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Alexander Bechtel
Head of DLT and Digital Asset Strategy at Deutsche Bank and PhD candidate at University of St- Gallen
St. Gallen / Switzerland
Alex is a leading blockchain and DLT expert in the German speaking countries. As Head of DLT and Digital Asset Strategy at the largest german bank, Deutsche Bank, his work is paving the way for mass adoption in the “old economy”. His work is essential for the implementation of blockchain across the products of Deutsche Bank. But as blockchain is still not equally represented in the scientific area he is currently doing his PhD at the renowned University of St. Gallen, focusing on CBDC and the implications of blockchain based currencies for our current monetary system. Already in 2019 he also started his podcast on digital currencies: Bitcoin, Fiat & Rock’n’Roll.
Alyze Sam
Founder at Give Nation and Chair at Women in Blockchain
Kansas / USA
Not without a reason Alyze is called “Heart of Social Blockchain”. She dedicates her work to help others. With Give Nation she brings aid to those in need by teaching children in developed countries financial education and an altruistic mindest. Based on blockchain the tool rewards children when fulfilling different educational sections and investing in sustainable sources. She strives for a fair world based on cooperation and social inclusion. As chair of the Women in Blockchain she is also a fighter for equal rights for women supporting more women in tech sectors. With her positive mindset she inspires the people to follow her lead and create a world worth living in.
Andreas Dressel
Senator of Finance at State Government of City of Hamburg
Hamburg / Germany
Andreas Dressel is member of the state government of the City of Hamburg and Senator of Finance. He is an important supporter of Northern Germany’s innovation and blockchain space. We are really happy to announce him as supporter and speaker at the BLOCKCHANCE EUROPE 2021.
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Dr. Bjorn-Soren Gigler
Digital Innovation Officer at European Commission and Professor at Georgetown University
Brussels / Belgium
If you want to summarize Bjorn-Soren’s work you can easily do this by saying: he is boosting innovation. As Senior Digital Innovation Officer at the European Commission he is working at the key point for the political support of future technologies in the European area. His work has a substantial influence on the sourcing of financial resources for high tech startups in fields such as blockchain, artificial intelligence, supercomputing and 5G. He holds a PhD from the renowned London School of Economics and Political Science and shares his knowledge as Visiting Professor at Georgetown University.
Blair Halliday
Head of UK at Gemini
London / Great Britain
With a strong background in the financial institutions of the “old economy” such as J.P. Morgan, Blair switched to the alternative payment side after he lost his faith in the traditional system after the banking crash in 2008. Starting as Chief Compliance Officer in Europe for Gemini he nowadays leads Gemini’s European expansion from London.
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Carsten Ovens
Executive Director ELNET Deutschland e.V.
Berlin / Germany
Carsten Ovens is the Executive Director of ELNET Germany since March 2019 and the co-founder of the German Israeli Network of Startups & Mittelstand (GINSUM). With almost two decades of experience in politics, i.a. as a Member of the Hamburg State Parliament, he devoted his work to the German-Israeli relations with a focus on innovation and startups for many years.
Christian Schultze-Wolters
Business Unit Manager at IBM Blockchain Solutions DACH
Berlin / Germany
Christian Schultze-Wolters is Director of Blockchain Solutions DACH with IBM. He brings more than 25 years of sales experience in IBM, leading different sales teams in a national and international environment. After his responsibility for the Travel & Transportation industry in Germany he took over the lead for IBMs Blockchain business in Germany, Austria & Switzerland in late summer 2018 driving solutions and individual projects across all industries. As IBM is a driver for many cooperational blockchain-based projects such as TradeLens he connects the old economy with the advantages of decentralized systems.
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Davinci Jeremie
CEO at Davinci Codes aka DavinciJ15
Santiago / Chile
Davinci is a crypto evangelist from the early days. He detected the promises of Bitcoin before many others. With his famous Telegram group, YouTube channel and Twitter channel he and his team of Davinci Code contribute to knowledge building and sharing about blockchain, bitcoin and crypto. He gives advice on investment strategies, new projects and many altcoins. He truly inspired thousands of people to join the blockchain space. He is spending his money on philanthropy, supporting different projects around the world.
