Crypto Hipster

Reeve Collins is a serial tech entrepreneur. He co-founded Tether in 2013 — the world’s largest stablecoin to date. He is currently the co-founder and chairman of Stable | WeFi, and the incoming chairman of ReserveOne.

Fehmi Fennia drives the strategic vision at VS1 as its Chief Strategy Officer (CSO). He is a true industry veteran, having entered the cryptocurrency and blockchain space in 2013, bringing over a decade of rare insight to the team.Throughout his career, he has played an instrumental role in the development of pioneering Web3 and DeFi projects. At VS1, Fehmi leverages this invaluable experience to drive protocol growth, scale operations, and expand crucial ecosystem partnerships, architecting the company's long-term success.

Fehmi Fennia drives the strategic vision at VS1 as its Chief Strategy Officer (CSO). He is a true industry veteran, having entered the cryptocurrency and blockchain space in 2013, bringing over a decade of rare insight to the team.Throughout his career, he has played an instrumental role in the development of pioneering Web3 and DeFi projects. At VS1, Fehmi leverages this invaluable experience to drive protocol growth, scale operations, and expand crucial ecosystem partnerships, architecting the company's long-term success.

This is the tenth episode in the Crypto Hipster's Curtain Calls Series, which includes 3–4-minute clips from Seasons 6-8. This compilation draws upon my conversations with:Daniel Steeves, advisor/consultant and founder at tudaBirds(2/27/2024, Season 6)Caitlin Moore, Sustainability Data Partnerships Manager at Filecoin Green (11/12/2023, Season 6)Owen O'Driscoll, Co-founder and CEO at Trrue (9/17/2023,Season 6)Andrew Forson, Head of Ventures and Investments at theHashgraph Association (9/2/2024, Season 8)

Roman Cyganov is a serial entrepreneur and AI strategist with 10 years of experience turning frontier ideas into investor-backed ventures. As Founder & CEO of Antix, creator of the hyper-realistic, AI-driven digital-human and content engine AIGE, he is redefining how brands such as Warner Bros., HBO, EA Sports, and Tencent deliver immersive content and personalized experiences. Under his leadership, Antix has:Earned #2 in Machine Learning and #3 in Generative AI at the 2024 Startups of the Year awards.Showcased its flagship digital human “Helisa” on billboards from Times Square to Tokyo.Been named among the Top 10 innovators shaping metaverse avatars and digital fashion.

Roman Cyganov is a serial entrepreneur and AI strategist with 10 years of experience turning frontier ideas into investor-backed ventures. As Founder & CEO of Antix, creator of the hyper-realistic, AI-driven digital-human and content engine AIGE, he is redefining how brands such as Warner Bros., HBO, EA Sports, and Tencent deliver immersive content and personalized experiences. Under his leadership, Antix has:Earned #2 in Machine Learning and #3 in Generative AI at the 2024 Startups of the Year awards.Showcased its flagship digital human “Helisa” on billboards from Times Square to Tokyo.Been named among the Top 10 innovators shaping metaverse avatars and digital fashion.

This is the ninth episode in the Crypto Hipster's Curtain Callsseries, which includes 3–4-minute clips from Seasons 6-8. This compilation draws upon my conversations with:Jamie Goldblatt, Founder at Mind Chill 360 (5/3/2025, Season8)Mohamed El-Masri, Management Partner at Hodler (12/20/2024, Season 8)Joy Schoffler, Founder and Principal at Distinctive EdgePartners (11/18/2023, Season 6)J.D. Seraphine, Founder at Raiinmaker (7/4/2024, Season 7)

Jin Kwon is Co-founder and Chief Strategy Officer at Saga.xyz, a Layer-1 protocol for launching other Layer-1s, focused on web3 game development. With experience spanning engineering, investment banking, and blockchain, Jin leads Saga's long-term strategy, including token economics and exchange integrations. His career includes roles at Intel, Bank of America Merrill Lynch, and Centerview Partners before becoming Vice President of Corporate Development at Tendermint, where he played a key role in productizing Cosmos technology. Jin excels at simplifying complex blockchain concepts for developers and end-users. At Saga, he's focusing on providing scalable, low-cost infrastructure for web3 developers, comparing their service to AWS's impact on cloud computing. Jin aims to enable mainstream adoption of blockchain technology, especially in gaming and high-volume, low-value transactions. His ability to connect advanced technology with practical applications drives Saga's mission to create the future developer environment.

