DECENTRALIZED 2019 SPEAKERS
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If you are interested in sharing your vision with like-minded top decision makers from across the world, contact decentralized@unic.ac.cy to schedule a call and explore how you can be part of DECENTRALIZED 2019.
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Dr. Adam Back
CEO
Blockstream
Dr. Adam Back
Dr. Adam Back
Blockstream
Dr. Adam Back is the inventor of hashcash (used in Bitcoin mining) and co-founder and CEO of Blockstream. Adam has worked on e-cash protocols since 1995. He was an architect and cryptographer at Zero-Knowledge Systems, and a consultant to companies such as Nokia and VMware. Adam holds a Ph.D. in computer science from the University of Exeter.
Bill Barhydt
Founder & CEO
Abra
Bill Barhydt
Bill Barhydt – Founder and CEO, Abra
William (Bill) Barhydt (born in NYC) is a serial entrepreneur and the Founder and CEO of Abra, provider of the world’s first global investment app. Abra empowers consumers to invest in 30 crypto assets, 50 fiat currencies and soon, 50 traditional equities all within a single, easy-to-use app. Abra’s vision is an open, global financial system that is easily accessible to everyone.
Bill started his career working for the U.S. Government, first at the CIA in the Office of Scientific and Weapons Research and later at NASA. He spent several years bringing next-generation computer graphics and visualization techniques into use at NASA and the CIA. Bill was CEO of KnowNow, VP Market Development for Plaxo and has been a Director or adviser to numerous start-ups. After working for the CIA, NASA and Goldman Sachs, Barhydt decided to join Netscape working on telecom and Internet banking deals. After the AOL acquisition of Netscape Barhydt founded WebSentric. He was a BD Executive at Netscape Communications Corporation. He served as a VP of Sales & Marketing at Navio Systems, Inc.
As a recognized expert in Internet and Mobile technologies Barhydt has presented at The World Economic Forum, The US State Department, The Mobile World Congress, TED, and many Internet and mobile technology conferences. Bill has been a pioneer in Internet and media technologies for over 15 years.
Perianne Boring
Founder and President
Chamber of Digital Commerce
Perianne Boring
Perianne Boring
Founder and President
Chamber of Digital Commerce
Perianne Boring founded the Chamber of Digital Commerce building it into the world’s largest trade association representing the blockchain industry. Perianne was named among CoinDesk’s “10 Most Influential People in Blockchain 2016” and “Top Woman in Bitcoin 2015” for her public policy accomplishments. An avid public speaker, she has presented at leading industry events including the Consumer Electronic Show (CES), Money 20/20, South by Southwest (SXSW) and many others. She also contributes to Forbes through her column, “The Beauty of the Blockchain.” Prior to forming the Chamber, Perianne was a television anchor of an international finance program that aired in more than 100 countries to over 650 million viewers.
Perianne began her career as a legislative analyst in the U.S. House of Representatives, advising on finance, economics, tax and healthcare policy. She holds her bachelor’s degree in business administration and economics from the University of Florida.
Tim Draper
Founder
Draper Associates, DFJ, Draper Venture Network
Tim Draper
Tim Draper is a top global venture capitalist, having founded Draper Associates, DFJ and the Draper Venture Network, a global network of venture capital funds. The firms’ investments include Coinbase, Robinhood, TwitchTV, Skype, Tesla, Baidu, Focus Media, YeePay, Hotmail, SolarCity, Athenahealth, Box, SpaceX, Cruise Automation, Carta, Planet, PTC, Ledger and many others.
He is a leading spokesperson for Bitcoin, Blockchain, ICOs and cryptocurrencies, having won the Bitcoin US Marshall’s auction in 2014, and led investments in the companies that would issue two of the largest ICO’s: Tezos and Bancor.
He created viral marketing, a marketing method for exponentially spreading an electronic service from customer to customer, instrumental to the successes of Hotmail and Skype and other applications, particularly effective for mail and communications applications. Arguably, social media, crowdsourcing and growth hacking are all outgrowths of Tim’s invention of viral marketing.
He is regularly featured on all major networks as a proponent for entrepreneurship, innovative governance, free markets and Bitcoin, and has received various awards and honors including the World Entrepreneurship Forum’s “Entrepreneur of the World,” and is listed as one of the top 100 most powerful people in finance by Worth Magazine, the top 20 most influential people in Crypto by CryptoWeekly, #1 most networked VC by AlwaysOn, #7 on the Forbes Midas List, and #48 most influential Harvard Alum.
In promoting entrepreneurship, he created Draper University of Heroes, a residential and online school based in San Mateo, Ca to help extraordinary people accomplish their life missions. The school launched entrepreneurs from 76 countries who built 350 companies including NVision (sold for $275 million) and crypto leaders QTUM, Spacecash, DataWallet and Credo. He authored a popular entrepreneur’s text book called, “How to be The Startup Hero” and created a crowdsourced TV series with Sony Network called “Meet The Drapers,” where viewers can invest in participants. ABC Family created another show, “StartupU,” around the activity and students of Draper University. He has more than 100,000 Twitter followers.
He started Innovate Your State, a non-profit dedicated to crowdsource innovation in government, and BizWorld, a non-profit that teaches young children how business and entrepreneurship work.
