Name: Digital Asset Summit 2026
Start: 2026-03-24T04:00:00.000Z
End: 2026-03-26T21:00:00.000Z
Location: Javits Center North | 445 11th Ave

Welcome to DAS NYC 2026

Michael Ippolito

Co-Founder

Ushering in the Golden Age of American Financial Markets

Michael S. Selig was sworn into office as the 16th Chairman of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission on December 22, 2025, after being nominated by President Donald J. Trump on October 27, 2025, and confirmed by the U.S. Senate on December 18, 2025.



Chairman Selig most recently served as chief counsel of the Securities and Exchange Commission’s Crypto Task Force and senior advisor to SEC Chairman Paul S. Atkins. In this role, Chairman Selig helped to develop a clear regulatory framework for digital asset securities markets, harmonize the SEC and CFTC regulatory regimes, modernize the agency’s rules to reflect new and emerging technologies, and put an end to regulation by enforcement. He also participated in the President’s Working Group on Digital Asset Markets and contributed to its report on “Strengthening American Leadership in Digital Financial Technology.”



Prior to government service, Chairman Selig was a partner at an international law firm, focusing on derivatives and securities regulatory matters. During his years in private practice, he represented a broad range of clients subject to regulation by the CFTC, including commercial end users, futures commission merchants, commodity trading advisors, swap dealers, designated contract markets, derivatives clearing organizations, and digital asset firms.



Chairman Selig earned his law degree from The George Washington University Law School and was articles editor of The George Washington Law Review. He received his undergraduate degree from Florida State University.

Michael S. Selig

Chairman

Kristin Smith is President of Solana Policy Institute, a non-profit organization devoted to advocating for public policies that allow networks like Solana to flourish. She serves as a liaison between policymakers and the Solana ecosystem to assist in the creation of legislation and regulation that promotes the growth of the industry in the U.S. Prior to SPI, Kristin was CEO of Blockchain Association, the Washington, D.C.-based trade association representing the crypto industry’s leading companies.



Kristin has been a renowned voice for the industry, having been featured on Fortune’s 40 under 40 list, Washingtonian’s Most Influential People and Tech Titans, CoinDesk’s 50 people who defined the year in crypto, The Hill’s Top Lobbyists, and CoinTelegraph’s top 100 Influencers in Crypto and Blockchain. Prior to leading Blockchain Association, Kristin helped blockchain and technology companies achieve their public policy objectives in Washington. She served as a Senate and congressional aide on Capitol Hill for nearly 10 years, much of which was spent focusing on technology policy.

Kristin Smith

President

Inside Western Union's Stablecoin-Fueled Future

Devin McGranahan is President, Chief Executive Officer, and Director of The Western Union Company, where he is leading the transformation of a global financial icon into a modern, digital-first platform for cross-border money movement and inclusive financial services.



Since joining in late 2021, Devin has driven Western Union’s evolution including expanding its digital capabilities, modernizing its infrastructure, and positioning the company to serve the needs of a globally connected customer base.



With more than 25 years of leadership in financial services and technology, Devin previously served as Senior Group President at Fiserv, Inc., where he launched and scaled platforms such as Carat, Clover Connect, and Clover Business Solutions. Under his leadership, the company’s omni-channel business surpassed $1 billion in revenue, and Clover became the leading cloud-based platform for SMB merchants.



Earlier, Devin spent over two decades at McKinsey &amp; Company as a Senior Partner, advising top financial institutions on growth, strategy, and transformation, and co-leading the firm’s North America Financial Services Practice.



He holds an MBA from Harvard Business School and dual bachelor’s degrees in mechanical engineering and economics from the University of Pennsylvania and the Wharton School

Devin McGranahan

President & CEO

Jason Yanowitz

Crypto & FinTech: Worlds Colliding

A.J. Warner is the Chief Strategy Officer at Offchain Labs, the team behind Arbitrum, a leading Ethereum Layer 2 scaling solution. He leads the company’s strategic initiatives, including business development and ecosystem partnerships, driving adoption and long-term growth of the platform. A.J. holds a Juris Doctor and an MBA from New York University and a bachelor’s degree in Economics from Yeshiva University. Prior to joining Offchain Labs, he worked as an associate at Paul Hastings LLP and gained experience in economics research, sales, and freelance sportswriting, bringing a diverse professional background to his role in blockchain strategy.

AJ Warner

Chief Strategy Officer

Johann Kerbrat is the Senior Vice President and General Manager of Robinhood Crypto. He oversees and leads strategy for the crypto business. Johann joined Robinhood to support the company in its mission to democratize finance for all and open up access to crypto to everyday investors. Prior to joining Robinhood, he held engineering roles at Airbnb, privacy-focused cryptocurrency startup Iron Fish, and founded an e-commerce and payments platform company. Johann grew up in Nice, France and holds an MSc in Software Engineering from Oxford Brookes University.

