan, China, Singapore &amp; Hungary.

Tony Ashraf

Gautam Sharma is CEO &amp; CIO of BH Digital, Brevan Howard’s crypto asset management division. Gautam previously led principal investments at Brevan, including overseeing Alan Howard’s family office strategic businesses in crypto &amp; fintech. Prior to this, Gautam spent over 4 years at Steadview Capital, a tech-focused growth stage fund, and 5 years at McKinsey &amp; Co., focused on fintech &amp; digital banking transformations.

Gautam Sharma

Mathew is Global Head of Digital Assets at Goldman Sachs. Previously, he was global head of Cross Asset Financing. Mathew joined Goldman Sachs as a vice president in 2005 in the European Special Situations Group in London and was named managing director in 2010. Prior to Goldman Sachs, he worked at Morgan Stanley.



Mathew is on the board of several of Goldman Sachs’ portfolio companies including Coin Metrics and HQLAx, as well as on the advisory board of Digital Asset Holdings. He is an observer on the boards of One River Digital and Elwood Technologies. Mathew also serves on the board of the International Securities Lending Association.



Mathew earned a BA (Hons) in Accounting and Finance at Nottingham. He has been a member of the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants since 1999.

Mathew McDermott

Stani Kulechov is a pioneer in decentralized finance and web3 social, a strong believer in decentralized solutions, and an advocate for a more open and fair internet. He is the Founder and CEO of Avara, the software development company behind decentralized finance (DeFi) protocol Aave, stablecoin GHO, web3 social protocol – Lens, and mobile crypto wallet, Family. Avara’s vision is a people-powered internet that benefits all.

Stani Kulechov

Julia is passionate about advancing the future of money. She heads up FIS’s CBDC and digital currencies product strategy and design. She is responsible for developing FIS’s capabilities and technologies. She is developing a CBDC and Digital Currencies Connected Ecosystem and Virtual Lab for FIS to support the full payments value chain and expand FIS coverage of mission critical central infrastructure and technology applications. Julia is also responsible for developing, maintaining, and strengthening of relationship with central banks, regulators, and policy makers and private sector institutions on the topic of CBDC and digital currencies.



In 2018, Julia joined OMFIF a central bank think-tank based in London as a Director of Fintech &amp; Private Markets. In 2020 Julia launched OMFIF’s Digital Monetary Institute (DMI) an independent platform for convening central banks on CBDCs, digital payments, the DLT and blockchain.&nbsp;The group focused on payment instruments in wholesale, retail and cross-border markets, with central bank digital currency being of particular interest. In addition to convening public and private sector institutions, Julia has also launched a monthly Journal of Digital Finance which summarized the key developments and challenges in the world of digital currencies, and how central banking, policy-making and regulatory communities are engaging in the debate.



Julia’s background is in payments and financial services. Before moving into CBDC Julia was leading fintech and payment investment activities at the private equity firm. Julia was responsible for maximizing the value of payments ecosystem for all &nbsp;portfolio companies, investors and key stakeholders. She was responsible for investing and identifying start-ups and the next generation of entrepreneurs from seed to IPO.



Julia holds a BA (Hons) from EBS London in International Business and Finance.&nbsp;

Julia Demidova

Vance Spencer is the co-founder of<a href="https://framework.ventures/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener"> Framework Ventures,</a> one of the largest VC firms in the blockchain industry. Under the leadership of Vance and his co-founder Michael, Framework was arguably the first VC firm to <a href="https://decrypt.co/16943/why-framework-ventures-is-going-all-in-on-defi" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">“go all in”</a> on the emerging Decentralized Finance (“DeFi”) ecosystem, notching up major early investments in several multi-billion dollar apps and networks like Chainlink, Aave, Synthetix, The Graph, and more. Over the last year, the firm has raised $400M for its third fund, and has also expanded into additional maturing verticals like web3 gaming, real world assets, and social crypto. Before Framework, Vance and his co-founder Michael launched and sold Hashletes, a digital collectible startup with official licensing from the NFL. Prior to entering the crypto space, Vance worked at Netflix in Los Angeles and Tokyo, where he was part of the team responsible for the relaunch of the Japan business, eventually joining the team leading corporate development for most of northern Asia.

Vance Spencer

Daniel Masters is Executive Chairman of the CoinShares Group. Mr. Masters also co-founded Global Advisors, which notably launched GABI, a ﬁrst-of-its-kind, Jersey-based, actively managed bitcoin investment strategy in 2014. Prior to GABI, Global Advisors was previously responsible for the Global Advisors Commodity Investment Fund and the Global Advisors Commodity Systematic Fund. 



Mr. Masters began his career in Oil and Energy trading for Shell Oil, Solomon, and prior to co-founding Global Advisors in 1999, served as Global Head of Energy and Trading Business at Morgan Guaranty Trust Company (“MGT”) in New York (now JP Morgan Chase &amp; Co.). Mr. Masters has a BSc in Physics from Exeter University, a Masters in Management Science and Operational Research from Imperial College, and Graduate Certiﬁcation in Applied Statistics from Penn State University.

Daniel Masters

Waqar’s international career spans nearly 20 years in various sectors, primarily in capital and financial markets. He joined Standard Chartered in London in 2022 as Executive Director, Innovation and Digital Assets Product, Financing &amp; Securities Services in Financial Markets. Waqar performs his role at the group level and is responsible for the Financing &amp; Securities Services digital assets strategy and product rollout including working closely with other digital assets initiatives within the wider Financial Markets division.



Waqar joined SCB from the Financial Services Regulatory Authority (FSRA) of Abu Dhabi Global Market (ADGM) in the UAE where he last held the role of Senior Manager, Market Infrastructure and Products, responsible for operational and technical authorisation and supervision of virtual assets exchanges, traditional exchanges and more widely digital asset custodians, broker-dealers and banks.



Prior to ADGM, Waqar spent 8 years at the Australian Securities Exchange (ASX) performing multiple roles in Sydney, Australia including managing energy &amp; commodities futures and options markets. Prior to the ASX, Waqar was a consultant with IBM Global Business Services in the APAC region.



Waqar holds an MBA (Executive) from the Australian Graduate School of Management UNSW in Sydney, post graduate finance qualification from University of Technology Sydney and a Bachelor’s of IT in Software Engineering from the University of South Australia.

Waqar Chaudry

Min Teo is the Co-Founder and Managing Partner at Ethereal Ventures, a leading crypto venture firm founded by Min and Joseph Lubin. Ethereal has 40+ portfolio companies globally, including Aleo, EigenLayer, Aztec Protocol, and SpruceID. Prior to Ethereal, Min led venture investments at ConsenSys, previously built a fintech company in the UK and started her career in private equity.

Min Teo

Santiago Roel Santos (CryptoPunk #9159) is an investor focusing at the intersection of DeFi and the Web3 metaverse (NFTs/gaming). Most recently was a Partner at ParaFi Capital, one of the largest crypto funds specializing in DeFi. Prior to that, he was at Sageview Capital investing in Internet and software and, before that, at JP Morgan investment banking. Santiago began investing in crypto in 2012.

Santiago Roel Santos

Michael Anderson is the co-founder of<a href="https://framework.ventures/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener"> Framework Ventures,</a> one of the largest VC firms in the blockchain industry. Under the leadership of Michael and his co-founder Vance, Framework was arguably the first VC firm to <a href="https://decrypt.co/16943/why-framework-ventures-is-going-all-in-on-defi" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">“go all in”</a> on the emerging Decentralized Finance (“DeFi”) ecosystem, notching up major early investments in several multi-billion dollar apps and networks like Chainlink, Aave, Synthetix, The Graph, and more. Over the last year, the firm has raised $400M for its third fund, and has also expanded into additional maturing verticals like web3 gaming, real world assets, and social crypto. Before Framework, Michael and his co-founder Vance launched and sold Hashletes, a digital collectible startup with official licensing from the NFL. Before entering the crypto space, Michael served as a product manager at both Snapchat and Dropbox, where he helped build out their monetization platforms.