David Chaum
CEO at Privategrity Corporation
Claremont / USA
David founded xx network, a lead blockchain platform supporting secure, private decentralized messaging and payments. Designed to address public concern for user privacy and the threat of quantum computing, xx launched in Fall 2021. Chaum is widely recognized as the inventor of digital cash and is also known for fundamental innovations in cryptography related to privacy technology and secure election systems. His creation of cryptography to support digital signatures is used in most crypto currencies including Bitcoin and his invention of mix network technology lead to the implementation of onion routing-based platforms like Tor. He also published seminal work in distributed computing and coined the term “multi-party computing” or “MPC”. Chaum is now working on technology to decentralize the market making and exchange of assets using cryptography and shared keys so that buyers and sellers can commit to terms and transactions without relying on centralized exchanges. He earned a PhD in Computer Science from UC Berkeley and taught at NYU Graduate School of Business and the University of California, and founded the International Association for Cryptologic Research and the cryptography group at the Center for Mathematics and Computer Science in Amsterdam.
Deepansh Singh
Co-founder & COO at Polkadex
Bhopal / India
Deepansh has experience developing successful business strategies for multiple early-stage start-ups that made those companies profitable. Deepansh is also part of the Innovation Council for Universities in Kerala under the Government of India. He received an award for the innovative Pebble consensus algorithm that enables high throughput transactions in permissionless networks. He now serves as co-founder and COO at Polkadex an exchange in the Polkadot ecosystem.
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Prof. Dr. Erol User
President and CEO at User Corporation
Istanbul / Turkey
Multi-Award-winning entrepreneur, veteran businessman, philanthropist, business/financial coach and educator, Erol User is one of Turkish’s pioneering game changers in the business world. User brings over 30 years’ experience in a wide range of industries and sectors currently as President and CEO of User Corporation. He is a visionary leader, with a strong entrepreneurial background adept with the knowledge of organizational development. Mr. User is also the Founder, President and Board Member of many organizations or associations to include: JCI Turkey, Worldwatch Institute Europe, TUGIAD, DEIK, TESEV, TEMA, Conference Board, Club Of Rome, Club of Budapest and European Business Roundtable. As someone who loves giving back to his community, User is passionate about supporting many philanthropic initiatives. Seeking to impact his passion to many, he has written many books on Economy, Energy, IoT and Blockchain. He holds several MSc and postgraduate degrees from prestigious universities like MIT, Harvard and Oxford.
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Fabian Vogelsteller
Founder and chief architect at LUKSO, author of ERC-20 and ERC-725, developer of web3.js and Mist browser
Berlin / Germany
Fabian Vogelsteller is a truly dazzling personality of the Blockchain sphere. A veteran who was part of the Ethereum Foundation in its early days. From 2015 to 2018 he helped shape the Ethereum space, building the official Ethereum Wallet, the first decentralized web3 Browser and tools like web3.js, the Blockchain spaces most used JavaScript library. In November 2015 he proposed ERC 20, the token standard that initiated the ICO wave and the DeFi movement. Following the proposal of ERC 725 he founded LUKSO, where he is currently working on the future of blockchain beyond DeFi.
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Henrik Gebbing
Co-Founder & Co-CEO at Finoa
Berlin / Germany
Henrik Gebbing Co-CEO and Co-Founder of Finoa, a FinTech focusing on Banking Services for Blockchain-based Digital Assets. Prior, Henrik worked as a Consultant at McKinsey & Company, serving financial institutions and high-tech companies across the globe. He started his career with a dual degree in the high-tech branch of Siemens AG. Henrik earned a B.A. in Int. Management & Finance (Germany), was granted a Fulbright Scholarship for his M.Sc. in Marketing at Golden Gate University (USA), and earned an MBA from IE Business School (Spain).