He served on the California State Board of Education, and led a movement for Local Choice in schools culminating in becoming proponent for a statewide initiative for School Vouchers. He also led an initiative to create competitive governance with Six Californias, followed by Three Californias, which was approved for the ballot, but was rejected by the California Supreme Court before the vote. He received the “Toqueville” Award for freedom from the Independent Institute.
Tim Draper received a Bachelor of Science from Stanford University with a major in electrical engineering and a Master of Business Administration from the Harvard Business School. He has two honorary doctorates from The International University and Trinity College of Dublin. He gave the commencement speech at USC’s Marshall School of Business in 2017.
George Giaglis
Director
Institute for the Future,
University of Nicosia
George Giaglis
Professor George M. Giaglis is Director of the Institute for the Future at the University of Nicosia, as well as a leading expert on blockchain technology and applications and advisor to many blockchain projects and technology start-ups.
George has been working on digital currencies and blockchain since 2012, with his main focus being on new forms of industrial organization (programmable smart contracts, decentralized applications and distributed autonomous organizations) and new forms of corporate financing (token economy, crypto-economics and ICOs).
He has been one of the first academics to research and teach on blockchain, having: designed the curriculum of the world’s first full academic degree on blockchain (MSc in Digital Currency at the University of Nicosia); led the development of blockchain credentialing technology that has resulted in the first ever publishing of academic certificates on the blockchain; taught on the disruptive innovation potential of blockchain, both at academic programs and in executive seminars worldwide; organized a number of prominent blockchain conferences and events, including Decentralized.
Throughout his career, he has published more than 10 books and 150 articles in leading scientific journals and conferences, while he is frequently interviewed by media and invited as keynote speaker or trainer in events across the globe.
Daniel Hulme
CEO
Satalia
Daniel Hulme
Daniel is the CEO of Satalia, a UK-based company that provides Artificial Intelligence (AI) inspired solutions to solve industries hardest problems. He is also the Director of UCL’s Business Analytics MSc, applying AI to solve business and social problems.
Daniel is a popular public speaker specialising in the topics of Artificial Intelligence, Philosophy, Technology, Innovation, Decentralization and Organisational Design. He is a serial speaker for Google and TEDx, and is a faculty member of Singularity University.
Daniel has a Masters and Doctorate in AI from UCL, lectures on topics in Computer Science and Business, and is passionate about how technology can be used to govern organisations and bring positive social impact.
Daniel has Advisory and Executive positions across many companies. He holds an international Kauffman Global Entrepreneur Scholarship and actively promotes positive entrepreneurship and technology innovation across the globe.
Eva Kaili
MEP Chair of STOA
European Parliament
Eva Kaili
Eva Kaili
MEP Chair of STOA
Eva Kaili is a Member of the European Parliament, elected in 2014. In her capacity as the Chair of the European Parliament’s Science and Technology Options Assessment body (STOA) she has, been working intensively on promoting innovation as a driving force of the establishment of the European Digital Single Market. She has been particularly active in the fields of blockchain technology, m/eHealth, big data, fintech and cybersecurity. Since her election she has also been very active in the field of taxation, where she has been the Rapporteur of the ECON committee’s annual tax report. As a member of the ECON committee she has been focusing on EU’s financial integration and the management of the financial crisis in the Eurozone. Prior to her position in the European Parliament, she has been elected two times in the Greek Parliament (serving between 2007-2012), with the PanHellenic Socialist Movement (PASOK). She holds a Bachelor degree in Architecture and Civil Engineering, and Postgraduate degree in European Politics. Currently, she is conducting her PhD in International Political Economy.
Toni Lane Casserly
Founder
Cultu.re
Toni Lane
Toni Lane is an artrepreneur in Emerging Technologies | Digital Currency, and well-respected leader in the movement for global sovereign unity. She works closely with Indigenous Nations, is an early pioneer in blockchain, and collaborative founder of several impactful ventures, including media network CoinTelegraph (no present association).
Miss Lane is currently creating Cultu.re, a company evolving “government” into networks of communities beyond borders; a stateless global society. She is an empath, investor, artist, advisory board member, transformational evangelist and founder who has been affectionately entitled “The Joan of Arc of Blockchain” by her peers and various publications.
Miss Lane has been a figurehead for the use of technology to enable peaceful evolution into new forms of societal structures. Her speaking has reached over 1mm people through: BigThink, Cisco, Fidelity, P&G, Dell, Sitel Group, Deloitte, HSBC, TEDx, DraperU, the Prime Minister of St. Lucia, Indian Institute of Management (IIM) Exponential Finance, Blockchain Economic Forum and many others.
Antony Lewis
Director of Digital Assets
R3
Antony Lewis
Antony Lewis
Director, Digital Assets, R3
Antony is Director of Digital Assets at R3 in Singapore.
In this role, he works with partners and clients of R3 to understand the transformative nature and implications of digital assets recorded as tokens on Corda, R3’s blockchain platform.
He has been working professionally in the blockchain industry since joining itBit (now Paxos) in 2013.
Antony sits on the FinTech advisory committee for the Hong Kong Securities and Futures Commission (HK SFC).