Michael Anderson

Melvin Deng is the Chief Executive Officer of QCP, one of the first digital asset trading firms in Singapore and global market maker in digital asset derivatives. As the CEO, Melvin leads the company’s rapid growth and expansion towards its vision to partner the next generation of investors to unlock institutional opportunities in digital assets. Under his leadership, he has built the company’s institutional-grade experience, research and infrastructure into a compelling proposition for clients, in addition to overseeing all operations and risk management. He is a believer in the immense growth potential of digital asset derivatives, to unlock future adoption by traditional and institutional players. Inspired by the opportunity to disrupt financial services through digital assets and blockchain technology, he left a more than 15 year career in banking to join QCP in 2021. He was previously the Head of Treasury for a global bank, where he was a member of the Singapore management team, responsible for business and balance sheet strategy. In addition to oversight of all the bank’s Treasury-related activities, he also led balance sheet optimisation initiatives, and launched the first SORA bond in Singapore, deepening the local financial market. Melvin holds a Bachelor of Engineering with honours from the National University of Singapore, and speaks four languages.

Melvin Deng

Mike Cagney is a co-Founder and the Chief Executive Officer of Figure, a leader in applying blockchain technology to markets such as lending, payments and exchanges. Mike is also the Co-Founder of the Provenance Blockchain, a public, open source blockchain built for financial services. Previously, Mike was CEO, Chairman and Co-Founder of SoFi, a leading marketplace lender providing student loan refinancing, mortgages and personal loans, as well as a range of banking and wealth management services. He also was Co-Founder and managing member of Cabezon Investment Group, a global macro hedge fund, in addition to serving as a Non-Executive Chairman of ReFlow Services, a tax and liquidity solution for mutual funds. Prior to Cabezon and ReFlow, Mike served as Founder and CEO of Finaplex, a leader in wealth management software that was sold to Broadridge (NYSE: BR). Prior to Finaplex, Mike was Senior Vice President and Head Trader for the proprietary trading and financial products group at Wells Fargo Bank. Mike holds an M.S. management degree from the Stanford Graduate School of Business, where he was a Sloan Fellow. He also holds a M.S. in Applied Economics and a B.A. in Economics from UC Santa Cruz.

Mike Cagney

Diana Biggs is a Partner at early-stage crypto venture firm 1kx, where she leads institutional connectivity, with a focus on supporting the firm's 80+ portfolio projects. In addition to her role at 1kx, Diana is an Associate Fellow with Saïd Business School, University of Oxford, and a Board Member for HIVE Digital Technologies Switzerland. Before joining 1kx, Diana was Chief Strategy Officer at Valour and served as CEO of its digital asset ETP business from launch through to acquisition. Earlier roles include Global Head of Innovation for HSBC Private Banking, VP and Head of Growth &amp; Partnerships, EMEA for Uphold, Chief Strategy Officer for Soko, and Consultant with Oliver Wyman Financial Services.

Diana Biggs

MACRO INTELLIGENCE 2 PARTNERS founded in 2011, is an independent research firm that provides insight into global macroeconomic and policy developments. Our research allows clients to develop a clear, big-picture framework of market fundamentals, resulting movements, and, most importantly, position their portfolios. We use a series of proprietary, predictive models to anchor our views and create the basis for a repetitive process. Julian Brigden, Co-Founder and President of Macro Intelligence 2 Partners brings diverse talents to the research process including an understanding of global markets and politics, as well as a love of history. Julian has over 30 years’ experience in financial markets and has held positions in market and policy focused consulting to hedge funds and banks, as well as in FICC sales. In 1999, he spent five years at Medley Global Advisors as the Managing Director of the G7 Client Team. From 2004 to 2011, Julian served as North American Head of Hedge Fund Sales at Crédit Agricole. He has worked in London, Zurich and New York at UBS, Lehman Brothers, HSBC, Drexel, Credit Suisse, and Salomon Brother in both foreign exchange and precious metals. In 2017, Julian partnered with Raoul Paul of GMI, in association with Real Vision TV, to create a lighter macro research letter with focusing on assets available to retail investors called Macro Insiders. As a global macro strategist, not a journalist or economist by training, Julian’s primary focus is exploiting trading opportunities inherent in macroeconomic and policy related developments. He is particularly skilled at exploring correlations in the economy and financial markets. Julian has been featured on Bloomberg, CNBC, and in the WSJ, New York Times and Barron’s as well as other publications for his recent research on EM, QE, Oil, Bubbles, global FX, and liquidity. For more details on Julian and MI2’s recent activity, please visit MI2 Partners’ website <a href="https://mi2partners.com/request-trial/">here</a>, connect with Julian on LinkedIn <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/julian-brigden-150b2114/">here</a>, or follow Julian on Twitter <a href="https://twitter.com/julianmi2?lang=en">here</a>.

Julian Brigden

Pranav Kanade is a seasoned finance professional with over 11 years of industry experience, currently serving as a Portfolio Manager for VanEck's Digital Assets Alpha Fund. Prior to joining VanEck, Pranav served as a Credit Portfolio Manager at Millennium Management where he worked closely with a team of 6 investment professionals. He was also the founding member and Head of Research for the Liquid Credit investing business at Angelo, Gordon &amp; Co. Additionally, Pranav held the role of Managing Director/Research Analyst at Hutchin Hill Capital, where he focused on Technology and Energy. Pranav began his career at UBS in credit research during the European credit crisis. He holds a BS in Finance and Accounting with a specialization in Entertainment, Media, and Technology from New York University.

Pranav Kanade

Rebecca Rettig is the Chief Legal &amp; Policy Officer at Polygon Labs, where she both oversees the global legal team and works on international policy issues to ensure that the web3 community’s interests are represented with policymakers and regulators across the globe. Previously, Rebecca served as General Counsel of the Aave Companies where she oversaw the legal and compliance functions, coordinating across numerous web3 software protocols and other potential product lines and across all departments within the company. Prior to her time at the Aave Companies, Rebecca was a partner at various large law firms, including Manatt Phelps &amp; Phillips LLP, representing software development and other companies in the blockchain and crypto space for many years. She spent many years of her career at Cravath, Swaine &amp; Moore LLP, as a litigator and regulatory enforcement lawyer.

Rebecca Rettig

J. Christopher “Chris” Giancarlo is senior counsel and Co-Chair of the Willkie Digital Works practice. He is based in the firm’s New York office. Chris served as the thirteenth Chairman of the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), where he oversaw regulation of the futures, options and swaps derivatives markets. Chris was also a successful entrepreneur helping GFI Group Inc. grow into a leading trading platform and technology vendor to global markets for OTC swaps and other derivatives and managing GFI’s successful private equity financing and IPO.



Chris is a renowned blockchain technology advocate and key contributor to the global discourse on cryptocurrencies and digital assets. During his tenure at the CFTC (2014-2019), Chris oversaw the first bitcoin futures products entering the marketplace and applied a “Do No Harm” regulatory approach towards blockchain technology.



Chris has testified often about financial and derivatives markets before the U.S. Congress and EU Parliament and is a frequent guest on broadcast radio and television, including BloombergTV, CNBC, Fox Business and the BBC, as well as podcasts such as “Unchained” and “CoinDesk.” Chris has written and spoken extensively on public policy, legal and other matters involving technology and the financial markets and has authored numerous white papers, articles and op-eds that have been published in The Wall Street Journal, Financial Times, Cato Journal, New York Law Journal, Les Echos and Coinbase.



Chris has over 45,000 followers on Twitter as @giancarloMKTS where he is known as “CryptoDad.” The American Crypto Association featured him among the top 10 crypto lawyers on its 2020 ranking of “The Top 25 Crypto Lawyers” in the nation.



In March 2022, Chris was appointed to the rank of&nbsp;Chevalier&nbsp;in the French National Order of Merit by a Presidential decree of President Macron. According to French Ambassador Phillipe Etienne, the award recognizes Chris's expertise in “financial markets and the potentials of cryptofinance.”