Jin Kwon is Co-founder and Chief Strategy Officer at Saga.xyz, a Layer-1 protocol for launching other Layer-1s, focused on web3 game development. With experience spanning engineering, investment banking, and blockchain, Jin leads Saga's long-term strategy, including token economics and exchange integrations. His career includes roles at Intel, Bank of America Merrill Lynch, and Centerview Partners before becoming Vice President of Corporate Development at Tendermint, where he played a key role in productizing Cosmos technology. Jin excels at simplifying complex blockchain concepts for developers and end-users. At Saga, he's focusing on providing scalable, low-cost infrastructure for web3 developers, comparing their service to AWS's impact on cloud computing. Jin aims to enable mainstream adoption of blockchain technology, especially in gaming and high-volume, low-value transactions. His ability to connect advanced technology with practical applications drives Saga's mission to create the future developer environment.

Alexander Kalankhodzhaev is the Core Engineer Lead at Raiku — a blockchain architect with extensive experience in designing high-performance distributed systems that deliver guaranteed execution, predictable latency, and resilience under heavy workloads.At Raiku, he is developing regionally distributed clusters and has integrated validator pipelines with Solana to enable real-time feedback and prioritized transaction execution.He is active in the community as a Polkadot developer speaker, contributor to the Programming Academy for Silicon Valley, and co-maintainer of the go-linq library. Alexander is passionate about advancing blockchain infrastructure and open-source development.His technical expertise includes Solana, Polkadot, and Substrate, with proficiency in Rust, C#, Java, and Scala.

Alexander Kalankhodzhaev is the Core Engineer Lead at Raiku — a blockchain architect with extensive experience in designing high-performance distributed systems that deliver guaranteed execution, predictable latency, and resilience under heavy workloads.At Raiku, he is developing regionally distributed clusters and has integrated validator pipelines with Solana to enable real-time feedback and prioritized transaction execution.He is active in the community as a Polkadot developer speaker, contributor to the Programming Academy for Silicon Valley, and co-maintainer of the go-linq library. Alexander is passionate about advancing blockchain infrastructure and open-source development.His technical expertise includes Solana, Polkadot, and Substrate, with proficiency in Rust, C#, Java, and Scala.

Amal Ibraymi is the legal counsel at Aztec Labs, where she supports the company’s legal efforts to advocate for privacy-enhancing technologies and decentralized finance. Before joining Aztec, Amal was a privacy associate at the New York and Paris offices of Willkie Farr & Gallagher, where she advised on data protection, cryptography, and global privacy compliance. Amal also previously worked at the Office of Legal Affairs at the United Nations Secretariat in New York City, the International Court of Arbitration of the International Chamber of Commerce in Hong Kong, and as a Privacy Fellow at the OECD in the Paris headquarters. Amal is dually trained in the U.S. and France, holding an LLM from NYU School of Law and a JD/MA from Sciences Po Paris.

Amal Ibraymi is the legal counsel at Aztec Labs, where she supports the company’s legal efforts to advocate for privacy-enhancing technologies and decentralized finance. Before joining Aztec, Amal was a privacy associate at the New York and Paris offices of Willkie Farr & Gallagher, where she advised on data protection, cryptography, and global privacy compliance. Amal also previously worked at the Office of Legal Affairs at the United Nations Secretariat in New York City, the International Court of Arbitration of the International Chamber of Commerce in Hong Kong, and as a Privacy Fellow at the OECD in the Paris headquarters. Amal is dually trained in the U.S. and France, holding an LLM from NYU School of Law and a JD/MA from Sciences Po Paris.