Johann Kerbrat

SVP & GM of Crypto

The Comptroller's Take on Crypto & Banking

Jonathan V. Gould was sworn in as the 32nd Comptroller of the Currency on July 15, 2025.



The Comptroller of the Currency is the administrator of the federal banking system and chief officer of the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC). The OCC supervises more than 1,000 national banks, federal savings associations, and federal branches and agencies of foreign banks operating in the United States. The mission of the OCC is to ensure that national banks and federal savings associations operate in a safe and sound manner, provide fair access to financial services, treat customers fairly, and comply with applicable laws and regulations.



The Comptroller also serves as a director of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation and member of the Financial Stability Oversight Council and the Federal Financial Institutions Examination Council.



Prior to becoming Comptroller of the Currency, Mr. Gould was a partner at the law firm Jones Day. He previously served as the Senior Deputy Comptroller and Chief Counsel at the OCC and twice served on the staff of the U.S. Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs, including as its chief counsel. He has spent the bulk of his career in the private sector as a consultant and lawyer, advising banks and other financial services firms on regulatory matters and risk management.



Mr. Gould holds a bachelor’s degree from Princeton University and a law degree from Washington and Lee University.

Jonathan V. Gould

Comptroller of the Currency

Building the Onchain Fixed Income Ecosystem

With 7 years of experience across investment banking, hedge funds, and private equity, Guy has built a strong foundation in the financial sector. Prior to founding Ethena, he spent 6 years at Cerberus Management, a firm with $60 billion in assets under management, where he focused on investing in financial services businesses across the capital structure.

Guy Young

Founder & CEO

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

Founder

Luke Leasure

Research Analyst

Digital Assets at an Inflection Point: The View From Inside

Azeem Khan is the cofounder of Miden, a zero-knowledge blockchain that raised $25 million in seed funding led by a16z crypto, 1kx, and Hack VC. He serves as a consultant to the UNICEF CryptoFund and is a member of the World Economic Forum’s Crypto Sustainability Coalition. Recognized as a 2x Faces of Crypto Philanthropy by The Giving Block and one of the 100 Faces of Crypto by Stand With Crypto, Azeem is also a contributor with Forbes and a columnist with CoinDesk.

Azeem Khan

Amy is the head of digital asset strategy, a member of the Morgan Stanley Investment Management Operating Committee, the Morgan Stanley Investment Management Equity Technology Council, the Morgan Stanley Innovation Council and the Morgan Stanley Arts and Culture Committee. She manages digital asset initiatives at MSIM and has held roles in equity and FX trading, portfolio management support, product development and strategy. Prior to joining Morgan Stanley in 2001, Amy managed business development at Arc Worldwide. She has over 25 years of financial services experience.

Amy Oldenburg

Head of Digital Asset Strategy

The Liquid Pivot: Why Traditional VCs Are Becoming More Like Hedge Funds

Huf is the Founder of Pear Protocol. Pear Protocol is the home of long/short trading.



He has 10+ years experience working on the trading floor at various investment banks in London. He has also managed a crypto hedge fund specialising in vol and pair trading.

Huf Haus

Pear Protocol

The Institutionalization of Crypto: What Has Been Gained & Lost?

Felix Jauvin

Head of Content

Dan Tapiero is the Managing Partner, CEO &amp; CIO of 50T. Dan brings 30 years of experience in macro and commodity investing and trading, research and economics, as well as entrepreneurship. Dan has an extensive set of relationships in the institutional investment management space and is a thought leader that regularly speaks and contributes on macroeconomic topics. Before founding 50T, Dan was the managing partner of DTAP Capital Advisors, a global macro investment fund, that he founded in 2003. He is the co-founder of Gold Bullion International (GBI), a physical precious metals platform for the wealth management industry that also expanded into the cryptocurrency universe in 2014. He is a 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 in 2013. Previously, from 1992-2012, Dan was a macro-focused portfolio manager and analyst at Tiger Management, Duquesne Capital Management, Steinhardt Management Co., and SAC Capital Advisors. Dan graduated Phi Beta Kappa from Brown University, where he also 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 twelve years and currently leads the Investment Committee for its endowment.

Dan Tapiero

Brett Tejpaul serves as Co-CEO of Coinbase Institutional, leading Coinbase’s efforts to build a trusted bridge for institutions expanding their crypto strategies. In this role, he spearheads the growth of the institutional client base, develops sophisticated features and services tailored to institutional investors, and drives industry-wide education and innovation on digital assets.



Brett brings deep expertise from traditional finance, having previously served as Global Head of Sales at Barclays and held senior leadership positions at JP Morgan. His unique combination of institutional markets experience and global crypto innovation enables him to deliver integrated solutions that seamlessly connect custody, advanced trading platforms, and prime services for the world's leading institutions.