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J. Christopher Giancarlo

Ray Hindi is the co-founded L1D and currently acts as the CEO/CIO. Ray has an investment background in venture, hedge funds and interest rate trading. Ray holds a BEng from UCL and an MSc in Finance from Imperial College. He previously acted as the CIO of Bellegarde Capital AG an independent investment group with activities focused in fintech, blockchain and other alternative investments. Also previously at Swiss Capital (StepStone Group) responsible for the firm’s macro outlook, macro hedge funds and event driven coverage. From 2005 to 2011 Ray was part of Harcourt Investment Consulting AG, a USD 6 bn fund of hedge funds firm in Zurich, and responsible for USD 2 bn of investments (rates, macro and distressed). He started his career at Bloomberg LP in London and subsequently left the firm to trade interest rates for a London based proprietary group. Ray holds a BEng from University College London (UCL) and an MSc in Finance from Imperial College.

Ray Hindi

Paul Bances is the VP - Head of Global Market and Business Development within the Blockchain, Cryptocurrency, and Digital Currencies business unit at PayPal.



Paul is responsible for identifying and driving strategic opportunities for the expansion of PayPal’s digital currency business, including PayPal’s PYUSD stablecoin, as well as the Xoom remittance business.



Paul has over 20 years of global financial services experience in areas including legal and regulatory, as well as strategy, business operations, and revenue generation.

Paul Bances

Jonah Van Bourg is a professional crude oil and cryptocurrency trader with 18 years of experience managing trading teams and running risk in volatile markets. Most recently, he was Global Head of Crypto and Precious Metals Trading at DRW. Prior to this, Jonah spent 7 years as a partner and oil trader at Vitol. In his early career, he ran the global oil trading desk at Goldman Sachs. Jonah graduated with a BA in Economics and Statistics from Columbia University.

Jonah Van Bourg

Joseph is the CIO at Monetary Macro, principal of FedGuy.com, author of the bestselling book "Central Banking 101," and previously a senior trader on the Federal Reserve’s Open Markets Desk. Joseph writes widely on the mechanics of the financial system and his work has been featured in Barrons, Bloomberg, Financial Times and many other media outlets. Earlier in his career, Joseph was a credit analyst and in another life he practiced law. He holds a B.A. in Economics from Northwestern University, a J.D. from Columbia Law School, and an MSc. in Financial Economics from Oxford University.

Joseph Wang

Richard is Co-Founder and Managing Partner at Fabric Ventures. Fabric backs the founders of the Open Economy, investing in Web 3 builders, businesses and digital assets since 2012. Fabric invested in Polkadot, Ocean Protocol, Orchid, Sorare, 1inch, The Graph, and NEAR.



Richard combines a pedigree in open source, developer-oriented tools, and early stage venture investing with blockchain focus since 2012, and has invested in Pantera Venture Fund I, Bitstamp, Bitrise, Tray.io, TransferWise, and Citymapper. Richard has previously exited 3 software companies as an entrepreneur reaching a cumulative market cap of $2.2bn.

Richard Muirhead

Maria is a General Partner on the investment team at Electric Capital.



Prior to Electric, Maria was CTO and co-founder of a startup that helped SMBs easily create their supply chains with manufacturers around the world. Prior to that, she worked on search technology at Microsoft, with her features shipped to more than 1 billion devices.



Maria received her A.B. in Government from Harvard and M.Eng. in Computer Science from Cornell.



Maria is interested in talking to women, minority, and immigrant founders. She encourages them to reach out to her via Twitter @MariaShen.

Maria Shen

Chris is a passionate advocate for the potential of technology and the benefits of diversity and inclusion. His core policy focus is on digital technology for the public good with a particular interest in technologies such as AI and blockchain and areas of application such as fintech and trade. In Parliament, he is a member of the influential House of Lords Select Committee on Science and Technology, has introduced a private members’ bill that proposes the regulation of artificial intelligence and was integral to the passing of the ground-breaking Electronic Trade Documents Bill. On technology, he has previously co-authored House of Lords Select Committee Reports on: Democracy and Digital Technologies [2020], Artificial Intelligence [2018], and Digital Skills [2015] and under his own auspices published an influential report encouraging government testing of blockchain solutions for policy delivery, DLT for Public Good: leadership, collaboration and innovation [2017] He is also adviser to several tech and fintech companies. On inclusion, and again under his own auspices, he has published influential reports on accessibility in the public realm and support for disabled students as well as Lords reports on Financial Exclusion [2017], Social Mobility [2016] and, for the Cabinet Office, The Lord Holmes Review on opening up public appointments to disabled people. He continues to advise the government of diversity and inclusion. An ex-Paralympic swimmer, Chris won nine gold, five silvers and one bronze medal across four Games, including a record haul of six golds at Barcelona 1992.

Lord Chris Holmes

Evgeny has 15+ years of experience growing fintech businesses. He has consistently grown market share in Europe’s top fiat exchanges, developed and executed ambitious expansion projects and led agile cross-functional teams. Prior to founding Wintermute, Evgeny built and ran the Optiver’s European ETF business (HFT and OTC) – one of the largest in the EU. Evgeny holds MSc in Finance and EMBA from London Business School.

Evgeny Gaevoy

Max is the co-founder of PV01. Founded in 2022, the company makes it possible to invest in government bonds directly from stablecoins. As a broker-dealer, PV01 arranges the issuance of digital bonds as tokens on public blockchains. Previously, Max co-founded B2C2, a pioneering firm that became the largest dealer of the digital assets markets. B2C2 was acquired by Japanese banking group SBI in 2020

Max Boonen

Dr. Ruth Wandhöfer has been instrumental in shaping the future of finance and money during her impressive career over more than 22 years. She operates at the nexus of technology, identity, finance and regulation and advises and speaks to international audiences on the evolution of the digital economy. As a sought-after keynote speaker, author and recognized global authority on banking, technology, regulation she is a very influential female leader in the Fintech space, promoting the understanding, development and deployment of new business models for our digital future across payments, financial markets and processes. Ruth has been featured by CNBC, The Financial Times, The Banker, Global Finance, Management Today, Handelsblatt, Coindesk, Treasury Today, Treasury Management, Eurofinance and many other media outlets worldwide. After a distinguished career of over 11 years with Citi, Ruth has also advised the European Commission, the European Central Bank, the Bank of England, the White House, the Singapore MAS, the EBRD and the OECD. She is a Visiting Professor at CASS Business School (now Bayes), where she gained her PhD, teaching Fintech in Banking and Finance as well as providing Executive Training on topics such as Financial Market Infrastructures, Payments and the Future of Value in a World of Technological Change. She is also a Visiting Professor at the London Institute of Banking and Finance and an occasional lecturer at Queen Mary London School of Law. Since 2018 Ruth is also an independent Non-Executive Director on various boards ranging from regulated banks and stock exchanges to Fintechs in addition to being an active Angel and VC investor for years. In the past she has been the Chair of the Statutory Payment Systems Regulator (PSR) Panel in the UK and board member of the London Stock Exchange Group, Gresham Technologies and Digital Identity Net. Furthermore, she advises the City of London Corporation, the British Standards Institution and the European Third Party Provider Association (ETPPA). Ruth was named as one of 2010s ‘Rising Stars’ by Financial News; named in Management Today’s 2011 ‘35 Women under 35’ list of women to watch and identified as one of the 100 Most Influential People in Finance 2012 by the Treasury Risk Magazine. She received the ‘Women in Banking and Finance Award for Achievement’ in 2015 and in 2016, 2017, 2018, 2020, 2021 and 2022 she was named on the global ‘Women in Fintech Powerlist’ of Innovate Finance (Senior Leader in 2020, 2021, 2022). So far, she published three books: “EU Payments Integration” (2010), “Transaction Banking and the Impact of Regulatory Change” (2014) and “Redecentralisation: Building the Digital Financial Ecosystem” (2023). She balances this extraordinary career while raising her two children and championing for a better work life balance for single parents and more support for women entrepreneurs. www.ruth-wandhofer.com

Dr. Ruth Wandhöfer

Michael Howell is CEO of CrossBorder Capital, a London-based FCA registered, independent research and investment company that he founded in 1996. The firm provides asset allocation and capital markets advice to institutional investors, and manages US$1 billion of assets. Michael is involved with educational charities and currently advises a major educational foundation on its investment strategy. He brings 40 years finance experience and is a regular international conference speaker, and a media and social media commentator. He has also advised the World Bank on capital flows, co-authoring their publication Opportunities in Emerging Markets (World Bank, 1995), served as board director of a listed Japanese investment trust and recently authored the book Capital Wars (Macmillan, 2020). Previously he was Head of Research for Baring Securities and board member, where he focussed on Emerging Markets, and Research Director of Salomon Brothers Inc, the US investment bank. Before entering finance, Michael worked as Group Economist for Blue Circle Industries plc. He holds a Phd. in financial economics from London University, specialising in Fixed Income, and is a SEC-qualified US Supervisory Analyst. Michael lives in Oxford, England, and is married with four children.