This is the eighth episode in the Crypto Hipster's CurtainCalls series, which includes 3–4-minute clips from Seasons 6-8. This compilation draws upon my conversations with:Paulius Stankevicius, Founder and CEO at Stankevicius (2/16/2024, Season 6)Dr. Alok Aggarwal, Founder at Scry AI (8/25/2024, Season 8)Sean Ren, CEO and co-founder at Sahara AI (2/17/2025, Season 8)Justin Banon, Founder at Boson Metasystem (5/14/2025, Season 8)

Patrick Wood is the CEO of DelphX Capital Markets, pioneering regulated structures that bring Wall Street-grade risk management to digital assets and fixed income. A 25-year markets veteran, he’s focused on bridging traditional finance with the future of institutional crypto.Patrick is a seasoned financial markets expert and visionary, with over 25 years of experience transforming the capital markets landscape across North America. As CEO of DCM Inc., Patrick is leading the charge in financial innovation with the world’s first Credit Rating Security (QCS), launched in March 2023—a breakthrough designed to bring institutional-grade governance, risk transfer, and return potential to fixed income portfolios.

Patrick Wood is the CEO of DelphX Capital Markets, pioneering regulated structures that bring Wall Street-grade risk management to digital assets and fixed income. A 25-year markets veteran, he’s focused on bridging traditional finance with the future of institutional crypto.Patrick is a seasoned financial markets expert and visionary, with over 25 years of experience transforming the capital markets landscape across North America. As CEO of DCM Inc., Patrick is leading the charge in financial innovation with the world’s first Credit Rating Security (QCS), launched in March 2023—a breakthrough designed to bring institutional-grade governance, risk transfer, and return potential to fixed income portfolios.

This is the seventh episode in the Crypto Hipster's Curtain Calls series, which include 3–4-minute clips from Seasons 6-8. This compilation draws upon my conversations with:Anthony Fernandez, Head of Business Development and Sales at ICONOMI (4/14/2024, Season 7)Rennick Palley, Founding Partner at Stratus (7/6/2024, Season 7) Zhen Yu Yong, CEO and co-founder at Web3Auth (11/4/2024, Season 8)Michal "Mehow" Pospieszalski, CEO and co-founder at MatterFi (5/23/2024, Season 7)

This is the sixth episode in the Crypto Hipster's Curtain Calls series, which include 3–4-minute clips from Seasons 6-8. This compilation draws upon my conversations with:Mitchell Gildenberg, co-founder and CTO at Switchboard (7/7/2024, Season 7)Joanna Zeng, co-founder and CEO at SOON (4/10/2025, Season 8) Chris Chung, co-founder and CEO at Titan (1/29/2025, Season 8)Michael Repetny, core contributor at Marinade (9/3/2024, Season 8)

Emergency Medicine Consultant by day, Lead advisor to BasicSwapDex by night, Dr Kap is enthusiastic about healthcare geopolitics, privacy and liquidity. He believes privacy is the ultimate safeguard for freedom of information.

Emergency Medicine Consultant by day, Lead advisor to BasicSwapDex by night, Dr Kap is enthusiastic about healthcare geopolitics, privacy and liquidity. He believes privacy is the ultimate safeguard for freedom of information.

Joseph “Coop” Cooper is the co-founder of Nullshot, a collaborative platform for turning chats into apps. With over 20 years of experience in digital innovation and decentralized platform development, Coop is focused on building tech that empowers human creativity rather than replacing it. Prior to Nullshot, Coop launched KintoHub, a platform simplifying cloud native app development, and Earn Alliance, a Web3 platform for discovering and engaging in blockchain-based games.