Brett holds a Bachelor of Science degree from Boston College.

Brett Tejpaul

Co-CEO, Institutional 

Raoul Pal – Co-Founder and CEO of Real Vision Group &amp; CEO / CIO of Exponential Age Asset Management (EXPAAM)



Raoul is the Co-Founder and CEO of Real Vision Group, one of the world’s leading financial knowledge and media platforms.



Additionally, he publishes the Global Macro Investor, a renowned independent macro investment strategy service and is the Co-Founder/CEO of EXPAAM, a Fund of Digital Asset Hedge Funds.



Formerly Raoul worked for Goldman Sachs and later ran the global macro hedge fund for GLG Partners.



He lives in the Cayman Islands.



Link to socials: <a href="https://raoulpal.com/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">https://raoulpal.com/</a>

Raoul Pal

Co-Founder & CEO

In Conversation with Robin Vince

Robin Vince is Chief Executive Officer of BNY, a global financial services platforms company that safeguards, manages and moves assets for clients around the world. For more than 240 years BNY has partnered alongside its clients, putting its expertise and platforms to work to help them achieve their ambitions. The firm is headquartered in New York City and has been named among Fortune’s World’s Most Admired Companies and Fast Company’s Best Workplaces for Innovators. Prior to becoming President in March of 2022, Robin was Vice Chair and CEO of Global Market Infrastructure, where he oversaw BNY’s Clearance and Collateral Management, Treasury Services, Markets and Execution Services and Pershing businesses. Before joining BNY in October of 2020, Robin was a member of the Management Committee and longtime partner at Goldman Sachs. He started his career there as an analyst in 1994 and held many leadership roles across the firm including Head of Global Money Markets, Chief Risk Officer, Treasurer, Head of Operations, COO of the EMEA region and CEO of Goldman Sachs International Bank, among others. Robin is a member of National Geographic Society's Hubbard Council, serves on the Board of Trustees of the Hospital for Special Surgery and serves as an inaugural member of the Board of Directors for the Perelman Performing Arts Center. He is also a member of the Business Roundtable, the Business Council, the Partnership for New York City, the Financial Services Forum and the International Advisory Board of the Monetary Authority of Singapore. Robin earned his bachelor’s degree from the University of Nottingham in the U.K. and has lived for many years in London, Paris and New York, where he and his family reside.

Robin Vince

Leslie Picker is a senior finance and banking reporter for CNBC, based at the network’s Global Headquarters in Englewood Cliffs, N.J. Picker covers banking, financial institutions, hedge funds, private equity and asset management, and her reporting appears on CNBC’s Business Day programming and the network’s digital platforms. Previously, Picker was a reporter for CNBC starting in February 2017.

Leslie Picker

Senior Finance & Banking Reporter

Keynote: U.S. SEC Chairman Paul S. Atkins

Paul S. Atkins was sworn into office as the 34th Chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission on April 21, 2025, after being nominated by President Donald J. Trump on January 20, 2025, and confirmed by the U.S. Senate on April 9, 2025.



Prior to returning to the SEC, Chairman Atkins was most recently chief executive of Patomak Global Partners, a company he founded in 2009. Chairman Atkins helped lead efforts to develop best practices for the digital asset sector. He served as an independent director and non-executive chairman of the board of BATS Global Markets, Inc. from 2012 to 2015.



Chairman Atkins was appointed by President George W. Bush to serve as a Commissioner of the SEC from 2002 to 2008. During his tenure, he advocated for transparency, consistency, and the use of cost-benefit analysis at the agency. Chairman Atkins also represented the SEC at meetings of the President’s Working Group on Financial Markets and the U.S.-EU Transatlantic Economic Council. From 2009 to 2010, he was appointed a member of the Congressional Oversight Panel for the Troubled Asset Relief Program.



Before serving as an SEC Commissioner, Chairman Atkins was a consultant on securities and investment management industry matters, especially regarding issues of strategy, regulatory compliance, risk management, new product development, and organizational control.



From 1990 to 1994, Chairman Atkins served on the staff of two chairmen of the SEC, Richard C. Breeden and Arthur Levitt, ultimately as chief of staff and counselor, respectively. He received the SEC’s 1992 Law and Policy Award for work regarding corporate governance matters.



Chairman Atkins began his career as a lawyer in New York, focusing on a wide range of corporate transactions for U.S. and foreign clients, including public and private securities offerings and mergers and acquisitions. He was resident for 2½ years in his firm's Paris office and admitted as conseil juridique in France.



A member of the New York and Florida bars, Chairman Atkins received his J.D. from Vanderbilt University School of Law in 1983 and was Senior Student Writing Editor of the Vanderbilt Law Review. He received his A.B., Phi Beta Kappa, from Wofford College in 1980.



Originally from Lillington, North Carolina, Chairman Atkins grew up in Tampa, Florida. He and his wife Sarah have three sons.