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Irina Karagyaur
Head of Metaverse Growth at Unique Network
Valencia / Spain
Irina focuses on implementation of Blockchain technology for business and on creating awareness of the importance of the Internet of Value. Irina is the Head of Metaverse Growth at Unique Network, a NFT chain for Kusama and Polkadot. At Unique, she works as a business development lead on empowering creators and developing metaverse partnerships. Irina is also active as a Polkadot Head Ambassador for Western Europe, Regional Co-Chair London to FIBREE (Foundation for International Blockchain and Real Estate Expertise) and a Chairperson for Global Council for The Promotion of International Trade, SDGs Global Impact Startups GCPIT UK.
Irene Hernandez
Founder and CEO at Gataca
Madrid / Spain
Irene is the founder and CEO of Gataca, a cybersecurity company that provides Decentralized Digital Identity technology. She is an expert in blockchain-based enterprise solutions, is a professor of Blockchain Applications at OBS, and regularly speaks at international conferences. Irene started Gataca after conducting extensive research on decentralized architectures for identity and energy financing systems at MIT’s Media Lab. Before MIT, Irene spent a decade advising U.S. and European Multinational Corporations on IT strategies and global product architecture.
Jan Camenisch
CTO at DFINITY
Zurich / Switzerland
Jan is the Chief Technology Officer at DFINITY. He is a leading scientist with over 120 widely cited papers published in the areas of privacy and cryptography. Previously, he spent 19 years as Principal Research Staff Member at IBM, where he co-invented Identity Mixer, a unique cryptographic protocol for authentication. He is a Fellow of IEEE and IACR and has received many awards for his work.
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Jaime Leverton
CEO at Hut 8 Mining
Toronto / Canada
Ms. Leverton is a highly accomplished technology executive and industry thought leader with a long history of driving high growth mandates. With more than 20 years of leadership in the Canadian technology industry, she joined Hut 8 from her most recent role as the Chief Commercial Officer at eStruxture Data Centers. Her career also includes tenure as the General Manager of Canada and APAC with data center and cloud provider Cogeco Peer 1 (now Aptum) and leadership roles with National Bank, BlackBerry, Bell Canada and IBM Canada. She proudly sits on the boards of the Stratford Festival, Technation and ComKids in addition to serving as the Chair of IMWomen Canada.
Jorge Sebastiao
Technology advisor with experience in Blockchain, Cyber Security, AI, IoT, 5G & Cloud Computing
Dubai / UAE
Jorge is an international ICT speaker with over 30 years of experience. He is a true shaper of the blockchain sphere with a background in cyber security and IT. As a technological multitalent he is not limited to blockchain but has a strong interest in AI, IoT and Smart Cities. He is Co-Founder of various projects and institutions such as Ubuntu Tribe, Global Blockchain Organization and Confidential. With his work he is supporting the global movement towards a blockchain based economy.
Joseph Lubin
CEO at ConsenSys, Co-founder of Ethereum
New York / USA
Joseph was a co-founder of Ethereum and served as Chief Operating Officer of Ethereum Switzerland GmbH (EthSuisse), a company working to extend the capabilities of the type of blockchain database first popularized by Bitcoin The new generation of distributed crypto-secure databases with smart contract functionality has been referred to as “Blockchain 2.0”. Lubin was also involved in the creation of the Ethereum Foundation. He subsequently founded ConsenSys in 2015 where he still serves as CEO.
Joseph is a forward-thinker and a truly dazzling personaility of the whole blockchain space.
Julio Faura
CEO at Adhara
London / Great Britain
Julio’s career has been running for more than 20 years along the worlds of Technology and Financial Services, and he now focuses on digital assets, blockchain and distributed ledgers, particularly on their applications for financial institutions, public institutions and enterprises in general. Holding a PhD in Computer Science and an MBA in Technology management from the prestigious MIT and with years of working experience at McKinsey as well as leading Santander’s activities around blockchain, Julio is a well known expert. Today he is a full time entrepreneur as CEO of Adhara, a company that seeks to help financial institutions and corporates leverage smart contracts and blockchain to improve the execution of international payments and optimize liquidity management, in partnership with ConsenSys.