Joseph “Coop” Cooper is the co-founder of Nullshot, a collaborative platform for turning chats into apps. With over 20 years of experience in digital innovation and decentralized platform development, Coop is focused on building tech that empowers human creativity rather than replacing it. Prior to Nullshot, Coop launched KintoHub, a platform simplifying cloud native app development, and Earn Alliance, a Web3 platform for discovering and engaging in blockchain-based games.

This is the fifth episode in the Crypto Hipster's Curtain Calls series, which include 3–4-minute clips from Seasons 6-8. This compilation draws upon my conversations with:Jameel Qeblawi, founder and Chief Architect at myqubator (9/30/2024, Season 8)Lasha Antadze, co-founder at Rarify Labs (9/3/2023, Season 6) Krystyna Kozak-Kornacka, Chief Marketing Officer at Cookie3 (6/5/2024, Season 7)Christopher G. Fox, PhD, founder at Ideas Led Growth (5/18/2024, Season 8)

This is the fourth episode in the Crypto Hipster's Curtain Calls series, which include 3–4-minute clips from Seasons 6-8. This compilation draws upon my conversations with:Josh Bowen, co-founder and CEO at Astria (1/17/2025, Season 8)Ishan Bhaidani, co-founder and Chief Revenue Officer at SCRIB3 (5/243/2024, Season 7) Annelise Osborne, Chief Business Officer at Kadena (6/4//2024, Season 7)Raj Parekh, co-founderand CFO at Portal (6/30/2024, Season 7)

About David A. Johnston, Lead Technologist & Code Maintainer at MorpheusA serial entrepreneur, freedom maximalist, and early pioneer in AI and Web3, David coined the term “DApps” in 2013 when he wrote the first white paper on “Decentralized Applications”. David was an early Bitcoin contributor, co-founded one of the world’s largest angel investment groups in Bitcoin, and the DApps Fund, the first all-token venture fund to invest entirely in open-source, blockchain projects like Bitcoin, Ethereum and many more. David is currently a leading open source contributor to Morpheus, a decentralized network of general-purpose personal AIs, called Smart Agents, that’s fostering a future where technology is more accessible and transparent. David has spoken at the industry’s premier events across the world, including Consensus ("Why Closed AI is Already Cooked"), Permissionless, and The North American Blockchain Summit among many others. David is seen on Bloomberg TV here and several other talks here. Connect with David on X here and LinkedIn here.

About David A. Johnston, Lead Technologist & Code Maintainer at MorpheusA serial entrepreneur, freedom maximalist, and early pioneer in AI and Web3, David coined the term “DApps” in 2013 when he wrote the first white paper on “Decentralized Applications”. David was an early Bitcoin contributor, co-founded one of the world’s largest angel investment groups in Bitcoin, and the DApps Fund, the first all-token venture fund to invest entirely in open-source, blockchain projects like Bitcoin, Ethereum and many more. David is currently a leading open source contributor to Morpheus, a decentralized network of general-purpose personal AIs, called Smart Agents, that’s fostering a future where technology is more accessible and transparent. David has spoken at the industry’s premier events across the world, including Consensus ("Why Closed AI is Already Cooked"), Permissionless, and The North American Blockchain Summit among many others. David is seen on Bloomberg TV here and several other talks here. Connect with David on X here and LinkedIn here.

This is the third episode in the Crypto Hipster's Curtain Calls series, which include 3–4-minute clips from Seasons 6-8. This compilation draws upon my conversations with:Agne Linge, Head of Growth at WeFi (6/1/2025, Season 8)Mark Hojgaard, Advisor at Coinify (3/24/2024, Season 7) Sung Choi, Senior Vice President of Business Development at CoinMe (1/17/2025, Season 8)Vlad Costea, Founder of the Bitcoin Takeover Podcast (3/16/2024, Season 7)

Naz Kabbani - Founder & CEO @ Alora Podcasts that is building at the frontier of Media & A.I. Previously, Naz was a VC at BECO Capital ($900M AUM, the largest privately-owned VC fund in the Middle East) and Special Projects & Trading at Paradigm (one of the Crypto Industry’s most trusted institutions with $12B+ AUM). Naz also grew up in the U.K playing for Manchester United and Manchester City Youth Academies.