Paul S. Atkins

Elad Roisman is a member of the Corporate Governance and Board Advisory Practice and the Financial Institutions Group (FIG) Practice and Co‑Head of the Digital Assets Practice at Cravath, Swaine &amp; Moore LLP. Prior to joining Cravath, Mr. Roisman was a Commissioner and Acting Chairman of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).



Mr. Roisman represents clients on a broad range of complex regulatory and strategic initiatives, mergers and acquisitions and capital markets transactions, as well as on SEC and congressional investigations, exams and inquiries. He applies his deep knowledge of market structure regulation to advise fintech companies, investors, exchanges, trading intermediaries and other financial institutions on day‑to‑day as well as emerging regulatory matters.



Mr. Roisman is a frequent speaker, published author and thought leader on key legal and regulatory issues facing SEC registrants including those relating to market structure, corporate governance, public company and SEC disclosures, digital assets, artificial intelligence and other emerging technologies. He has testified before Congress as a subject‑matter expert on several occasions, including recently on the SEC’s final rules requiring climate‑related disclosures for public companies, as well as on the Digital Asset Market Clarity Act.

Elad Roisman

Partner

Investor Relations in the Onchain Era

Integrating Stablecoins Into the Global Payments Stack

Austin Campbell is the founder and managing partner of Zero Knowledge Group, a blockchain and fintech advisory boutique and publisher of the Zero In newsletter, and an adjunct professor at NYU Stern. He has previously held trading roles at JP Morgan, Citi, and Stone Ridge, parent of NYDIG, and was the head of portfolio management and chief risk officer at Paxos. He has testified twice in front of Congress on crypto topics.

Austin Campbell

Tom Zschach is a senior technology and innovation executive with more than threr decades of experience building and operating mission critical infrastructure for global financial markets. As Chief Innovation Officer at SWIFT, he leads initiatives shaping the future of cross border payment and digital finance, working closely with the global financial community. Previously, he served as Chief Information Officer at CLS Group and LCH.Clearnet, where he sat on executive management teams and defined enterprise technology strategy. Earlier in his career, he held senior leadership roles at Bank of America Merrill Lynch and Barclays Capital across rates, currencies, equities, and prime brokerage. He holds degrees in Computer Science and Finance from California State University and an Executive MBA from TRIUM.

Tom Zschach

Chief Innovation Officer

Peter Suarez Ferrara works as a Director on the UBS Technology Investment Banking team based in New York. In this role, Mr. Suarez Ferrara originates, structures, and executes, M&amp;A, Debt, and Equity transactions for companies operating at the intersection of Technology and Finance, particularly businesses within the Digital Asset ecosystem.



Prior to his current role, Mr. Suarez Ferrara worked for J.P. Morgan’s Financial Technology group, J.P. Morgan’s Leveraged Finance group, and Credit Suisse’s Financial Sponsors Group, covering Private Equity clients.



Before graduate school, Mr. Suarez Ferrara worked for the Council of Economic Advisers, in Washington D.C., in which he helped provide objective economic analyses to the Executive Office of the President.



Mr. Suarez Ferrara earned a Master of Finance degree from the University of Cambridge, an MBA from Cornell University, and an Economics degree, magna cum laude, from Lafayette College.

Peter Suarez Ferrara

Director - Technology Investment Banking 

James is the Co-founder and CEO of t-0 Network. Prior to founding t-0, James was a transaction banking lawyer in the UK, where he advised large banks on global trade financing and correspondent banking arrangements.

James Brownlee

Lauren Berta

Stablecoin Product Lead

Multichain Collateral & Risk Management: A Demo from Espresso & AWS

Ben Fisch is co-founder and CEO of Espresso Systems, the developers of the Espresso Sequencer network which brings decentralization and improved interoperability to L2s. Espresso Systems are also the developers of the CAPE data privacy application. Ben is additionally an assistant professor of computer science at Yale. Previously, Ben earned his PhD at Stanford working in the applied cryptography research group. His research on Verifiable Delay Functions (VDFs) sparked a multimillion dollar industry initiative (see VDF Alliance) and plays an important role in several blockchains including Ethereum 2.0, Chia, and Filecoin. His research on Proofs of Replication is the basis of Filecoin's incentive layer and consensus protocol. Filecoin is a live distributed storage system that already has reached a storage capacity exceeding 1.5 exabytes.

Ben Fisch

Ellie Davidson is Chief Product Officer at Espresso Systems. Before joining Espresso, she was at Vanguard, where she worked on onchain collateral management for FX forwards and onchain index fund data, giving her direct experience with the institutional infrastructure challenges Espresso is built to solve. She is also an Ethereum researcher and ERC contributor. At Espresso, she’s been a core contributor to HotShot, the BFT consensus protocol at the heart of the Espresso Network. She holds a degree in Computer Science from Stanford.