Jürgen Rink
Editor in Chief at c’t magazin
Hannover / Germany
Jürgen is part of the old guard of technology development and an inspiring pioneer in his field. Following a PhD in Physics in 1993 he had postdoc positions at Oxford University and Imperial College London. He then started a career as a professional journalist for various magazines and is Chief Editor of Europe’s biggest IT and tech magazine: c’t magazin since 2017. He has always been at the cutting edge of technology development and is still shaping our view on current trends with his work at c’t. We are very happy to have him as moderator for the BLOCKCHANCE EUROPE 2021.
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Katharina Gehra
Founder & CEO at Immutable Insight
Grünwald / Germany
Katharina Gehra belongs to the “Top 40 under 40” – a ranking by the German business magazine Capital. Furthermore, Katharina Gehra has been nominated as expert on the subject of blockchain for parliamentary hearings at the German Bundestag. Katharina Gehra is the Co-Founder of Immutable Insight, an innovative German start-up that delivers 100% reliable insights on blockchain in real time for traders and investors and a new era of advanced compliance.
Kathrin Haug
Chair at Committee for Innovation at Hamburg Chamber of Commerce, MD at teamX.digital
Hamburg / Germany
Kathrin has been working in the digital space for over 15 years. She founded several New Media Companies like infoMedia and xtend. With years of experience in coaching and advising C-Levels, Executives and big corporates in their digital transformation. Her newest activity is building a digital innovation network with experts from all over the world – teamX.digital, that helps industries and companies to find their business concept of the future and implement it successfully. As chair of the committee of innovation of the Hamburg Chamber of Commerce she is shaping the innovation landscape in Hamburg.
Kellogg Fairbank
CEO at Nash
Amsterdam / Netherlands
Kellogg Fairbank is CEO of Nash, a fintech that makes cryptocurrency and decentralized finance easily available by bridging the gap between traditional banking and blockchain. An experienced technology executive and entrepreneur, he has more than a decade of experience in senior leadership roles in the fintech and payments industries, including positions at Braintree / Venmo and PayPal.
Konstantin Graf
Founder at Kollektor
Hamburg / Germany
Konstantin is Managing Director of Chainstep and has track record in helping enterprise clients explore blockchain based applications. Kollektor.io is a spin-off venture from Chainstep and has the aim to make green NFTs for selling Digital Art accessible to everyone. It is built with artists, for artists.
Kristijan Glibo
Co-Founder & CEO at Beyondi
Osijek / Croatia
Kristijan is a pioneer of the crypto industry. He serves as blockchain solution specialist focused on developing decentralized manageable processes with extensive knowledge in public and private enterprise blockchain projects. He participates in various blockchain projects like NFTs, ICOs, DeFis, supply chains. He is Co-founder and CEO at Beyondi – a firm that brings scalable high-quality software solutions to the economy.
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Luis Cuende
Co-founder & Core-Contributor at Aragon
Zug / Switzerland
Luis was a DeFi wonderkid, starting his first open source project at age 12. He got into Bitcoin in 2011, inspired by how crypto can bring freedom. In 2014, aged 18, he co-founded the blockchain timestamping startup Stampery. He holds multiple recognitions including Forbes 30 under 30, MIT TR35, and best underage hacker of Europe by HackFwd. In 2017, when Luis was only 21, he led Aragon to raise $25mill USD in just 15 minutes in a token sale.
Dr. Lukas Repa
Senior Policy Officer at European Commission
Brussels / Belgium
After working at the University of California at Berkeley (UCB) as fellow at the Institute for European Studies Lukas has more recently joined the Directorate General CONNECT of the EU Commission to work on innovation, start up funding and blockchain. He is a lawyer by training with 19 years of professional experience in law firms and at the European Commission in Belgium, Brussels. Lukas has a strong sectoral expertise in financial and energy markets and in competition policy. In the European Commission, his assignments involve managing teams of experts for conducting market analyses and investigations as well as policy initiatives. As part of the EU Commission Lukas shapes the regulatory framework for blockchain in Europe.