Antony is the author of “The Basics of Bitcoins and Blockchains”, an essential guide for anyone who needs to learn about cryptocurrencies, ICOs, tokens, and business blockchains. It provides a balanced and hype-free grounding in the essential concepts behind the revolutionary technology. https://amzn.to/2CJLhV5
He also writes a personal blog explaining this technology at www.bitsonblocks.net.
Prior to bitcoins and blockchains, Antony was a technology manager at Credit Suisse in London and Singapore having started his banking career as an FX trader at Barclays Capital.
Alexis Nicolaou
Director
block.co
Alexis Nicolaou
Alexis is the Director responsible for Grant Thornton Cyprus’ Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT) services. He is a member of the ICAEW, with a BA (Hons) from the University of Nottingham in Industrial Economics and Accountancy and currently completing his MSc in Blockchain and Digital Currencies at the University of Nicosia.
Alexis has been for over 25 years in C-Suite positions in the accounting, finance, media, content production and electronic banking sectors of the economy, involved with the launch of a number of new technology projects.
Marta Piekarska
Director of Ecosystem
Hyperledger
Marta Piekarska
Marta serves as the Director of Ecosystem at Hyperledger. Marta obtained her BSc in Electrical and Computer Engineering from Warsaw University of Technology and a double Master from Computer Science and Informatics at Technical University of Berlin and Warsaw University of Technology. Marta received PhD in User-Informed Design of Privacy Tools while working at one of the hottest startups in Silicon Valley – Blockstream. Marta also taught at Technical University of Berlin as a Post-doc. As part of her role in Hyperledger Marta evangelizes the technology and Open Source at conferences around the world and helps enterprises with applying permissioned Blockchains to their use-cases. Marta is passionate about how Blockchain can help in non traditional spaces, such as identity, last mile aid and education delivery and sustainability.
She leads the public speaking and outreach at Hyperledger, has given numerous interviews, both written and in visual media. Marta also formed the W3C Blockchain community Group and is a valued member of the technical advisory to ID2020, DIF and participated in Rebooting Web of Trust on regular basis.
Antonis Polemitis
CEO
University of Nicosia
Antonis Polemitis
Mr. Polemitis currently serves as the Chief Executive Officer of the University of Nicosia (UNIC) and EDEX, as a Board member of EDEX and UNICAF, and as a member of the Council of the University of Nicosia. UNIC serves nearly 12,000 students, along with 6,000 additional students in its affiliated academic institutions. It is the largest university in Cyprus and is the largest English language university in southern Europe.
Mr. Polemitis has two decades of experience in private equity, higher education and software development in New York, as a principal or partner at Ledra Capital, ACG Capital and Oliver Wyman (formerly Mercer Management Consulting). He has been a principal or advisor for a broad range of corporate financings in the United States, Europe, Latin America and India, ranging from multi-billion dollar industrial buyouts to early stage venture capital
Mr. Polemitis helped found the world-leading Digital Currency / Blockchain Initiative at the University of Nicosia, co-taught the first university cryptocurrency course in the world, and is regularly quoted in the Wall Street Journal, USA Today, Wired and other publications as an expert on cryptocurrency issues.
His research at Mercer on optimal financing strategy in private equity has been published in Buyouts and cited in the Financial Times Mr. Polemitis holds an MBA from Harvard Business School, where he graduated with highest distinction as a Baker Scholar, and a B.S. in International Studies, Accounting and Computer Information Systems from Indiana University, where he graduated with highest distinction as a Wells and Chancellor’s Scholar.
Ramesh Ramadoss
Co-Chair
IEEE Blockchain Initiative
Ramesh Ramadoss
Ramesh Ramadoss is an entrepreneur, researcher, author, and international speaker based in Silicon Valley. He is a co-chair of the IEEE Blockchain Initiative. He is also the chair of the IEEE P2418.1 Blockchain Standards Working Group. Currently, he is the President of BitCasas Inc., a blockchain startup focusing on legally compliant security tokens for real estate mortgage loans. He received his Bachelor of Engineering degree from Thiagarajar College of Engineering, Madurai Kamaraj University, India in May 1998 and PhD degree in Electrical Engineering from the University of Colorado at Boulder in May 2003. From Jun. 2003 to Dec. 2007, he was employed as an Assistant Professor in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at Auburn University, Auburn, AL. He has 10 years of industrial experience as a Manager/Director in technology companies in Silicon Valley. He is the author or coauthor of 1 book, 4 book chapters and 55 papers. He has conducted R&D projects for DARPA, NASA, US Army, US Air Force, Sandia National Labs, and Motorola Labs.
Silvio Schembri
Jr Minister for Financial Services, Digital Economy and Innovation
Malta
Silvio Schembri
Silvio Schembri is a Maltese politician, academic and economist by profession currently serving as the Minister for Financial Services, Digital Economy and Innovation within the Office of the Prime Minister of Malta. Minister Schembri was first elected in Parliament back in 2013 and was then re-elected in 2017 after re-contesting the general election under the Malta Labour Party ticket, the party currently in government. Hon.
Silvio Schembri attained a Master’s degree in Economics right after graduating with a Bachelors of Honours in Economics from the University of Malta. Hon. Schembri is the architect of the Blockchain Island concept and Malta’s Blockchain’s strategy. Hon Schembri is also responsible for Financial Services, Telecommunications, Digital Economy, Research and Innovation.