Ellie Davidson

Chief Product Officer

Everton Fraga is a Blockchain Specialist at Amazon Web Services (AWS) with a background in Ethereum infrastructure, distributed systems, and Web3 developer platforms. He works with organizations and builders to design scalable, production-grade blockchain architectures on AWS, with particular focus on node infrastructure, performance optimization, blockchain data systems, and low-latency application patterns. His work sits at the intersection of blockchain performance, developer experience, and real-world adoption of Web3 technologies.

Everton Fraga

Sr. Web3 Specialist

Circle

Tokenized Equities & the T+0 Revolution

Ryan Connor

Robert Leshner is the CEO and Co-founder of Superstate, an asset management firm modernizing investing through tokenized financial products. Prior to founding Superstate, Leshner co-founded Compound Labs in 2017, which developed one of the first DeFi applications. Robert is a venture investor at Robot Ventures and co-hosts The Chopping Block, a crypto-native podcast. He is directly responsible for designing smart contracts such as Governor Bravo and the ERC-7246 token standard, Encumber. He has a degree in economics from the University of Pennsylvania and is a Chartered Financial Analyst. Additionally, Robert is the former chair of the San Francisco Revenue Bond Oversight Committee and a CFA charter holder.

Robert Leshner

CEO & Co-Founder 

Head of Digital Assets Strategy at Nasdaq

Matthew Savarese

Theo is an investment manager at Baillie Gifford and Chair of the Tokenisation Working Group. Theo is the architect of the firm's tokenisation strategy, and responsible for designing and creating tokenised funds as one of the firm's Digital Asset experts. Theo co-manages the Baillie Gifford Strategic Bond Strategy, and is chair of the Corporate Credit Macro Group. Prior to joining Baillie Gifford in 2021, Theo was a financial journalist from 2019, with roles at various news outlets including Bloomberg and Business Insider. Theo graduated BA (Hons) in Music from Durham University in 2020 and is a CFA Charterholder.

Theo Golden

Tokenisation Lead and Investment Manager

Shyam Nagarajan is the Chief Partnership Officer at Hashgraph, the development and go-to-market arm of the Hedera network, where he leads strategic alliances and ecosystem growth to accelerate enterprise adoption of digital assets and Web3 infrastructure for Hedera. With more than two decades of experience spanning emerging technology, enterprise strategy, and operational leadership, Shyam has held senior roles driving global transformation initiatives across financial services, supply chains, and the public sector. He previously served as COO of Hedera and spent over 20 years at IBM, where he helped scale industry-leading blockchain and Responsible AI solutions. Shyam is also active in open-source and industry governance, serving in board and advisory roles across the digital trust ecosystem. He brings a practical, enterprise-first perspective on how digital assets, tokenization, and decentralized networks are reshaping the future of finance.

Shyam Nagarajan

Chief Partnership Officer

Hyper-Efficient Capital: Crypto's Key Unlock

Dan Smith

VP of Product

Chris Knight is the Managing Director of LMAX Digital, part of LMAX Group, a leading operator of institutional exchanges for FX and digital assets trading. Chris is an experienced financial markets professional having spent over 35 years in capital markets and has an extensive global network of institutional client and industry relationships.



He previously spent eight years as APAC Head of Distribution and Liquidity Optimisation at XTX Markets, the electronic market maker, and over ten years at Standard Chartered Bank as Global Head of Electronic Trading and Chief Dealer G10 Asia. Chris started his career as an FX trader and spent over a decade working in Asia, based in Singapore, Hong Kong and Tokyo.



Chris holds several industry roles as Director and President of ACI Australia and he is also a member of the Australian Foreign Exchange Committee (AFXC), a representative forum of the Australian foreign exchange market.

Chris Knight

Managing Director

The Institutional Appetite for Digital Assets

Robbie Mitchnick serves as the Head of Digital Assets for BlackRock. He is a member of the Corp Exec-COO Executive team. Robbie is responsible for driving BlackRock's digital assets strategy, including working with internal business units to develop and execute on strategic initiatives around digital assets.



Prior to joining BlackRock, Robbie spent time at CPP Investment Board in Public Markets and Private Investments, and at Ripple. During his time at Ripple, Robbie co-authored 'A Fundamental Valuation Framework for Cryptoassets' along with John Bates Clark medal winner Susan Athey.



Robbie has BA &amp; BCOM degrees from Queen's University and an MBA from Stanford, where he graduated as an Arjay Miller Scholar and the Robichek Award winner in Finance. He holds a Blockchain Technologies Certification from MIT Sloan and is a CFA Charterholder.

Robbie Mitchnick

Head of Digital Assets

Privacy & Institutional Crypto's [Redacted] Future

Yannik Schrade is the CEO and Co-Founder of Arcium, a global supercomputer for a hyper-encrypted web. As the lead architect and visionary behind Arcium, Yannik created the project by leveraging his expertise in cryptography with the goal of advancing data security and confidentiality.