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Marc Buckley
United Nations SDG Advocate, member of the World Economic Forum and global food reformist
New York / USA
Marc has been involved in Climate Activism for a long time and would love to show you how to run faster than climate change by being an impactful and exponential human being. One of the first to be trained by Al Gore as a Climate Speaker he has made getting through the Climate Crisis towards Resilient Desirable Futures his life’s work. As an Advocate for the SDG’s, UN Advisor and Resilient Futurist, member of the World Economic Forum, Global Food Reformist, and Sustainable Futurist, Marc is on a mission to empower billions of global citizens to live an adaptive lifestyle of health and sustainability within planetary boundaries. His aim is to reform the agriculture, food and beverage industry with impactful projects and moonshot companies.
Marc Drießen
Founder & CEO at Bloxxter
New York / USA
Marc is Co-Founder and CEO of Bloxxter. He has over 20 years of experience in the real estate fund industry. Before that he was Managing Director at HANSAINVEST, a fully regulated German Alternative Investment Fund Manager with Assets under Administration of 35bn Euro. Prior he was Managing Director in different bank-owned and privately-held Asset Management Companies. During his career, Marc was responsible for real asset investments with a volume of more than 10bn Euro and syndicated more than 2bn Euro equity. Marc holds an MBA of the Frankfurt School of Finance and Management. He is Regional Chapter Head of Fibree, the Foundation for International Blockchain and Real Estate Expertise and Lecturer for real estate economics at the Northern Business School, University of Applied Sciences.
Marc Friedrich
Founder and CEO at Friedrich Vermögenssicherung and Spiegel-Bestseller Author
Aalen / Germany
Marc is a forward thinker, always curious, no dogmatist and neither an optimist nor a pessimist, but a realist! As Germany’s most successful non-fiction author with 5 bestsellers in a row, he is a proven financial expert, YouTube star, thought leader, free spirit and consultant. For more than a decade, Marc Friedrich has successfully advised international private individuals, companies, top athletes, actors, family offices, foundations and pension funds on asset protection, asset allocation and crisis prevention and is the initiator of Germany’s first physically deposited real asset fund.
Matt Dyer
Head of Sales & Marketing at Zilliqa
Aberdeen / Scotland
Matt is an experienced consultant who is passionate about the digital economy and he is someone who loves to share his knowledge and experience on why he feels Blockchain Technology is an enabler for Business Transformation. He is passionate about the promises of a blockchain based economy and the tokenization of assets. His work for the next generation blockchain project Zilliqa makes him an expert for future fields of application of blockchain.
Matthias von Hauff
CEO at TEN31 Bank and WEG Bank
Munich / Germany
Matthias von Hauff likes to stir things up! Born in 1975, his mind was already set on bringing a new approach to the world of banking and finance when he was only 21 years old. As a graduate from Cass Business School in 2001, he initially built a career in investment banking in London. As a senior manager in the City of London, he went on to heading an international team of portfolio specialists across Europe. However, being an entrepreneur at heart, Matthias followed his calling and moved to Munich in 2007 to found his first bank which was later sold to a German housing cooperative. Building on his experience, he went on to found TEN31 Bank AG in 2015 which has made the bold move to become a leading bank in facilitating blockchain and crypto mass adoption. Matthias is CEO of TEN31 Bank AG and a thoroughbred crypto enthusiast. As a speaker as well as an entrepreneur he enjoys challenging the trodden paths and giving impulses for change.
Max Burger
Nimiq Blockchain Ambassador
Stuttgart / Germany
Max is an MBA with a background in trading and marketing. As Nimiq’s spokesperson, he bridges blockchain innovations to partners, businesses and the community. His main objective: Representing true cryptocurrency that proves that usability can be fully decentralized. Nimiq is working on future generations of cryptocurrencies that tackle a key point for mass adoption: the usability. They follow the idea that a blockchain based financial system needs to be simple and safe with a great UX.