Dr. W. Scott Stornetta
Chief Scientist
Yugen Partners
Dr. W. Scott Stornetta
Dr. W. Scott Stornetta is considered by many to be the co-inventor of blockchain technology. Dating back to 1991, his pioneering series of papers, written with co-author Stuart Haber at Bellcore, received the 1992 Discover Award for Computer Software, were featured in the New York Times in 1992, and were referenced three times by Satoshi Nakamoto in his famous Bitcoin white paper. In 1995 he and Dr. Haber co-founded Surety, a Bellcore spinoff. Surety’s offering constituted the first commercial deployment of a blockchain.
Dr. Stornetta finished his tenure at Bellcore as Assistant General Manager of the 125-person Mathematical and Computer Sciences Laboratory. He then consulted for many years, evaluating the commercial potential of emerging technologies on behalf of universities, commercial research labs, and venture capital interests.
Dr. Stornetta currently serves as the chief scientist of Yugen Partners, an enterprise blockchain-focused private equity firm. Along with Dr. Haber, he also serves on the board of the not-for-profit Blockchain Corporate Governance Foundation.
Dr. Stornetta received his Ph.D. in physics from Stanford University, after attending MIT, Harvard, and Brigham Young University.
Tone Vays
Content Creator
ToneVays.com
Tone Vays
Tone Vays – Content Creator, Derivatives Trader & Consultant
Tone has worked on Wall Street for almost 10 years starting as a Risk Analyst at Bear Stearns and later becoming a VP at JP Morgan Chase in the aftermath of the 2008 financial crisis.
His expertise is in Economic Trends, Trading and Risk Analysis. Ever since getting involved in the Crypto Currency ecosystem in early 2013, he has been very active in spreading the relevance and importance of this technology as it helps promote economic freedom.
Tone has been featured in several Documentaries like Magic Money & Bitcoin – Beyond the Bubble. Tone is now an independent content creator at ToneVays.com and on his YouTube Channel focused on sound economics & finance.
Tone holds a Masters Degree in Financial Engineering from Florida State University along with Bachelor Degrees in Mathematics and Geology.
George Agathangelou
Marketing & Community Manager
Block.co
George Agathangelou
George has 10+ years of experience in regulated financial services and has served most his career as an executive for Cyprus Investment Firms. He is a certified portfolio manager, fintech advisor and Bitcoin technology enthusiast. He is one of the founding member of the Cyprus Blockchain Association and President of the Decentralized Chapter Nicosia. A regular public speaker and community manager for local meetups.
Helen Astaniou
CMO
TIOmarkets
Helen Astaniou
CMO specialising in integrated marketing with a demonstrated history of working in the financial services and Blockchain industries. Strong PR and communications background with applied experience in data-led marketing online and offline. In ten years, Helen has taken three financial start-ups to market, and has helped each one grow – through integrated marketing practices – into industry-leading, best practice firms. She believes that a skilled, happy team is the key to creativity and organisational growth.
Dr. Leemon Baird
Co-Founder & Chief Scientist
Hedera
Dr. Leemon Baird
Dr. Leemon Baird
HEDERA
Leemon is the inventor of the hashgraph distributed consensus algorithm, and is the Co-Founder and Chief Scientist of Hedera. With over 20 years of technology and startup experience, he has held positions as a Professor of Computer Science at the US Air Force Academy and as a senior scientist in several labs. He has been the Co-Founder of several startups, including two identity-related startups, both of which were acquired. Leemon received his PhD in Computer Science from Carnegie Mellon University and has multiple patents and publications in peer-reviewed journals and conferences in computer security, machine learning, and mathematics.
Jeffrey Bandman
Principal
Bandman Advisors
Jeffrey Bandman
Jeffrey Bandman
Principal
Jeff Bandman is Founder and Principal of Bandman Advisors, an advisory practice helping clients ranging from start-ups to global firms meet strategic innovation and regulatory challenges. Bandman Advisors bridges the gap between business and regulation.
Jeff serves on the Board of Advisors of Templum Inc. and iComply Investor Services. He is a co-founder of the Global Digital Finance Initiative (GDF.io) to establish an industry-driven global code of conduct and taxonomy for cryptoassets. He acts as FinTech regulation mentor for the Techstars Barclays FinTech Accelerator program. Jeff is a research fellow of the Blockchain for Algorithmic Regulation and Compliance (BARAC) initiative at University College London’s Centre for Blockchain Technologies,
Previously, Jeff was a senior official at the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission from 2014-2017. As FinTech Advisor to Chairman J. Christopher Giancarlo, he was Founding Director and architect of LabCFTC, the CFTC’s hub for engagement with FinTech innovation (the first launched by a U.S. market regulator). He established and chaired the CFTC blockchain, virtual currencies and FinTech working group from inception in 2015. Jeff led FinTech and RegTech coordination with domestic and international regulators, and led an international regulator workstream on post-trade digital innovation. Jeff previously led the CFTC’s Division of Clearing and Risk, which oversees many of the world’s largest clearinghouses. He led the negotiations resulting in “Clearinghouse Equivalence” with the European Commission. He joined the CFTC as Special Counsel to Chairman Timothy Massad, and also led the CFTC’s Office of International Affairs.