Michael Howell

Alessandro is a portfolio manager and partner at Fasanara Digital. Alessandro has a background in Applied Mathematics and Stochastic Control. His research activity in numerical techniques and algorithms granted him a PhD from the University of Leeds, where he was also awarded with a Master dagree in Financial Mathematics. He co-funded Fasanara Digital in 2018, when he joined Fasanara Capital.

Alessandro Balata

Leon Marshall is Managing Director, CEO of Galaxy Europe, and Global Head of Sales at Galaxy Digital. Previously Marshall led the global sales team at Genesis Global Trading and was responsible for accelerating Genesis’ client acquisition and revenue expansion strategy. Marshall began his career on the sell-side at UBS as a commodity options trader. He subsequently held senior portfolio management roles at Swiss commodities firm Trafigura and US private equity firm Apollo Management. Prior to Galaxy, Marshall also served as an advisor on strategy and business development and co-authored blockchain research papers for crypto firms in London and Berlin. Marshall holds an MBA and is a recipient of the Sari Scholarship from London Business School. He also holds a B.A. in Philosophy, Politics &amp; Economics from the University of Oxford.

Leon Marshall

Dr Lisa Cameron is the MP for East Kilbride, Strathaven and Lesmahagow and was first elected in 2015. Lisa is also the Chair of the newly created Crypto and Digital Assets All Party Parliamentary Group in Westminster.



Before entering politics, Lisa worked as a clinical psychologist and received a doctorate in Clinical Psychology from the University of Glasgow.&nbsp;



Lisa has a keen interest in crypto and digital assets. She is particularly interested in the potential for this new technology to transform the landscape of emerging digital payments and financial services. Lisa has said that a top priority for her is consumer protection and she wants to see the sector and regulators making protecting consumers from the risks of harm a key focus. She is also interested in the opportunities that exist from the crypto and digital asset sector in terms of jobs, benefits to the economy and skills.



As a member of the Financial Education APPG in Parliament Lisa is also passionate about the importance of educating people and improving people’s understanding about crypto and digital assets.

Lisa Cameron

Sam Jernigan is an official advisor to Scroll, a bytecode equivalent zkEVM co-built with the Ethereum Foundation. Sam is a global macro investor with over 15yrs of experience trading a wide range of asset classes. Most recently, he built and ran Crypto at Moore Capital in New York City. Prior to Moore, Sam launched the first global macro fund that could trade digital assets out of Mike Novogratz Family Office. While there he helped pioneer the crypto options market and executed the first ever option on ETH. He began his career at Bear Stearns and then JPMorgan where he worked in proprietary trading until the Volker rule was enacted in 2012

Sam Jernigan

Alek&nbsp;Kloda is a Founder and Co-CIO of Nickel Digital Asset Management, an award-winning UK multi-manager hedge fund.



Mr. Kloda oversees the Nickel Digital Liquid Venture Fund as its Portfolio Manager, concentrating on a long-only strategy for investing in and actively trading digital assets. The Fund's success is attributed to the diligent efforts of the research team, led by Mr. Kloda, which emphasises a thorough understanding of underlying technology and economic value creation across different protocols. As the firm’s Co-CIO, Mr. Kloda also sits on the Investment Committee of all of Nickel’s funds.



In addition to portfolio management, Mr. Kloda oversees the engineering team at Nickel, developing sophisticated trading and risk management systems. These systems underpin the firm's multi-manager platform, accommodating both digital and traditional assets. With Mr. Kloda's guidance, the team has crafted an end-to-end platform facilitating collaboration with hundreds of trading teams. These teams utilise Nickel Digital's proprietary execution platform, featuring advanced execution algorithms and a real-time, tick-by-tick, scalable risk management engine, currently supervising over fifty distinct managers.



Before founding Nickel Digital, Mr. Kloda gained valuable experience in economic research and forecasting at Macrosynergy Partners and Toscafund, and at Liongate Capital Management as an investment analyst. He holds an MSc in Economics and a BSc in Econometrics and Mathematical Economics from the London School of Economics (LSE), where he also taught Macroeconomics. His entrepreneurial journey began after developing a successful inter-exchange arbitrage operation, leading him to leave the LSE's Economics PhD program to establish Nickel Digital.

Alek Kloda

Former Brevan Howard partner and currently author of the SuperMacro morning note.



I spent 12 years as a macro portfolio manager at Brevan Howard managing up to $500m in assets and have a total of over 24 years of professional investing and trading experience. I started my career at Salomon Brothers in the early 1990s trading equity derivatives and after 11 years in a senior trading role as an MD, I left to join Brevan Howard where I eventually became a partner. I focused on macro fundamentals and managed investments in all asset classes from equities and credit to ﬁxed income and fx. &nbsp;I now manage my own funds and write a daily macro note which is read by traders in most investment banks and large hedge funds.

Jonny Matthews

Tara is the CEO of Lantern Ventures, a digital currency trading firm with over $250 million under management. Lantern was founded on philanthropic principles, and 50% of founder profits are donated to high-impact charitable causes. Prior to founding Lantern, Tara was also a co-founder of Alameda Research. Before becoming a full-time trader, she was the CEO of the Center for Effective Altruism. Tara first started trading crypto while working in Indonesia in 2013, where she built models to settle invoice payments faster and cheaper than alternatives using BTC.

Tara MacAulay

Jamil Nazarali is CEO of EDX Markets, a new market launched by a consortium of industry leaders to enable safer, faster and more efficient trading of digital assets through trusted intermediaries. Prior to assuming this role, Jamil served in a number of roles at Citadel Securities, including as Global Head of Business Development and Head of Citadel Execution Services. Previously, Jamil was Global Head of Electronic Trading at Knight Capital Group, and earlier worked as a management consultant at both Ernst &amp; Young and Bain &amp; Company. Jamil has served on a number of industry and board positions including as Chairman of the Board of Members Exchange (MEMX), a member of the SEC’s Equity Market Structure Advisory Commitee and a member of BATS Holdings Board. Jamil received an MBA with high honors from the University of Chicago and a bachelor’s degree from University of Western Ontario.

Jamil Nazarali

William joined Marshall Wace in May 2022 to oversee Fintech and Digital Assets investments for MW Digital Finance Fund.



Prior to joining Marshall Wace, William worked at Candy Capital, a family office where he was responsible for various investments across the technology sector. Prior to Candy Capital, William worked for HSBC and Greyspark Partners, were he was heading Fintech Investment Advisory. William is also an active seed investor across digital assets and fintech.

William Benattar

After 10 years in capital markets and 13 years running an e-commerce company she founded, Noelle stumbled across bitcoin in 2014, and hasn’t looked back since. She joined crypto media platform CoinDesk in 2016, and until May 2021 ran its research department and wrote the weekly Crypto Long &amp; Short newsletter. From June 2021-August 2022, she was Head of Market Insights at Genesis Trading, writing research and daily emails for institutional investors. Now she is focusing on Crypto is Macro Now, an independent research project focusing on the deepening overlay between the crypto ecosystem, traditional markets and centralized structures.