A renowned thought leader, Yannik has spoken at several prominent industry conferences, including the 2024 World Economic Forum, where he challenged TradFi leaders on the importance of decentralization, privacy, and trustlessness.



He previously founded ShiftScreen, an iOS app, which attracted over 100,000 paying customers and was a regular top-seller globally. Yannik studied Computer Science and Mathematics at the Technical University of Munich, and he also studied law, adding another dimension to his extensive portfolio.

Yannik Schrade

CEO & Co-Founder

Eric is one of the Founders of Digital Asset. Prior to DA, Eric built a trading desk at DRW trading that specialized in illiquid commodity markets and co-founded Cumberland Mining, one of the largest crypto-asset liquidity providers in the world.

Eric Saraniecki

Co-Founder & Head of Network Strategy

After 3.5 years at Ava Labs, Patrick left his position as VP of Engineering to start Commonware. Previously, Patrick worked on the Coinbase Crypto Engineering Team where he led the development of Rosetta, the open source specification that Coinbase uses to integrate new blockchains.

Patrick O'Grady

Head of Product, Digital Assets @ Solana Foundation

Catherine Gu

Head of Product, Digital Assets

David Canellis is a media operative based in the Netherlands who has covered the crypto industry since 2018, first as a journalist, now as a commentator and podcast host for The Breakdown. Contact David via email at david@blockworks.co.

David Canellis

Host, The Breakdown

DeFi Vaults: Building Future-Proof Earn for Institutions

Sunand Raghupathi

Jacquelyn Melinek is the founder and CEO of Token Relations and an award-nominated host of the Talking Tokens and Crypto in America podcasts.



She previously led crypto coverage at TechCrunch as a senior crypto reporter. Prior to that, Jacquelyn was a crypto reporter for Blockworks where she focused on covering DeFi and crypto VC funding. She also reported on energy markets for S&amp;P Global Platts and Bloomberg News.



Jacquelyn’s articles are published in over 100 global news outlets and she’s been a featured guest on CNBC Worldwide Exchange, CBS News Prime Time and Yahoo Finance Live for her crypto coverage and analysis.



She can be reached at jacquelyn@token-relations.com or on X @jacqmelinek.

Jacquelyn Melinek

As a Product Director at Kraken leading our Earn business, John oversees staking, stablecoins, DeFi, and Opt-In Rewards — anywhere where customers earn yield on assets at rest.

John Zettler

Director of Product, Earn 

No Bets On Integrity: Surveillance in Digital Asset & Prediction Markets

Asaf Meir is the Founder and CEO of Solidus Labs, the category-defining leader in crypto-native trade surveillance. Under his leadership, Solidus Labs has become a trusted partner for regulators and financial institutions worldwide.



Before founding Solidus Labs in 2018, Asaf spent a decade leading complex technological and financial products at Goldman Sachs and Microsoft. At Goldman Sachs, he served on the equities trading desk, specializing in structured derivatives and electronic trading, where he developed deep expertise in market risk and financial technology.



Asaf holds a degree in Computer Science and Economics from Brandeis University, where he was recognized as the Computer Science Entrepreneur of the Year. In 2022, he was named to The Financial Technology Report’s Top 25 Cryptocurrency Executives for his contributions to the digital asset industry.



Beyond his professional achievements, Asaf is deeply committed to social impact. Drawing on his early experience in elite canine units, he is a dedicated advocate for guide dog training. He actively supports organizations that provide service dogs to individuals with visual impairments and veterans, reflecting a lifelong commitment to combining innovation with community service.

Asaf Meir

Dan Berkovitz is Vice Chair, External and Regulatory Affairs at Millennium, where he also serves as Chair of the Firm’s Compliance, Legal &amp; Ethics Oversight Committee. From 2021 to 2023 Dan served as General Counsel of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. From 2018 to 2021 he served as a Commissioner of the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), following previous service as the agency’s General Counsel (2009 to 2013). He also has been a partner and co-chair of the Futures and Derivatives practice at the law firm of WilmerHale and Counsel for the U.S. Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations, where he led investigations into the energy and commodity markets. Dan also is a Lecturer in Law teaching derivatives regulation at Columbia University Law School. Dan received an A.B. in Physics from Princeton University and a J.D. from the University of California College of the Law, San Francisco, formerly known as U.C. Hastings College of the Law.

Dan Berkovitz

Vice Chair, External & Regulatory Affairs

Vaults & the RWA Yield Engine

Sébastien Derivaux is a chef and co-founder of Steakhouse Financial, 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 Crypto Banking Network.