Jeff worked for many years in the financial industry in New York and London. As Head of Partnerships & Alliances of LCH’s SwapClear, he helped design and launch the SwapClear “FCM service” for clearing interest rate swaps through US intermediaries. He also devised the innovative CCP Squared partnership program and led the award-winning SMART margin simulator. Jeff earlier worked on a variety of new market structure and FinTech initiatives, including LiquidityHub and the Project Rainbow consortium. Before that he rebuilt Cantor Fitzgerald’s market data business after the events of September 11. Mr. Bandman started his career as an associate at Cravath, Swaine & Moore in New York, and was Americas General Counsel for Prebon Yamane, now part of the ICAP group.
He graduated from Yale magna cum laude, with honors in History and English, and from Stanford Law School, with honors as a member of the “Order of the Coif”. He is a five-time Jeopardy! Champion and spent his winnings backpacking around Africa, Asia and Europe.
Leah Callon-Butler
Principal Consultant
V20
Leah Callon-Butler
Leah has spent her entire career taking early-stage startups from ideation to monetisation. ‘Profit for Purpose’ is a major theme throughout Leah’s work; she devoted a large part of her MBA to the topic of social entrepreneurship and consulted to the United Nations on Sustainable Development Goal 5: Achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls by 2030.
Angeliki Dedopoulou
EU Affairs Adviser
DG Employment, Social Affairs and Inclusion of the European Commission
Angeliki Dedopoulou
Angeliki is an EU Affairs adviser to DG Employment, Social Affairs and Inclusion of the European Commission for the European Skills, Competences, Qualifications and Occupations (ESCO) and the Digitally Signed Credentials of the new Europass. Her main focus is the ESCO project and its use in related initiatives, such as the EU Skills Profile for Third Country Nationals, EUROPASS and the Blueprint for sectoral cooperation on skills. She is also coordinating the Communication Strategy and stakeholder engagement of ESCO and the Digital labour market initiatives of Skills and Qualifications unit. She studied Political Science and History, Sociology and European governance in Greece, France and Luxembourg.
Katoshi Doljenko
CMO
CODEX Exchange
Katoshi Doljenko
Katoshi Doljenko
CMO
Katoshi is a marketing specialist with 8 years of experience focus on digital, brand management, product development and growth hacking with core professional interests such as insights hunting, problem solving, performance and behavior design. Crypto-enthusiast, anarchist by views and economist by education Katoshi stands for mass adoption and decentralization as a key step for the future of societal development.
Jeremy Epstein
CEO
Never Stop Marketing
Jeremy Epstein
Jeremy Epstein, CEO of Never Stop Marketing, has 20+ years of experience working at the intersection of disruptive technologies and the marketing function.
Most recently, Jeremy was VP Marketing at Sprinklr as it grew from a $20 million valuation and 30 people to $1.8 billion valuation and 1400 people over 4 years.
Today, Jeremy is a highly sought-after marketing advisor working with some of the most innovative companies in the blockchain space, including Zcash, Dapper Labs, OpenBazaar, ARK, and DAOstack.
In addition to serving as the marketing faculty member for the prestigious Blockchain Research Institute, Jeremy has written 5, published over 70 articles, and conducted high-level briefings for senior DoD officials at the Pentagon.
With strength in combining strategic insights with practical advice, Jeremy is a frequent speaker to C-level audiences and has been described as a “shot of marketing espresso” and a “marketing whisperer.”
Jeremy is a graduate of Johns Hopkins, lives in the Washington, DC area, and is married with three children on the precipice of being teenagers.
You can connect with Jeremy directly on LinkedIn or Twitter.
Anna Frankowska
Head of Growth and Business Development
Pigzbe
Anna Frankowska
Anna Frankowska
Head of Growth and Business Development
Anna Frankowska is a Forbes 30 Under 30 Europe Technology, Top 100 Rising Stars by WeAreTheCity & The Sunday Times as well as BMW i UK Tech Blockchain founder of the year awards-winning entrepreneur, Economist by education and Investment Banker by training.
She is the Head of Growth and Business Development at Pigzbe. Pigzbe is a London-based fintech company that enables micro-financing for families worldwide by giving parents and children access to products and services that accelerate financial literacy.
Pigzbe reinvents pocket money for children age 6+, helping them learn how to save, spend and earn in an increasingly cashless society. It also enables parents to reward children for good behaviours like cleaning your bedroom.
Anna founded and is MD of Distributed.Academy: an education provider that is driving blockchain literacy and innovation.
Ian Gauci
Partner
GTG Advocates
Ian Gauci
Dr. Ian Gauci
Dr. Ian Gauci is a partner at GTG Advocates, Afilexion Alliance and Caledo Group. He is engaged primarily in technology law, fintech, regtech, electronic communications, information society, data protection and gaming/gambling, while also focusing on consumer law, competition law, broadcasting law, cyber law, e-commerce, m-commerce, e-health, e-payment, information technology, unfair commercial practices and misleading advertising. Dr. Gauci also provides consultancy on legal matters related to blockchain technology, smart contracts, crypto-currencies and ICO/ITO. He has assisted the Maltese Government amongst others on issues dealing with E-Trust certification, the Malta Communications Authority (MCA) on its E-commerce strategy as well as the Malta Gaming Authority (MGA). He was one of the strategic advisors appointed by Government on the National Blockchain Strategy Taskforce. Dr. Gauci is an advisor to the Malta Digital Innovation Authority as well as the Malta Financial Services Authority. He has co-authored the Maltese Electronic Communications Framework and lectures Legal Futures and Technology at the University of Malta. He is also a co-founder and Secretary of the Malta Blockchain Association.