Noelle Acheson

Marcos is currently a Partner at Accolade Partners, a venture capital and growth equity fund of funds in Washington, DC with over $5.7 billion in total assets under management and over $1.2 billion in blockchain venture capital assets. Prior to Accolade, Marcos was a Partner at Evanston Capital Management. Before joining Evanston, Marcos worked at Cambridge Associates. At Cambridge Associates, he worked mainly with endowments and foundations, in the US and Europe, on their investment strategy. He also led the firm’s emerging research in the crypto/blockchain space starting in January of 2018. Marcos holds a BA from Oxford University and an MA and MBA from Columbia University.

Marcos Veremis

Justin L. Browder is a partner in Willkie's Asset Management Department and Co-Chair of the Willkie Digital Works practice. Justin concentrates his practice on counseling investment advisers, private and registered investment funds, broker-dealers, and digital asset ecosystems and market participants concerning all aspects of the federal securities laws. He has substantial experience providing ongoing regulatory and operational advice to managers of private funds (including hedge funds, private equity funds and venture capital funds), sponsors of wealth management and separately managed account programs (including robo-advisory and other automated investment programs), and digital asset investors, entrepreneurs, investment platforms, and exchanges. A central component of his practice involves representing investment advisers, investment funds, and broker-dealers in regulatory examinations and enforcement proceedings.

Justin L. Browder

Catherine Gu is Visa’s Global Head of CBDC and Tokenized Assets. She heads Visa’s Global CBDC and tokenization program, alongside blockchain protocol research and development, building digital payment solutions with central banks, financial partners and global infrastructure technology companies. She is leading Visa’s engagements on CBDC projects with over 40 different central banks, alongside private firms and financial institutions. This includes being a key contributor to the BIS Innovation Hub’s Project Rosalind as well as initiatives around the world. Visa is currently actively involved in several tokenization projects, including with Central Bank of Brazil, Hong Kong Monetary Authority and several tier-one financial institutions in building and designing tokenization solutions to facilitate payments, capital investments and programmable finance.

Catherine Gu

Mathias is a Co-Founder and Group CEO of Sygnum. Prior to Sygnum, he was General Manager at RNT Associates, Mr. Ratan N. Tata’s personal investment platform, which he joined as the first team member. He led multiple venture capital and private equity investments and participated in blockchain and DLT-related equity deals globally.



Mathias started his career at Bain &amp; Company where he led advisory projects for private equity funds, family offices and technology companies.



He holds a PhD from the University of St. Gallen and a Master of Science from the London School of Economics (LSE).

Mathias Imbach

Ian is the Board Advisor to CryptoUK (CUK), the United Kingdom’s trade body representing more than 150 companies from across the U.K. digital asset sector. CUK partners with other industry bodies such as UK Finance, Innovate Finance, Electronic Money Association, Blockchain for Europe, Global Digital Asset Currency Association, Blockchain Association, Access, IDAXA, and AIMA to coordinate public policy positions impacting the industry globally. He is on the Advisory Board of IDAXA, and participates in numerous steering committees and industry working groups, including FATF. He is a frequent editorial contributor and speaker at industry events. Ian is also the Head of Digital and Crypto Assets at KPMG UK. Where he leads the cross firm offering to support clients operating within the crypto and blockchain space. Ian leads the organisation and its strategic policy initiatives to ensure the voice of the community is heard at the policymaker level. Ian is passionate about the UK fulfilling its global leadership potential in the blockchain and digital asset ecosystem. His work within regulatory and government affairs is focused on ensuring policymakers implement balanced policy making which fosters innovation, job creation and increases investment opportunities within the UK. Ian oversees the secretariat for the Crypto &amp; Digital Assets All Party Parliamentary Group, a cross-party group within Westminster that provides a forum for parliamentarians, regulators, government agencies and industry to discuss the challenges and opportunities relating to the crypto and digital asset sector. Ian possesses more than 20 years of experience in capital markets and fintech, with a depth of expertise within financial markets and disruptive technologies. Prior to joining CUK, Ian was the Advisory Board Secretariat for Global Digital Finance, a leading global members association focussed on best practice development to accelerate the adoption of global standards for digital assets. Previously, Ian led teams across investment banking functions, specialising in Rates, FX and Fixed Income markets, global treasury management, funding, capital allocation and liquidity management.

Ian Taylor

Marc Zeller is the founder of the Aave Chan Initiative (ACI), a leading service provider for the Aave DAO. His introduction to the crypto ecosystem began in 2015 with the co-founding of Ethereum France and the organisation of the EthCC conference in Paris. Marc's diverse experience spans roles at Consensys and Coinhouse, the first French-regulated CASP. In 2019, he was pivotal in the launch of Aave, joining EthLend to prepare for Aave V1 in 2020. In 2022, Marc established the ACI, which now boasts a dedicated team of seven. The ACI is renowned for its innovative products, including Skyward, Orbit, and Dolce Vita.

Marc Zeller

Ruud Smets is the Managing Partner and CIO at Theta Capital Management, one of theworld’s largest fund of funds allocators in blockchain-native VCs, having deployed a $650 million into early-stage strategy across 45+ specialized managers since 2018. Under Ruud's stewardship, Theta has secured early, private-stage exposure to 80% of successful blockchain projects, leveraging its unique relationships with top VCs. With Master’sdegrees in Information Technology and  Investment Theory and as a Chartered Alternative Investment Analyst, Ruud combines deep financial acumen with blockchain expertise. Ruud joined Theta in 2005 and has positioned the firm as a pioneering, AIFMD licensed fund manager, offering unmatched access to blockchain’s investment potential.

Ruud Smets

Sandy Kaul is senior vice president, Franklin Templeton, providing advisory consulting for the firm and thought leadership as part of the Franklin Templeton Institute. She delivers actionable intelligence and insights on the future of the investment and wealth management industry for the firm and its clients. Ms. Kaul has cultivated deeply informed insights and has an extensive background in driving market leading research, thought leadership and predictive models centered on the evolution of the investment and wealth management industry. She identifies and champions opportunities to address industry advancements and drive transformation, with a focus on innovative distribution trends and digital disruption. She delivers strategic insights to inform the firm's decision-making on partnerships and investments, including within Franklin Templeton's growing digital asset business. Ms. Kaul has over 25 years of well-rounded industry experience and is a frequent speaker at industry events and a widely published author. She combines her unique blend of sell-side, buy-side and consulting insights to drive her research and thought leadership around what constitutes best practices and where innovation is occurring. Ms. Kaul joined Franklin Templeton in 2022 from Citi, where she served as Managing Director and Global Head of Business Advisory Services, and launched and built out the Citi's Business Advisory Services practice, a market leading provider of industry thought leadership spanning Citi's Markets and Global Wealth organizations. Ms. Kaul rejoined Citi in 2009, after originally starting her career there in 1985 as a Futures Research Analyst covering the soft commodities markets with Citi's predecessor firm, Shearson Lehman Brothers. She joined Commodities Corporation/Goldman Sachs Asset Management in 1995 as a Commodity Trading Advisor (CTA) and Portfolio Manager. After managing money for nearly six years, Ms. Kaul shifted her attention to consulting where she led the strategy practice within the Financial Services division of the renowned dot.com firm, Scient, and then went on to become a Partner at the capital markets niche management consulting firm m.a.partners/Detica. Ms. Kaul holds a bachelor's degree in history and political science from Colgate University.

Sandy Kaul

Xiao-Xiao J. Zhu currently serves as an Operating Partner at KKR focused on tech &amp; digital value creation with the European private equity portfolio, and co-leads KKR’s Digital Assets &amp; Blockchain related strategy and efforts. Prior to that, he was General Manager at BCG Digital Ventures in London and Beijing where he founded, launched and scaled new digital companies such as Heycar or Tracr, and started his business career as a management consultant at the Boston Consulting Group in London. In an earlier life, he performed as a professional concert pianist on concert venues around the world, and played for the likes of George Bush Sr, Helmut Kohl or Mikhail Gorbachev. He holds a MSc in Managerial Economics &amp; Strategy from the London School of Economics, a BA in Philosophy &amp; Economics from the Humboldt University Berlin, and a Masters in Concert Piano from the Berlin University of Arts.