Naz Kabbani - Founder & CEO @ Alora Podcasts that is building at the frontier of Media & A.I. Previously, Naz was a VC at BECO Capital ($900M AUM, the largest privately-owned VC fund in the Middle East) and Special Projects & Trading at Paradigm (one of the Crypto Industry’s most trusted institutions with $12B+ AUM). Naz also grew up in the U.K playing for Manchester United and Manchester City Youth Academies.

This is the second episode in the Crypto Hipster's Curtain Calls series, which include 3–4-minute clips from Seasons 6-8. This compilation draws upon my conversations with:Dr. Karl Huber, co-founder of Quai Network (3/17/2025, Season 8)Violet Abtahi, founder and CEO at Platonic (5/20/2025, Season 8)Claire Ross-Brown, founder of CJLondon (1/6/2024, Season 6)Anjali Young, co-founder at Collab.Land (1/15/2024, Season 6)

Anthony Day - Marketing Director at VeChainAnthony is the Marketing Director for VeChain and brings 20 years’ experience in innovation, technology delivery and growth. Focused purely on Web3 and Blockchain technology since 2017, he has held leadership roles at Deloitte, IBM, Polkadot (Parity) and Input Output (Midnight).Alongside his work with VeChain, Anthony hosts the popular Blockchain Won’t Save the World Podcast and is a growth and strategy advisor to exchanges, DeFi and Gaming start-ups, and Sports businesses.

Anthony Day - Marketing Director at VeChainAnthony is the Marketing Director for VeChain and brings 20 years’ experience in innovation, technology delivery and growth. Focused purely on Web3 and Blockchain technology since 2017, he has held leadership roles at Deloitte, IBM, Polkadot (Parity) and Input Output (Midnight).Alongside his work with VeChain, Anthony hosts the popular Blockchain Won’t Save the World Podcast and is a growth and strategy advisor to exchanges, DeFi and Gaming start-ups, and Sports businesses.

This compilation episode from Seasons 6-8 include clips from my podcast conversations with: Dr. Nikhil Varma (February 2025, Season 8)Tristan Thoma (June 2025, Season 8)Dr. Shruti Shankar Gaur (March 2025, Season 8)Jean Criss (April 2025, Season 8)

Jonas Lamis is the CEO of Rarible, the onchain commerce platform powering the future of digital asset trading. Before joining Rarible, he was COO of Quantum Art, where he helped launch the platform and drove a substantial increase in revenue. Prior to this, he built Sensai, an AI-driven content analytics platform, and served as CEO until the company was acquired. Jonas brings 20+ years of experience in technology, spanning across web3, AI, enterprise software, automation, and more.

Jonas Lamis is the CEO of Rarible, the onchain commerce platform powering the future of digital asset trading. Before joining Rarible, he was COO of Quantum Art, where he helped launch the platform and drove a substantial increase in revenue. Prior to this, he built Sensai, an AI-driven content analytics platform, and served as CEO until the company was acquired. Jonas brings 20+ years of experience in technology, spanning across web3, AI, enterprise software, automation, and more.

Stephen Hess is the founder of Metaplex, the leading protocol for digital assets on Solana. As a director of the Metaplex Foundation, Stephen drives strategy and ecosystem growth, establishing Metaplex as the backbone for digital asset creation and commerce. Previously head of product at Solana Labs, Stephen spearheaded the scaling of the application layer, including the first liquid staking programs, bridges, stablecoins, gaming, token standards and ecosystem integrations. Stephen leverages his background in Symbolic Systems from Stanford to focus on the intersection of technology, economics, and culture. Today, Metaplex powers hundreds of millions of NFTs and tokens, with its Genesis platform extending this foundation into on-chain token launches.