Jovan Gavrilovic
General Manager, Europe
OKCoin
Jovan Gavrilovic
Jovan Gavrilovic
General Manager, Europe
Juergen Hoebarth
Managing Director
Tokenization Limited
Juergen Hoebarth
Juergen Hoebarth
Managing Director
(BA in Multimedia and Design, MVA in Art Administration and Master of Philosophy)
Juergen started to get involved early with cryptocurrencies back in 2014. Today, he is a speaker and strategist who thinks ahead in terms of what will come next and how it affects our society and businesses.
Juergen laid the foundation for Austrianstartups.com, which has evolved into a proper foundation fostering the Austrian Startup ecosystem, and founded a number of companies throughout the last 10 years, such as RealLifeConnect (NFC event tech solutions) and Haexagon Concepts (transmedia storytelling strategies).
Today, he is managing director of Tokenization Limited – the world’s premier business development and strategy consultancy for tokenization. We are a global decentralized technology, blockchain and tokenization advisory, marketing and consulting syndicate.
Throughout recent years, he invested substantial time into trading cryptocurrencies and invested in a number of early blockchain companies through ICOs.
This experience and know-how have led to speaking engagements for corporations and nongovernmental organisations around the world, as well as public speaking appearances at the Rise of ICO Summit, Future and Reality of Gaming, ICO Event Amsterdam, WeAreDevelopers, Asia Blockchain Expo, Blockchain International Show London and more.
Stefan Loesch
Co-Founder
CryptoCustodian
Stefan Loesch
Stefan Loesch
Co-Founder
CryptoCustodian
Stefan Loesch is an expert advisor on Fintech startup strategy, with a focus on blockchain and crypto currencies. The combination of a deep knowledge of key technologies with up-to-date insights into start-ups’ optimal regulatory and compliance strategies, and a thorough understanding of the best practices for finance, risk and performance management allows him to understand the necessary choices and trade-offs when designing a start-up strategy.
His latest book, “A Guide to Financial Regulation for Fintech Entrepreneurs”, has just been published by Wiley. He also served as an editor and author of the “PRMIA Handbook” which is the basis for PRMIA’s highly regarded “Professional Risk Manager” certification programme. Currently he serves on PRMIA’s Education Committee which is guiding PRMIA’s offering in the risk education space.
Stefan is a serial tech entrepreneur. He is currently involved in a number of projects in the crypto space. Before that, he has developed a platform based on modern web technologies used to enhance teaching in executive education. This builds on his experience being part of McKinsey’s Corporate Finance Practice and J.P. Morgan’s bank advisory team. In these roles, he was advising banks and other financial services companies on strategic and finance related topics, for example on optimal Basel rollout, capital raising, and risk/reward measurement and optimisation.
Prior to his MBA at INSEAD he was heading Paribas’ FX and Equity quantitative derivatives research teams, developing and implementing pricing and risk management models for Paribas’ exotic derivatives desks worldwide.
Irene Lopez de Vallejo
Director of Partnerships & Business Development
Ocean Protocol
Irene Lopez de Vallejo
Irene Lopez de Vallejo
Director of Partnerships and Business Development
Ocean Protocol
Dr. Irene Lopez de Vallejo is a Founding Team Member of Ocean Protocol, and Director of Partnerships and Business Development. Ocean Protocol aims to unlock data for more equitable outcomes for users of data, using thoughtful application of both technology and governance. Or as they say: ‘’ Ocean Protocol is kickstarting a new Data Economy by breaking down data silos and equalizing access to data’’. Previously she help launch the Digital Catapult, the UK’s leading agency for the early adoption of advanced digital technologies.
Raphael Markellos
Finance Professor & Research Director
Norwich Business School
Raphael Markellos
Raphael Markellos is an expert on modelling, analytics and fintech. He has taught, researched and consulted for over 20 years in areas related to financial risk, information and the environment. He is Professor of Finance and Director of Research at Norwich Business School, University of East Anglia (UEA), UK and holds a Distinguished Professorship in the Lee Shau Kee School of Business and Administration, OUHK, Hong Kong.
He works closely with the Norwich cluster of financial services firms as a board member of the Financial Industry Group (FIG).
Nelly Moffett
President
TAAL Project
Nelly Moffett
Nelly Moffett grew up in Mexico where she saw firsthand how not having access to education affects every aspect of your life. This had a profound impact on her and is a big reason why she have worked so hard to educate herself and why she strives to help others do the same. Since moving to France, Nelly has been heavily involved in creating and supporting initiatives to promote gender equity and inclusion in general. After discovering Blockchain technology, she knew that blockchain was special and that it could truly help people. So she decided to completely change her career path and start the French non-profit organization TAAL Project in order to help the general public understand this technology. She has a particular interest in Blockchain initiatives with social impact.