Sébastien Derivaux

Chef & Co-Founder

Serafin Lion Engel is the Founder and CEO of Yield.xyz (formerly StakeKit), the ultimate Web 3 yield infrastructure Backed by Multicoin Capital, Yield.xyz provides customers access to over 1,000 self-custodial yields across staking, stablecoins, and DeFi. The platform facilitates over $100 million in monthly volume and powers more than 50 of the leading companies in Web3 and Fintech, including wallets like Ledger and neobanks like DeBlock.



 Before Yield.xyz, Serafin founded Omni in 2021, one of the first mobile multichain wallets. Omni was acquired by Paxful via Echo Base in 2024. Serafin entered the crypto space in 2014 through Draper University and began building on Ethereum in 2016, pioneering data sovereignty technologies and early data marketplaces.

Serafin Lion Engel

Sonya is Co-Founder of 3F Labs, building an on-chain yield index of leveraged exposure to the world's leading alternative assets.



Previously, she was Chef at Steakhouse Financial, a DeFi builder focused on risk curation, stablecoins, and DAO advisory, where she led business development and grew Morpho’s TVL from zero to $1B.



She holds a BA in Mathematics from NYU and a Master of Finance from Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Sonya Kim

David Vatchev leads Tokenization at Fasanara Capital, connecting RWA private credit and digital asset management. He drives product, partnerships, and distribution for tokenized offerings. Previously at Credit Suisse/UBS, Family Offices and R3, David blends TradFi and DeFi expertise.

David Vatchev

Head of RWA Tokenization 

Andy is a Co-Founder and General Partner at Metalayer, an investment management firm focused on the institutional digital assets ecosystem. Prior to founding Metalayer, Andy spearheaded Two Sigma's digital asset strategy, which included both private investment strategies and systematic trading.

Andy Kangpan

General Partner & Co-Founder

Prediction Markets: The Institutional View

Michael Bucella is Co-Founder and Managing Partner of Neoclassic Capital, a digital asset investment firm with a strong focus on Asia. Prior to Neoclassic, Michael served as General Partner with BlockTower Capital from 2017 to 2022, growing the firm near inception to managing in excess of $1B in AUM across hedge fund, venture, and credit strategies. Previous to BlockTower, Michael spent nearly a decade with Goldman Sachs in New York across both the Asset Management (GSAM) and Securities Division.

Mike Bucella

Co-Founder & Managing Partner

Head of Crypto

John Wang

Head of Crypto

Kunal covers the AI and RWA Sector at Blockworks Research

Kunal Doshi

Neil Harounian is Co-Founder and General Partner at Maximum Frequency Ventures. He brings nearly a decade of experience across blockchain, investing, finance, and partnerships. As the first employee and a founding member of Aptos Labs, he helped build Aptos into one of the largest blockchain networks and contributed to the $500 million raised across Aptos Labs and the Aptos Foundation.



At Aptos, Neil served as Head of Ecosystem for three years, helping grow the network to more than ten million monthly active addresses and over $1 billion in TVL. He helped scale one of the fastest-growing developer ecosystems in crypto, supported more than 300 Web3 startups, and worked with ecosystem companies that raised over $150 million from leading venture investors. He also led major partnerships with firms including BlackRock, Franklin Templeton, Aave, Tether, and Chainlink, while driving expansion across key global markets.



Before and during Aptos, Neil held an investing role at White Star Capital, where he backed and supported early-stage crypto projects. He began his career at RBC Capital Markets in leveraged finance, working on large-cap buyouts and M&amp;A. Neil graduated with honors from NYU Stern School of Business.

Neil Harounian

Co-Founder & GP

Chen Arad

Chief External Affairs Officer

Avoiding Another 10/10: The Market Structure We Need

Macauley was an editor and content creator in the professional chess world for 14 years, prior to joining Blockworks. At Bucerius Law School (Master in Law and Business, 2020) he researched stablecoins, decentralized finance and central bank digital currencies. He also holds an MA in Film Studies; film credits include Associate Producer of the 2016 Netflix feature documentary, "Magnus" about World Chess Champion Magnus Carlsen. He is based in Germany.

Macauley Peterson

Senior Editor

Chris Lawn is the Chief Executive Officer of Elwood Technologies, a leading fintech firm providing institutional-grade digital asset trading, portfolio, and risk management software. With over 30 years in global macro trading and portfolio management, he has held front-office roles at Graham Capital, Woodbine Capital, and Caxton Associates. Transitioning to digital assets, Chris advised firms like Edgewater Markets, One River Digital, and Coinbase, and subsequently joined Brevan Howard’s Principal Investments team as Crypto Strategic Advisor. Since joining Elwood in 2023, he has driven the company’s growth, positioning it as a key player in institutional digital asset infrastructure.

Chris Lawn

Maxime is Chief Executive Officer and Co-Founder of STS Digital, a leading digital asset solutions and trading firm focused on market making, OTC trading, and structured products. With over 14 years of experience across both the buy- and sell-side, Maxime has spent his career at the intersection of markets, risk, and innovation.