Stephen Hess is the founder of Metaplex, the leading protocol for digital assets on Solana. As a director of the Metaplex Foundation, Stephen drives strategy and ecosystem growth, establishing Metaplex as the backbone for digital asset creation and commerce. Previously head of product at Solana Labs, Stephen spearheaded the scaling of the application layer, including the first liquid staking programs, bridges, stablecoins, gaming, token standards and ecosystem integrations. Stephen leverages his background in Symbolic Systems from Stanford to focus on the intersection of technology, economics, and culture. Today, Metaplex powers hundreds of millions of NFTs and tokens, with its Genesis platform extending this foundation into on-chain token launches.

George Worrell (G.P.), Co-Founder and CPO at Blubird is a product leader with more than 20 years in UX and emerging tech. His leadership has been instrumental in simplifying the path from Web2 to Web3 for organizations worldwide. Beyond product strategy, G.P. plays a central role in Blubird’s operations and financial oversight, guiding execution, resource planning, and growth.

George Worrell (G.P.), Co-Founder and CPO at Blubird is a product leader with more than 20 years in UX and emerging tech. His leadership has been instrumental in simplifying the path from Web2 to Web3 for organizations worldwide. Beyond product strategy, G.P. plays a central role in Blubird’s operations and financial oversight, guiding execution, resource planning, and growth.

Mamadou Kwidjim Toure is an entrepreneur and finance executive who Forbes named one of the Top 10 Most Influential Men in Africa. He spent over 20 years at major institutions like KPMG, BNP Paribas, and IBM, where he managed transactions worth over $25 billion across African infrastructure, mining, and technology.In 2015, Mamadou founded Ubuntu Group to expand access to global capital in Africa. His venture Ubuntu Tribe developed digital gold tokens to give the public broader access to precious metal investments and was recognized as a finalist at the African Bankers Awards in 2019. He sees the digital economy as a way to redistribute wealth and empower communities across Africa.Mamadou has studied at Harvard Kennedy School and completed artificial intelligence programs at MIT. As a World Economic Forum Young Global Leader, he advocates for using technology to drive sustainable prosperity in emerging markets.

Mamadou Kwidjim Toure is an entrepreneur and finance executive who Forbes named one of the Top 10 Most Influential Men in Africa. He spent over 20 years at major institutions like KPMG, BNP Paribas, and IBM, where he managed transactions worth over $25 billion across African infrastructure, mining, and technology.In 2015, Mamadou founded Ubuntu Group to expand access to global capital in Africa. His venture Ubuntu Tribe developed digital gold tokens to give the public broader access to precious metal investments and was recognized as a finalist at the African Bankers Awards in 2019. He sees the digital economy as a way to redistribute wealth and empower communities across Africa.Mamadou has studied at Harvard Kennedy School and completed artificial intelligence programs at MIT. As a World Economic Forum Young Global Leader, he advocates for using technology to drive sustainable prosperity in emerging markets.

Eran Barak, CEOEran Barak is the CEO of Shielded Technologies, where he leads the executive team and all business activities pertaining to the development of the Midnight Network, as he did in his previous tenure at Input Output Global (IOG). He joined IOG following a successful career building and scaling international services companies in the fintech, IT, and telecommunications sectors.Before Shielded, Eran helped found Symphony, the world-leading B2B collaboration workflow in the financial industry, taking it from inception to unicorn status. Over the past 30 years, he served in leadership and executive positions at world-class industry-leading companies such as Parity Technologies, Amdocs, and Thomson Reuters, where he helped create new offerings and scale their businesses globally. He holds a BSc in Computer Science from Tel Aviv University and an Executive MBA in Marketing from the Kellogg School of Management. Eran enjoys spending time with his family and friends, riding steel roller coasters (never wood), solving puzzles, and collecting early 20th-century US wheat pennies. Shielded TechnologiesShielded Technologies is an emerging engineering company pioneering privacy-enhancing, decentralized technologies designed for real-world compatibility. A spinout from leading Web3 venture studio Input Output, Shielded brings deep cryptographic expertise as the core technology partner for the Midnight Network - a new blockchain that leverages advanced cryptographic proofs and a cooperative tokenomics design to protect data and metadata while ensuring auditability and compliance. In collaboration with the Midnight Foundation, Shielded is shaping a global ecosystem that upholds the fundamental freedoms of association, commerce, and expression.