Alexandra Moxin
CEO/Founder
Advance Tech Media
Decentralized Vancouver Chapter
Alexandra Moxin
Alexandra Moxin
CEO/Founder
CEO and Founder of Advance Tech Media and Host of the Advance Tech Podcast Alexandra interviews founders, developers and tech leaders from around the globe shining a light on what it takes to massively scale from great idea to leading industry maker. She speaks at conferences and for private groups nationally and internationally on Artificial Intelligence/Machine Learning, Bitcoin and Distributed Systems.
Ingo Rübe
CEO
BOTLabs
Ingo Rübe
Ingo Rübe is the founder and CEO of BOTLabs, a Berlin-based company providing Blockchain-powered solutions for Self-Sovereign Data. Its product KILT, a Blockchain protocol, enables the user to describe and attest any kind of characteristics of persons, organisations and even things in a standardised way.
Ingo founded BOTLabs in January 2018 together with the minority shareholder and publishing house Hubert Burda Media, whom he served as CTO from 2012 to 2017. In that role he had initiated and headed the Drupal-based Burda Open Source CMS Thunder (www.thunder.org).
Until 2012 Ingo worked as the Project Director for the German publisher Axel Springer SE. He was responsible for the IT and Consulting Projects and set up the internal consultancy.
In 1995 Ingo founded his very first Startup Network Department, which in 2000 was merged with the IT Department of the Fresenius AG to form today’s Fresenius Netcare GmbH.
Ingo holds a degree in Computer Science with the Technical University of Berlin.
He is a founding member of the International Association for Trusted Blockchain Applications (INATBA), Board of Directors member of the Drupal Association, and a non-executive Director of Greek Energy Funds, a company producing solar power.
Fabian Schulz
Business Development & Partnerships
Parity
Fabian Shulz
Fabian Schulz is responsible for Business Development & Partnerships at Parity, one of the world’s leading providers of core blockchain technology.
He holds a Master’s degree in Industrial Engineering and Management from TU Berlin. After co-founding and serving as CEO of a 3D graphics middleware company, Fabian became captivated by the potentials of blockchain technology, authoring original research on multichain architecture for distributed supply chain design.
Yeal Tamar
CMO and Partner
Solidblock
Yael Tamar
Yael Tamar is the CMO and Partner at Solidblock, which provides a new fundraising vehicle, offering a compliant global platform for the issuance and trade of digital securities backed by real estate & other assets. Yael is a blockchain strategist, speaker, advisor, and mentor. Prior to Solidblock, Yael founded and led a blockchain advisory firm TopOfBlockchain, where she focused on marketing strategy, market education, and building new business and token models within regulatory and market constraints. Yael has over a decade of experience as a marketing executive within the fintech, finance, telecom and energy industries, as well as a long track record as an entrepreneur. She has founded the Women in Block global network, advancing women influencers in the blockchain industry. Yael is also a regional co-chair at FIBREE, the Foundation for International Blockchain and Real Estate Expertise, the leading international network for exchanging knowledge between the real estate industry.
Steven Tendon
Director
Chain Strategies
Steven Tendon
Steve Tendon is a senior executive management consultant, adviser, speaker and author. Steve’s research and consulting focuses on the use of emerging technologies — in particular, Blockchain technologies — to improve business performance. In 2016 Steve acted as a Strategic Adviser for the Ministry of Economy, Investment and Small Business (MEIB) of the Maltese Government to increase the country’s global competitiveness. He developed the vision of “Malta, the Blockchain Island” and designed Malta’s National Blockchain Strategy which was approved by Malta’s Cabinet of Ministers. In 2017 he was appointed as the Strategic Lead of Malta’s National Blockchain Task Force advising the Ministry for Financial Services, Digital Economy and Innovation within the Office of the Prime Minister, on executing the country’s Blockchain Strategy; he founded and was the first President of the Blockchain Malta Association. In 2018 he was acclaimed in the “Lattice80 Blockchain 100” list of global Blockchain influencers; he founded the “My Blockchain Island Club” (https://my.blockchainisland.club), an online community dedicated to Blockchain business; he received the Malta Blockchain Award for “Outstanding Contribution to the Blockchain Island 2018;” and the “ANGI Malta Business Award 2018” at the House of Representatives of the Italian Government in Rome. In 2019 he was appointed as an Adviser to the Republic of the Marshall Islands to assist the country with the drafting, design, and issuance of the SOV, the digital legal tender of the Marshall Islands, and the strategic development of economy spawning around it. Steve holds MSc in “Software Project Management” with the University of Aberdeen, a “MIT Fintech Innovation: Future Commerce” certificate with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and an “Oxford Blockchain Strategy Programme” certificate with the Oxford Saïd Business School.
Jérôme de Tychey
Director
ConsenSys Solution
Jérôme de Tychey
Jérôme de Tychey
Director
Jerome is the director of ConsenSys Solutions in France which helps organizations across the globe build, test, and deploy public and private blockchain applications. He has a background in economics and was an assistant professor at La Sorbonne and Paris Dauphine. He jumped into the blockchain space in 2013 and has a particular interest in cryptoeconomics and mining. He founded and is the current president of Asseth which is the largest blockchain oriented non-profit in France. Before joining ConsenSys, Jerome opened the Blockchain practice of Ernst & Young France.