He began his career at Credit Suisse before moving to the buy side, to one of the largest volatility hedge funds at that time, where he specialized in volatility trading across equities, FX, and commodities. After nearly a decade in traditional finance, Maxime saw a clear gap in the digital asset market: institutional participants lacked the robust, disciplined infrastructure required to trade options and structured products at scale. In 2019, he entered the digital asset space with a singular vision — to bring institutional-grade standards, risk management, and product sophistication to digital markets.



That vision became STS Digital. Today, the firm serves institutional clients globally, delivering advanced trading solutions across the digital asset ecosystem. Bermuda-regulated and built by a diverse, international team, STS Digital operates from offices in Bermuda, Zurich, Singapore, and London, reflecting its global outlook and commitment to world-class execution.



Beyond his professional endeavors, Maxime supports philanthropic initiatives focused on advancing children’s education and is an enthusiastic participant in outdoor winter sports and music

Maxime Seiler

Chief Executive Officer & Co-Founder

Joshua Lim is a Global Co-Head of Markets at FalconX, where he helps lead the firm’s global trading strategy across spot, derivatives, and financing. He joined FalconX through its acquisition of Arbelos Markets in early 2025, a leading digital asset trading firm he co-founded and built into a key player in crypto market making and derivatives.



Prior to Arbelos, Josh played a central role in scaling some of the largest crypto derivatives businesses in the industry – first at Galaxy Digital, and then at Genesis, where he built and led high-performing trading teams across volatile and rapidly evolving markets. He began his crypto career at Circle, where he established the firm’s treasury and OTC trading desk.



Josh’s foundation in markets comes from traditional finance, having started his career trading exotic equity derivatives at Goldman Sachs. His cross-market experience and deep understanding of risk have made him a trusted voice in digital asset trading and institutional crypto finance. He holds a BS of Science in Mathematics and Computer Science from Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Josh Lim

Global Head of Markets

Gurpreet Oberoi

Head of Institutional 

The Liquid Token Market State of the Union

Mr. Kanade joined VanEck in 2022 and serves as Portfolio Manager for the Digital Assets Alpha Fund. Prior to joining VanEck, Mr. Kanade worked at Millennium Management as a Credit Portfolio Manager working closely with a team of six investment professionals. Prior to Millennium, he was the founding member of the Head of Research for the Liquid Credit investing business at Angelo, Gordon &amp;amp; Co.  Prior experience of Mr. Kanade includes his role as Managing Director / Research Analyst with a focus on Technology and Energy at Hutchin Hill Capital. Pranav started his career at UBS in credit research during the European credit crisis. He has a B.S. in Finance and Accounting with a specialization in Entertainment, Media and Technology from the New York University Stern School of Business.

Pranav Kanade

Portfolio Manager

David Rodriguez

Head of Advisory

Cosmo is a General Partner at Pantera Capital, responsible for investment strategy and leading the special opportunities and liquid strategies efforts. He joined Pantera from Nova River, where he founded and ran a long-biased digital asset fund. Prior to launching Nova River, Cosmo was Managing Director at Hitchwood Capital where he was responsible for Consumer and Internet investments. He previously held positions at Apollo Global Management in their private equity group and in M&amp;A at Evercore Partners. Cosmo graduated from Harvard University with a B.A. in Applied Mathematics.

Cosmo Jiang

General Partner & Portfolio Manager

Seth Ginns is a Managing Partner and Head of Liquid Investments at CoinFund, and a key member of the Venture Investment Committee. He has 20 years of Wall Street experience and has been deeply involved in the crypto community since his angel investment in Coinbase in 2012. He is also an angel in Starkware, Chainalysis, participated in the Ethereum ICO in 2014, and loves traveling globally to developer events as a way to keep a finger on the pulse of the market. His angel portfolio also includes Instacart, BillionToOne and DoorDash, and many earlier stage, high growth startups.



Prior to CoinFund, Seth invested in public growth equities over 18 years at Jennison Associates. He holds a BA in Mathematics and South Asia Studies from the University of Pennsylvania, where he serves on the International Advisory Board of the Center for the Advanced Study of India at the School of Arts and Sciences and served as an Overseer at the School of Nursing and Co-Chair of the Innovation Committee.

Seth Ginns

Kelvin has over 20 years of experience in investment and research across multiple asset classes and geographies.



He was a partner at Indus Capital, a $7 billion Emerging Market hedge fund. Before joining Indus Capital, Kelvin was also a partner and director of research at Goldman Sachs, where he spent 18 years in their Hong Kong, Beijing, and Singapore offices.



Throughout his tenure at Goldman Sachs, Kelvin’s insightful analysis earned him top rankings from Institutional Investor, AsiaMoney, and Greenwich Associates.

Digital Asset Summit 2026 - New York

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