Eran Barak, CEOEran Barak is the CEO of Shielded Technologies, where he leads the executive team and all business activities pertaining to the development of the Midnight Network, as he did in his previous tenure at Input Output Global (IOG). He joined IOG following a successful career building and scaling international services companies in the fintech, IT, and telecommunications sectors.Before Shielded, Eran helped found Symphony, the world-leading B2B collaboration workflow in the financial industry, taking it from inception to unicorn status. Over the past 30 years, he served in leadership and executive positions at world-class industry-leading companies such as Parity Technologies, Amdocs, and Thomson Reuters, where he helped create new offerings and scale their businesses globally. He holds a BSc in Computer Science from Tel Aviv University and an Executive MBA in Marketing from the Kellogg School of Management. Eran enjoys spending time with his family and friends, riding steel roller coasters (never wood), solving puzzles, and collecting early 20th-century US wheat pennies. Shielded TechnologiesShielded Technologies is an emerging engineering company pioneering privacy-enhancing, decentralized technologies designed for real-world compatibility. A spinout from leading Web3 venture studio Input Output, Shielded brings deep cryptographic expertise as the core technology partner for the Midnight Network - a new blockchain that leverages advanced cryptographic proofs and a cooperative tokenomics design to protect data and metadata while ensuring auditability and compliance. In collaboration with the Midnight Foundation, Shielded is shaping a global ecosystem that upholds the fundamental freedoms of association, commerce, and expression.

Driss Benamour is Co-Founder and CEO of YO Labs.With two decades of experience in financial technology, Driss brings a wealth of knowledge around DeFi, crypto, and FinTech. Prior to YO, Driss was Uber’s Head of FinTech Products and led Uber for Business. Prior to Uber, he was the VP of Products at SmartBiz Loans. He also holds an MBA from Stanford University Graduate School of Business.YO, short for Yield Optimizer, is a multi-chain yield abstraction layer that unifies capital with the highest-performing yield across 50+ DeFi protocols. YO solves three core problems in DeFi: fragmentation, complexity, and opacity.

Driss Benamour is Co-Founder and CEO of YO Labs.With two decades of experience in financial technology, Driss brings a wealth of knowledge around DeFi, crypto, and FinTech. Prior to YO, Driss was Uber’s Head of FinTech Products and led Uber for Business. Prior to Uber, he was the VP of Products at SmartBiz Loans. He also holds an MBA from Stanford University Graduate School of Business.YO, short for Yield Optimizer, is a multi-chain yield abstraction layer that unifies capital with the highest-performing yield across 50+ DeFi protocols. YO solves three core problems in DeFi: fragmentation, complexity, and opacity.