Stratos Tzoannos
Chief Engineer
Athens Technology Center
Stratos Tzoannos
Stratos Tzoannos is a Senior Software Engineer with 15 years of experience in a wide range of contexts and technologies. He has successfully designed, led and developed large scale enterprise projects. He holds a Degree in Electrical and Computer Engineering from NTUA and an MBA Degree from AUEB. He currently works as chief engineer and product manager for ATC. His focus is to stay close to the cutting-edge technologies and to integrate them into real-world use cases, delivering the best user experience.
Ada Vaughan
Executive Director, Global Partnerships
BRD
Ada Vaughan
As the Executive Director for BRD, Ada leads partnerships and business development globally. BRD is a crypto asset management tool that has been downloaded over 2.5 million times in 170+ countries. Ada’s role focuses on outreach and financial services expansion for enterprise blockchain and cryptocurrency initiatives. She has been an innovator in FinTech marketing and operations throughout her career with clients such as Discover, Genworth Financial, MetLife, John Hancock, and MassMutual. Ada earned her MBA in International Business and Marketing from Georgetown University McDonough School of Business and sits on an advisory board at Northwestern University Farley Center for Entrepreneurship.
John Velissarios
Global Managing Director, Blockchain Technology & Security Lead
Accenture
John Velissarios
John Velissarios – Global Managing Director – Blockchain Technology & Security Lead
John is a Global Managing Director in Accenture’s Technology Consulting workforce, based in London. He is part of Accenture’s specialist security capability with over 22 years of consulting experience across multiple business and industry sectors. John has worked in many geographies around the world bringing an international perspective to his delivery teams and clients. John is currently leading several Blockchain engagements with top tier global organisations.
John is Accenture’s Blockchain Technology & Security Lead working with industry teams to develop the firm’s global Blockchain delivery capability. John specialises in capital markets, payments and financial services but also has many years of experience in other industries. John returned from a long term leave of absence where he was the CEO of a Blockchain start-up developing leading-edge enterprise-grade crypto-currency wallet solutions for exchanges, hedge funds, banks and HNW individuals.
Prior to his leave, John was also the Europe Africa and Latin America lead for Accenture’s security strategy and risk services practice. The practice provides services in: payments security, fraud management, business continuity, data loss prevention and privacy, risk management, security strategy, and threat and vulnerability management.
John holds a B.Comp.Sci. and M.Comp.Sci. degree specialising in cryptography and information security. John is a full (founding) member of the Institute of Information Security Professionals, IISP – M.Inst.ISP.
Andreas Vlachos
Partnerships Manager
Institute for the Future,
University of Nicosia
Andreas Vlachos
Andreas Vlachos is a Blockchain Academic professional with more than 4 years of experience on this field. He has been working at the University of Nicosia focusing on the Blockchain Initiative and specifically the construction of academic material and coordination of the MSc in Digital Currency Degree.
He is currently the Partnerships Manager at the Institute For the Future, managing the cooperation with external stakeholders and various blockchain associations and organisations. Andreas is one of the founding members of the Cyprus Blockchain Association and the administrator and content creator of the course “Introduction to Digital Currencies” which has been offered to more than 30,000 students all over the world along with world Bitcoin expert Andreas Antonopoulos.
Apart from his professional work with the University of Nicosia, Andreas also gives educational speeches on cryptocurrency and blockchain technology and is currently implementing a research with the aim to identify blockchain technology engagement per nation.
Ioannis Vlachos
Blockchains and Energy Expert
Ioannis Vlachos
Ioannis Vlachos
Blockchains and Energy Expert
Dr Vlachos is a seasoned professional with more than 15 years of experience working with some of the biggest energy companies, consultancy firms, and system integrators worldwide. He is also actively working closely with both academia and industry in well-known projects in Europe, South America, and MENA region that merge the worlds of energy and ICT. Dr Vlachos has been awarded with the “Ericsson Award of Excellence in Telecommunications” and has authored more that 40 scientific publications in international journals and conferences. His current interests are focused at the crossroads of Internet of Things, blockchains, distributed ledger technologies, and cybersecurity with the energy sector. Dr Vlachos holds an MSc and PhD from the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, School of Engineering of the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Greece.
Samantha Yap
Founder & Director
YAP Global
Samantha Yap
Samantha Yap is the Founder & Director of YAP Global. She’s a fintech, blockchain and cryptocurrency media specialist with past experience working as an international freelance journalist in Jakarta, Melbourne, Kuala Lumpur, and Hong Kong. Prior to delving into fintech PR at the beginning of 2017, she worked at Channel NewsAsia in Singapore as a broadcast journalist and current affairs producer.
Samantha Yap
Founder & Director
YAP Global
Samantha Yap
Samantha Yap is the Founder & Director of YAP Global. She’s a fintech, blockchain and cryptocurrency media specialist with past experience working as an international freelance journalist in Jakarta, Melbourne, Kuala Lumpur, and Hong Kong. Prior to delving into fintech PR at the beginning of 2017, she worked at Channel NewsAsia in Singapore as a broadcast journalist and current affairs producer.
Please be advised that Decentralized might not be able to accommodate all speaking requests. Also, please note that sessions may be presented in a panel format and/or may feature multiple speakers. The decision to feature multiple speakers in any session is at the sole discretion of the conference organizer.