Xiao-Xiao Zhu

Adrian Larsen, co-head of alternatives at&nbsp;Aros Capital, a multi-family-office servicing a few select clients in Denmark specializing in wealth management and the portfolio construction of long-term investments. The firm’s investment framework has been pivotal in gaining exposure to the blockchain universe. Adrian’s passion for the technologies of tomorrow has translated into investments in areas like precision medicine, AI, and green technologies.



Recognizing the potential in blockchain, Adrian was instrumental in establishing&nbsp;Blockchain Fond, a pioneering fund-of-funds structure in Denmark, possibly the first in Scandinavia, focusing on equity investments in the blockchain sector. This initiative is designed to offer Danish investors a diversified, global exposure to the blockchain universe. As the&nbsp;portfolio manager of Blockchain Fond,&nbsp;Adrian has successfully deployed two funds and is currently in the planning phase for launching an even larger third fund.

Adrian Larsen

Sanja Kon is the Vice President for Europe at Circle, a position in which she spearheads the development of Circle's distribution partnerships across the region. Prior to Circle, Sanja was the CEO of xMoney, a European leading Web3 payment platform, acquired by MultiversX. Before her tenure at xMoney, Sanja occupied various executive positions at leading companies such as PayPal, eBay, and Vodafone. In these roles, she actively pursued partnerships and successfully built international teams in challenging commercial environments. Sanja's expertise lies in forming strategic alliances and navigating complex business landscapes. Sanja is an accomplished speaker who consistently engages large audiences with her insightful discussions on topics related to innovation, change, and inclusion.

Sanja Kon

David Kalk is the Founder and Chief Investment Officer of Reflexive Capital, an alternative asset management firm focused on crypto. David oversees the "macro directional" liquid strategy where he leverages deep professional trading experience and macro expertise for macro regime identification, asset filtering, fundamental diligence, active management and proprietary risk management. Before starting Reflexive, David served as the Head of Macro and Digital Assets at Commonwealth Asset Management. Prior to that, David traded macro for eight years at Peter Thiel's family office, Thiel Macro, progressing to also serve as the CIO for the latter four years. He began his career as an Interest Rate Swap trader at Goldman Sachs and holds a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering from MIT.



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David Kalk

Brian Quintenz is the Head of Policy for a16z crypto, where he helps to translate between the crypto and policy communities. Brian has long stood out as an innovative thinker in crypto and DeFi and was one of the earliest leaders in Washington to recognize the value of crypto. Brian initially joined a16z crypto as a senior advisor. In December 2022, he moved to the full-time role leading its policy team. Prior to joining a16z, he was nominated by both Presidents Obama and Trump to serve as commissioner of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) and, in August 2017, was unanimously confirmed by the U.S. Senate. He also led the agency’s Technology Advisory Committee, which hosted the most comprehensive set of public crypto-related policy discussions and briefings of any federal financial regulator. During his service, the CFTC oversaw the listing of the first U.S. regulated Bitcoin and Ether futures contracts on derivatives exchanges, and the rapid expansion of DeFi. All the while, he was a champion for tailored, risk-calibrated regulation. Prior to his appointment to the CFTC, Brian was the Founder and Managing Principal of Saeculum Capital Management, LLC where he developed and implemented Saeculum’s long term, momentum-based investment process for both traditional discretionary accounts as well as a managed-futures, commodity pool hedge fund. Brian began his career on Capitol Hill, where he worked for 6.5 years and served as senior policy aid to a Member of Congress. He received his B.S. from Duke University and M.B.A. from Georgetown University.

Brian Quintenz

Paul Kremsky is the Global Head of Business Development for Cumberland, a world-class team dedicated to providing deep and consistent liquidity to institutional investors. Paul works globally with institutional and crypto-native partners to develop ecosystems and build use-cases for digital asset. Paul began his career with DRW, Cumberland’s parent company, in 2006, and has traded a variety of asset classes, including interest rates, commodities, equities and forex. In 2015, he helped launch DRW’s Singapore office, developing cross-asset algorithmic trading strategies. Within digital assets, Paul specializes in stablecoins as well as other onchain cash-equivalent products.

Paul Kremsky

Michele Curtoni works as Head of Strategy &amp; New Business for SDX – SIX Digital Exchange, a SIX company. Prior to his current role, Michele was VP in State Street’s Digital Product Development and DLT team. He focused on cryptocurrencies' safekeeping &amp; custody, asset tokenization, and technology deployment projects for blockchain-based initiatives. Before joining State Street, he was manager and strategy leader for LSEG (London Stock Exchange Group) Emerging Technologies group. At the LSEG Michele also worked in the Group Strategy division, taking a central role in several of the Group’s high-profile acquisitions and corporate partnerships as well as other Group strategic initiatives. Michele has more than 10-year experience in financial services, FMIs, and banking, at the juncture between traditional finance and the Fintech space. Michele holds an MSc from the University of Warwick in Economics and International Financial Economics (EIFE) and is based in London (UK).

Michele Curtoni

Lucas Vogelsang is the CEO and Co-founder at Centrifuge, focusing on bringing Real World Assets to DeFi since the early days of Ethereum. Before diving into crypto in 2017 Lucas has been working at the intersection of tech and business since dropping out of University. He co-founded the Swiss e-commerce startup DeinDeal as its CTO. After its successful sale, he helped the German startup KaufDA with their international expansion. Lucas spent 6 years in Silicon Valley where he was working at early stage startups including Taulia where he met his Centrifuge co-founders.

Lucas Vogelsang

Christopher Jensen is the director of Digital Asset Research for Franklin Templeton's Digital Asset Investment Strategies Group and co-leads its Investment Committee. With almost 20 years of technology investing experience spanning venture capital, private equity, and private credit, Christopher's focus is on developing and leading the fundamental research efforts for Franklin's Digital Asset Token strategies.



Christopher joined Franklin Templeton in 2015 as a Vice President and Senior Research Analyst in the firm's Fixed Income group. He went on to become Head of Credit for Franklin's Data Science and Digital Lending Strategies team in 2019. Before joining Franklin, he was a Principal with SLR Capital Partners, an alternative asset manager in New York focused on cash flow, asset-based lending, and specialty finance. He also served as an Assistant Vice President at the commercial lending firm, CIT Group, now a division of First Citizens Bank.



Christopher holds a Bachelor of Arts in Philosophy from Princeton University, an MBA from the Yale School of Management, and a Certificate in Data Science from Stanford University.

Christopher Jensen

Mara Schmiedt, CEO and Co-Founder of Alluvial, oversees business, operations, and strategy. She previously worked at Coinbase as Head of Sales for Coinbase Cloud, managed Business Development at Bison Trails, and served as Strategy Manager at ConsenSys, focusing on Codefi. Mara is a board member at Obol Labs, a leading DVT provider, and a strategic angel investor in over 15 projects. Passionate about open-source technology, she has published research on liquid staking and led a working group with the Ethereum Foundation that developed the Ethereum Launchpad and the first DVT proof of concepts.

Mara Schmiedt

Matt Hougan is one of the world’s leading experts on crypto, ETFs, and financial technology. He is Chief Investment Officer for Bitwise Asset Management, a pioneer in cryptoasset index funds with more than $1.2 billion in assets under management. He was previously CEO of ETF.com, where he helped build the world’s first ETF data and analytics system, the leading ETF media site, and the world’s largest ETF conference, Inside ETFs. Hougan is co-author of both “A Comprehensive Guide to Exchange-Traded Funds” and “Cryptoassets: The Guide to Bitcoin, Blockchain and Cryptocurrencies for Professional Investors” from the CFA Institute’s Research Foundation. He is a crypto columnist for Forbes, and a three-time member of the Barron’s ETF Roundtable.