Catie Romero-Finger is the Founder and CEO of BABs, a leading web3 marketing agency that drives sustainable growth through data-driven community strategies. Under her leadership, BABS has delivered measurable engagement and TVL growth for tier-1 Web3 projects through strategic communications and community-building initiatives.A veteran technology marketing executive with 20+ years of experience across US, UK, EU, and UAE markets, Catie champions sustainable business models in Web3 that prioritize multiple revenue streams and genuine community engagement over vanity metrics. Her strategic advisory work helps DeFi projects build lasting value through the combination of robust TVL and active user communities.Biggest accomplishment:Catie's biggest accomplishments include architecting BABs' groundbreaking 360° framework, which has fueled significant success for clients in the decentralized economy, such as record-breaking fundraising and mainstream adoption. She has also received recognition as an influential woman in tech/Web3 by multiple organizations, including the Female Tech Leaders Community, and was selected as a Top BAME50 Leader by TechRound.Little-known fact:Catie is bilingual in English and Spanish and has extensive global experience in tech storytelling, working in markets from Chicago to London, Sevilla, and the MENA area.Global Stages:● Proof of Talk Summit● RWA Paris● Global Blockchain Congress● NFT.NYC & NFT London● Metaweek DubaiCatie’s mission is simple:“I aim to create means for inclusivity and creativity to thrive in the Web3 space, contribute to the mass-adoption of crypto, and most importantly, get more chicks into the Web3!”

Catie Romero-Finger is the Founder and CEO of BABs, a leading web3 marketing agency that drives sustainable growth through data-driven community strategies. Under her leadership, BABS has delivered measurable engagement and TVL growth for tier-1 Web3 projects through strategic communications and community-building initiatives.A veteran technology marketing executive with 20+ years of experience across US, UK, EU, and UAE markets, Catie champions sustainable business models in Web3 that prioritize multiple revenue streams and genuine community engagement over vanity metrics. Her strategic advisory work helps DeFi projects build lasting value through the combination of robust TVL and active user communities.Biggest accomplishment:Catie's biggest accomplishments include architecting BABs' groundbreaking 360° framework, which has fueled significant success for clients in the decentralized economy, such as record-breaking fundraising and mainstream adoption. She has also received recognition as an influential woman in tech/Web3 by multiple organizations, including the Female Tech Leaders Community, and was selected as a Top BAME50 Leader by TechRound.Little-known fact:Catie is bilingual in English and Spanish and has extensive global experience in tech storytelling, working in markets from Chicago to London, Sevilla, and the MENA area.Global Stages:● Proof of Talk Summit● RWA Paris● Global Blockchain Congress● NFT.NYC & NFT London● Metaweek DubaiCatie’s mission is simple:“I aim to create means for inclusivity and creativity to thrive in the Web3 space, contribute to the mass-adoption of crypto, and most importantly, get more chicks into the Web3!”

Chief Executive Officer at Acheron Trading, Laurent Benayoun joined the firm following the acquisition of HedgeTech, the prominent trading algorithms and infrastructure provider he co-founded. Passionate about algorithmic trading strategies and market microstructure, Laurent also serves as a peer reviewer for the Journal of Quantitative Finance, as an expert for Alumni Ventures, as an interviewer for the Master of Finance at Princeton, and as a mentor for the Harvard Blockchain Incubator. Laurent holds a Master’s degree in Financial Mathematics/Engineering from Princeton University.

Garvit Goel is the Founder and CEO of Electron, a company specializing in TEE and ZK technologies, backed by leading investors including Stake Capital, Gnosis, Lambda Class, and Legion. Electron recently launched Permute, the most cost-efficient and liquid Bitcoin bridge, powered by TEE.Garvit is an experienced deeptech entrepreneur with research publications in biotechnology and advanced fluid dynamics, as well as investments in aerospace and depth-sensing. A graduate of IIT Delhi, one of Asia’s most prestigious engineering institutes, Garvit brings a multidisciplinary background and a proven track record in building frontier technology ventures.

Garvit Goel is the Founder and CEO of Electron, a company specializing in TEE and ZK technologies, backed by leading investors including Stake Capital, Gnosis, Lambda Class, and Legion. Electron recently launched Permute, the most cost-efficient and liquid Bitcoin bridge, powered by TEE.Garvit is an experienced deeptech entrepreneur with research publications in biotechnology and advanced fluid dynamics, as well as investments in aerospace and depth-sensing. A graduate of IIT Delhi, one of Asia’s most prestigious engineering institutes, Garvit brings a multidisciplinary background and a proven track record in building frontier technology ventures.