Max Heinzle
Founder & CEO at 21finance
Vaduz / Liechtenstein
Max J. Heinzle (M.Sc.) studied Global Banking & Finance at the European Business School in London. He gained valuable capital market experience as an investment analyst at a leading venture capital player and later as Head of Capital Markets at a corporate finance company. In 2015, he founded MEZZANY (OneCrowd Securities GmbH) in Germany. MEZZANY is a pioneer in crowdinvesting with a transaction volume of more than 100 million euros and over 90,000 registered users. In March 2017, Max Heinzle founded 21.finance AG.
Max Lautenschläger
Co-Founder & Managing Partner at Iconic Funds
Frankfurt / Germany
Max, Co-Founder & Managing Director of Iconic Holding, a global crypto asset manager, started his career as a management consultant, where he advised Furtune 500 companies from the steel, utility, and retail industry on topics like digitalization, project management and IT integration. He transitioned into Private Equity at an Asset Management group with € 40 Billion assets under management, then joined a fintech company builder, where he built several alternative finance startups from scratch together with the management team. He holds a BA in international management, an MBA, is Harvard educated and completed the Chartered Alternative Investment Analyst (CAIA) designation. Additionally, he serves on the supervisory board of MLP, Germany’s biggest independent financial advisor group and is personally invested into several startups as a business angel.
Maximilian Marenbach
Head of Banking and Payments / Head of APAC Expansion at Kraken
Amsterdam / Netherlands
Maximilian is Kraken’s Head of Banking and Payments. The job of his team is to make sure that Kraken’s customers have the most secure, most convenient and most attractive funding options. He has a background in banking as well as project management and has been with Kraken for over 3 years now. During his stint he managed to launch Kraken in multiple new markets with additional FIAT currencies and banking rails. He holds a Grande Ecole Masters degree from EDHEC in France and is currently working on this doctoral thesis at Teeside University in Middlesbrough, UK.
Michael Chrisment
CEO at Farmer Connect
Geneva / Switzerland
Michael has an extensive background in marketing, media, and FMCG. Having worked for companies such as Nestlé and Mondelez, he brings a deep understanding of the value a brand can bring to a company and its shareholders. He’s fascinated by tech, great food, and how they can be brought together. Farmer connect’s vision is to “Humanize consumption through technology.” They think tech should bring people together. As CEO Michael’s work is dedicated to connecting farmers to the supply chain helping them to get loans and fair prices for their products.
Michael Kiberu
CEO and Founder at bit2big and Blockchain Africa i/o
Zug / Switzerland
Michael Kiberu Nagenda is an Ugandan, Swiss-German who is running multiple African tech initiatives in the FinTech and Cybersecurity space. He is the CEO of Bit2Big, the leading Cryptocurrency company in East and West Africa. Plus founder of Blockchain Association of Uganda, Blockchain Africa I/O, and Director of Umbrella Kids NGO. His work only has one goal – helping people. With his projects he is supporting tech development in Africa enabling thousands of people to reach a better life. Michael is an ardent advocate for cooperation, building communities that strive for a better tomorrow based on collaboration.
Michael J. Saylor
Chairman & CEO at MicroStrategy
Virginia / USA
Mr. Saylor is a technologist, entrepreneur, business executive, philanthropist, and best-selling author. He currently serves as Chairman of the Board of Directors and Chief Executive Office of MicroStrategy, Inc. (MSTR). Since co-founding the company at the age of 24, Mr. Saylor has built MicroStrategy into a global leader in business intelligence, mobile software, and cloud-based services. In 2012, he authored The Mobile Wave: How Mobile Intelligence Will Change Everything, which earned a spot on The New York Times Best Sellers list. Mr. Saylor attended the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, receiving an S.B. in Aeronautics and Astronautics and an S.B. in Science, Technology, and Society.