Matt Hougan

Chris Perkins serves as Managing Partner and President of CoinFund, driving day-to-day excellence and enterprise-scale by bridging the gap between cryptocurrency-native investing and traditional ﬁnance. He also advocates for the interests of the crypto ecosystem through his appointment to the CFTC’s Global Markets Advisory Committee and its  Digital Asset Markets Subcommittee. He has also testified before Congress on crypto market structure design. Chris is the co-inventor of the Composite Ether Staking Rate (CESR), which is the first interest rate benchmark of its kind in the crypto industry. Prior to joining CoinFund, Chris served as Global Co-Head of Futures, Clearing and Foreign Exchange Prime Brokerage (FXPB) businesses at Citi. In this capacity, he was responsible for delivering leading listed derivative electronic and voice execution, comprehensive central clearing and #1 ranked OTC Clearing and FXPB services to top institutional clients. Prior to joining Citi in 2008, Chris served as the U.S. Head of Derivatives Intermediation at Lehman Brothers.  An Iraq war veteran, Chris served in the U.S. Marine Corps for nine years, achieving the rank of Captain. Chris is the co-founder of Veterans in Digital Assets (VIDA) and Veterans on Wall Street (VOWS) (<a href="http://www.veteransonwallstreet.com/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">www.veteransonwallstreet.com</a>),  two international initiatives focused on veterans’ employment and empowerment. He has a Bachelor of Science degree from the U.S. Naval Academy, with distinction, and a Master of Arts degree in National Security Studies from Georgetown University.  He is a member of the Economic Club of New York.

Chris Perkins

Brian Fabian Crain serves as the Chief Executive Officer of Chorus One and currently holds the position of President at the Interchain Foundation. Additionally, he sits on the board of the Urbit Foundation and is the host of the longest-running podcast in the cryptocurrency space, Epicenter. Brian’s involvement in the crypto sphere dates back to 2014, when he initiated the Blockchain Meetup Berlin community. Drawing upon his experience and forward-thinking insights in staking and decentralized technologies, Brian has played a pivotal role in establishing Chorus One as a globally trusted staking provider. As of January 2024, Chorus One has attracted over $3 billion in assets from a diverse community of more than 100 thousand delegators. It also stands as a partner to prominent crypto institutions such as BitGo, Ledger, and Finoa. Beyond its primary staking services, Chorus One has diversified its involvement by investing in leading projects like Lido, Osmosis, and Celestia through its venture arm, Chorus Ventures.

Brian Crain

Rachel Anderika is the Chief Operating Officer at Anchorage Digital Bank. She brings more than 15 years of experience in regulatory and risk management and nearly a decade of professional experience at the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, where she served as National Bank Examiner (and later, Large Bank Examiner) to ensure that national banks operated safely and soundly, while complying with applicable laws and regulations. Rachel then served eight years in the private sector at Promontory Financial Group, a premier bank regulatory consulting firm, later purchased by IBM where she worked with numerous traditional financial institutions on risk management and compliance. Rachel also helped found Promontory’s Digital Assets Risk and Compliance Team, where she guided digital assets custodians through the state and federal regulatory licensing process. Rachel is based in Connecticut and enjoys sailing her 99 year-old wooden boat in her spare time.

Rachel Anderika

Jordi Alexander is the Founder of Selini Capital, a leading firm within Digital Assets trading and investing. Selini has its roots in traditional markets and High-Frequency Trading, but is currently one of the most active firms in onchain DeFi as well as early stage venture investing.



Jordi is also an advisor to several projects innovating in the space including Ondo Finance and Mantle, and is cohost of the weekly Steady Lads podcast.

Jordi Alexander

Jonathan Cheesman

Casper is a Co-Founder of Spartan Group and Co-Head of Spartan’s Advisory business. Spartan advises leading crypto-focused companies on M&amp;A and fundraising, with past clients including Solana, Dapper Labs, Blockfolio, Bybit/BitDAO, GoJek, Deribit and Blockstack. Spartan’s crypto asset management business manages >$350 million via its hedge funds and venture funds. Based in Asia since 2004, Casper has worked as an investment banker, tech entrepreneur, corporate executive and private equity investor. Prior to co-founding Spartan in 2017, Casper spent 10 years in the Investment Banking Division at Goldman Sachs in their London, Hong Kong, Beijing and Singapore offices, where he led and worked on more than $20 billion of M&amp;A and capital markets transactions.

Casper B. Johansen

Tim Grant is Chief Executive Officer of Deus X Capital, a family office-backed global investment and operating company. He is Chairman of AlphaLab40, a crypto market maker and portfolio company of Deus X, as well as Chairman of ApexE3, an institutional multi-asset big data analytics and AI platform. Prior to launching Deus X in October 2023, Tim served as Head of Europe, Middle East and Africa for Galaxy, a diversified financial services and investment management company in the digital asset, cryptocurrency, and blockchain technology sectors. Prior to joining Galaxy, Tim held chief executive titles and founded several companies across the financial technology space. Previous roles have included Chief Executive Officer of SIX Digital Exchange (SDX), the Switzerland-based regulated digital asset exchange of SIX Group; Founder and Chief Executive Officer of DrumG Technologies, a builder and operator of enterprise distributed ledger- and blockchain-based applications and networks; and, Chief Executive Officer of R3 Lab and Research Center. Before that, Tim was a Managing Director at UBS O’Connor, a $6.5bn multi-strategy hedge fund, and Managing Director at UBS Investment Bank. Tim earned a MA in Materials Science and Metallurgy from the University of Cambridge and a MSc in Financial Engineering from the Birkbeck College at the University of London.

Tim Grant

Morgan Krupetsky is Senior Director of Business Development for Institutions &amp; Capital Markets at Ava Labs. In her role, Morgan partners with financial services institutions as they operationalize their digital asset strategies, as well as with early stage teams building blockchain-enabled products and services for institutions.



Before joining Ava Labs, Morgan spent 12 years at Citi; she spent the majority of that time on the Institutional FX &amp; Macro sales desk covering Hedge Funds, Asset Managers, and Pension Funds, before transitioning to become Chief of Staff to Citi’s Chief Compliance Officer.

Morgan Krupetsky

Leo Mizuhara

Pete Najarian is the Managing Partner of RW3 Ventures.



RW3 Ventures is a digital asset venture firm built in partnership with The Raptor Group.



Pete has significant dedicated digital asset experience having previously served in senior leadership roles for two leading digital asset operating businesses, Xapo and BitGo.



Prior to that, Pete spent over 20 years building and leading Emerging Markets businesses for some of the world’s largest banks, UBS and RBS.



The Raptor Group is a trusted venture firm with significant investments across fintech, sports and gaming, healthcare and digital assets.

Peter Najarian

David Mercer is the Chief Executive Officer of LMAX Group, a global, high-growth financial technology company based in London. A former City banking executive and currency specialist, he joined LMAX Group in 2011 and after a successful management buyout, rapidly built LMAX Group into the leading operator of institutional FX and cryptocurrency exchanges with offices in 11 countries and global client base. An outspoken industry commentator, David is a long term champion of the UK’s fintech sector and passionate about supporting entrepreneurship in the UK.

David Mercer

Amar is head of the Goldman Sachs Digital Assets Team in EMEA driving efforts on the application of blockchain and distributed ledger technology to traditional financial activity such the issuance of digitally native securities and the financing of tokenised assets. In addition to this Amar leads the firm’s efforts on digital currencies across the spectrum of Central Bank Digital Currencies (CBDCs) to stablecoins and tokenised deposits.



Before taking on his current role Amar was primarily focused on funding and liquidity management during roles within the Cross Asset Financing and Treasury teams at Goldman Sachs alongside the launch of Goldman’s retail deposit business in the UK – Marcus. Prior to joining Goldman Sachs he started his career in Transaction Banking at Bank of America Merrill Lynch

Amar Amlani

Michael leads the Prime Team at Copper.co. He brings the best part of two decades’ experience to the role, joining from Bank of America, where he was EMEA head of the bank’s prime platform. Michael graduated from St. Columba’s College, NSW, Australia .

Michael Roberts

Kevin is a Partner at Symbolic Capital Partners (SCP), a leading market maker in cryptocurrencies. Specializing in permissionless and non-custodial trading technologies, SCP works on the bleeding edge of the emerging blockchain financial markets. Prior to SCP, he served as Head of Trading and Crypto Ops at the VC fund Paradigm and worked as an algorithmic trader at Jump Trading for 9 years. Kevin holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Economics from MIT.

Kevin Pang

Chris Zuehlke is a Partner at DRW and serves as the Global Co-Head of Cumberland, leading a world class team dedicated to providing deep liquidity to institutional-sized investors. Chris is a proven leader in operational excellence and has been working at DRW for almost two decades across various trading disciplines. He has extensive experience building trading operations from the ground up and is skilled in software development, trade research, automated and OTC trading, compliance, operations, market structure and regulation design. Chris also co-founded DRW’s first algorithmic trading operation.



As one of the early leaders of the Cumberland team, Chris was responsible for building safe and reasonably designed trading and operational systems, including Cumberland’s electronic trading platforms Marea and the API. Chris previously served as Director of Front Office Technology for DRW where he managed various aspects of the firm’s front office software and infrastructure as well as oversaw risk management for the firm’s electronic trading systems.



Chris was also responsible for advocating for DRW and the trading industry in Washington around market structure and trading best practices, where he currently serves on the Commodities Futures Trading Commission’s Global Markets Advisory Committee.



Chris earned a BS in Mathematics and Computer Sciences with a focus on Artificial Intelligence and Cognitive Sciences from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. He has also served as an Executive Committee member and Advisor for the FIA Principal Traders Group.

Chris Zuehlke

Kelsey McGuire is the Chief Growth Officer at Shardeum. Previously, Kelsey served as CMO at crypto investment firm CoinFund. She also formerly managed partner marketing at Celo and worked in marketing leadership roles at ConsenSys.

Kelsey McGuire

Giovanni Vicioso serves as CME Group’s Global Head of Cryptocurrency Products. He is responsible for leading the development and execution of the company’s cryptocurrency product strategies, including its innovative suite of tradeable benchmark derivatives such as Bitcoin and Ether futures and options, as well as Micro Bitcoin and Ether futures and options, in addition to its wide range of cryptocurrency reference rates and real-time pricing indices. Vicioso first joined CME Group in 2012 as Senior Director of Equity Products, in which he also began his involvement in CME Group's Cryptocurrency business. Prior to CME Group, he served as Vice President for RBC Capital Markets' Equity Derivatives Group on their OTC Equity Derivatives desk. Prior to RBC, he worked at Deutsche Bank in the Global Equity Derivatives Division. Vicioso is based in New York and holds a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering from Rutgers University and an MBA from Columbia Business School.

Giovanni Vicioso

Rajeev Bamra serves as the global Head of Strategy for Digital Economy at Moody's Ratings, based in New York. A seasoned executive and thought leader, he plays a pivotal role in shaping the intersection of traditional finance and evolving digital economy within the rating agency. In his current position, Rajeev leads the strategy and operations group, driving key decisions at Executive and Senior Leadership levels, and ensuring Moody's readiness for the digitalization of the global economy. Rajeev serves as a significant catalyst in embedding the concept of digitalization, encompassing digital currencies, decentralized technologies, AI, Quantum, innovative product design and emerging digital risks like Cybersecurity, into the fabric of Moody's ecosystem. His visionary leadership extracts the maximum potential from the evolving digital economy, steering the innovation agenda and operational planning for the organization. As a recognized thought leader, Rajeev has authored research papers and thought leadership documents on digital economy infrastructure development, leveraging transformative technologies such as blockchain and AI across various sectors. Actively representing Moody's at events, panels, webinars, and podcasts, Rajeev helps optimize stakeholder relations relations to underscore Moody's commitment to digital finance and innovation. His visionary leadership and strategic acumen continue to propel Moody's into the forefront of the evolving digital economy.

Rajeev Bamra

Sébastien Derivaux is a chef and co-founder of <a href="https://www.steakhouse.financial/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Steakhouse Financial</a>, a boutique consulting business that helps DeFi protocols thrive. Sébastien focuses on Real-World Assets (RWA), having begun leading the RWA efforts at MakerDAO in 2020, and Asset-Liability Management. He holds a PhD in Data Science from Strasbourg University. Read more of his thoughts on the <a href="https://cryptobanking.network/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Crypto Banking Network</a>.

Sébastien Derivaux

Luuk joined Deribit as Chief Commercial Officer in 2019 looking after business development, sales and products. Luuk has an extensive background in exchange trading with &nbsp;20 years experience in listed products, ETFs, Warrants, Equities, Derivatives, Exchange matching and Corporate Finance. &nbsp;



Before Deribit, Luuk was amongst others responsible for listed products for SGX (The Singapore Exchange) and was based in Singapore since 2014.



Luuk holds a Master of Science in Finance from Maastricht University in the Netherlands.

Luuk Strijers

Nicolas is a Founding Partner of Numeus, a global digital asset investment and trading firm founded by a team of finance, blockchain and technology professionals. Nicolas leads the firm's asset management division, Forteus, that is backed by Schroders and offers institutional funds for investors seeking exposure to the digital asset ecosystem. Nicolas brings over twenty years of professional experience in a career spanning crypto,&nbsp;traditional finance and consulting industries. Before co-founding Numeus, Nicolas was a founding partner of Argentière Capital, a volatility-focused multi-strategy hedge fund where he was a Senior Portfolio Manager focusing on volatility strategies across equities and FX. He was a member of the firm’s Risk Management Committee and was instrumental in building many of the tools and processes employed by the firm across investment and risk management functions.



Prior to launching Argentière, Nicolas was a Portfolio Manager in JPMorgan Chase’s Equity Proprietary Trading Group in London. He previously spent nine years at Bain &amp; Company, where he was a Manager running consulting projects in the areas of corporate strategy, M&amp;A, private equity and operational improvements for clients in Europe, US and Japan.



Nicolas obtained his BA / MA in Mathematics from the Ecole Polytechnique of Lausanne in Switzerland.

Nicolas Vanhoutteghem 

Felix is the Head of Research at Outerlands and a member of the Investment Committee overseeing the Fund. He oversees the Firm’s systematic research program, including data collection, factor ideation and testing, and portfolio optimization. Additionally, Felix is a primary author of Outerlands’ externally published research. Prior to joining Outerlands, Felix spent eight years at Morgan Stanley, two of which were served in Debt Capital Markets within Investment Banking and the remaining six in the Fixed Income Research department, where he attained the title of Vice President. At Morgan Stanley, Felix focused on US corporate credit markets. He authored or contributed to numerous publications, including foundational work on the application of systematic investment strategies in corporate bonds and credit derivatives, the integration of ESG into corporate bond analysis, and the escalation of leverage at US corporations via M&amp;A and share buybacks. Felix received a B.S. in Finance, Magna Cum Laude, from the University of South Carolina.

Felix Stratmann

Mona is Founder and CEO at Avantgarde. She is also President of MAMA (Multichain Asset Managers Association), Board Member KR1 Plc and ex-Board Member at Near Foundation. As a former star-trader at Goldman Sachs, Mona was promoted to Vice President by the age of 26 and made the “Top 30 under 30” list in Trader Magazine in 2008 and Forbes Magazine in 2011. She moved to Geneva-based macro fund Jabre Capital in 2011, before deciding in 2014 that the future of finance lay in blockchain technology. She founded Enzyme in 2016, which today is the leading on-chain asset management protocol with $160M+ AUM.

Mona El Isa

Simon Baksys is the VP of Business Development at LayerZero Labs leading a team focusing on emerging technologies, enterprise, and financial services. Previously, he spent nearly 7 years at Google, leading a variety of efforts, most notably co-founding the Web3 Business Division. Prior to Google, Simon worked in Enterprise Sales at Stack Overflow. Simon holds a Bachelor's degree in Marketing &amp; Professional Sales, as well as a minor in Computer Science from the University of Central Florida.

Simon Baksys

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