Michael Schramm
Head of Blockchain Competence Center for Germany, Austria and Switzerland at EY
Vienna / Austria
Michael is leading the Blockchain Competence Center for Germany, Switzerland and Austria at EY which enables clients to use Blockchain in their business processes. Prior joining EY, Michael found a startup and had several management roles at IBM where he owned the business development responsibility for Smarter Cities and Cloud projects, amongst others. Michael has more than 25 years’ of experience in technology, focusing on Business Development of new technologies, Software Development and Blockchain. He holds a Master of Computer Science from Technical University Vienna and started in 1995 as one of the first Java Developers in Vienna.
Michael Westhagemann
Senator for Economy and Innovation at City of Hamburg
Hamburg / Germany
“In Hamburg, we want to create the best conditions for new innovations and technologies. This applies in particular to blockchain technology, which increases the innovation potential of numerous economic sectors in logistics, mobility and industry and provides an open society with new applications. The Senate and Parliament have recognized: Developments in the context of blockchain technology will have a major influence on the design and implementation of digital business processes, research missions and projects, and e-government solutions, and thus also on social processes.”. Mr. Westhagemann has been an active supporter of the blockchain space in our hometown Hamburg from the beginning. We are very happy to have him as opening speaker of the BLOCKCHANCE EUROPE 2021.
Miguel Francis-Santiago
CEO at The Future is Now, Filmmaker and Blockchain Evangelist
Los Angeles / USA
Miguel is a truly creative mind. He is currently advising several tech start-ups, including in the Blockchain space. His strengths lay in creating sustainable business strategies and scaling the brand & image of his partners & clients. But his approach differs from what others do. As an experienced film-maker they combine cinematic image-making with global PR campaigns in top tiered media across several industries including Fintech, Crypto, CBD & iGaming. They execute Exchange Listings, analysis and strategies as well as community building for disruptive tech companies.
Monica Nguyen
Client Service Manager at AIMS Market
London / Great Britain
Monica is the Client Services Manager at a cryptoassets brokerage AIMS Markets and previously spent two years as a Cryptocurrency Broker at AIMS OTC. Monica is a passionate about Decentralized Finance and all things FinTech. Monica is a promoter of inclusion and diversity within the blockchain and crypto community and an active ambassador for thebiggerpie.io.
Nader Dabit
Developer Relations at Edge&Node and The Graph
Madison / USA
Nader is a great example for the suction of the Web3 space. He was a successful developer at AWS with offering for executive positions at Coinbase and Bridgewater but as he got deeper into Web3 he found a space that promises to solve many problems that lay in the core of Web2. He is now responsible for developer relations at Edge&Node, the organization responsible for The Graph. The Graph tries to solve a major problem in the blockchain space and works on a Google-similar indexing platform for blockchains. Nader directly inspired us with his vision and we are more than happy to present him to you in Hamburg. Nader also introduces developers to Web3 and develops tutorials on how to become a Web3 developer.
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Niall Murray
Director of Business Development at Salamantex
Hongkong / Hongkong
Niall is a serial entrepreneur and manufacturing expert in consumer electronics, with more than 12 years of experience for large consumer brands. He is supply chain expert for product and market development. As Niall is based in Hongkong he is fluent in Mandarin. While he is working on mass adoption of crypto payments with debit cards at Salamantex he also created his own travel retail brand “Kyutec”, listed at more than 100 airlines, including Lufthansa and Singapore Airlines as well as airports such as Singapore Changi.
Dr. Nina-Luisa Siedler
Board Member at INATBA and Partner at DWF
Berlin / Germany
Nina-Luisa Siedler is partner at DWF, a global law firm, where she heads the global blockchain competence group. She focuses on finance transactions, regulatory and governance questions. She is founding member of the German blockchain association, director of INATBA (a EU Commission initiated industry association), teaches at the University of Applied Science in Berlin, serves on the expert panel of the EU Blockchain Observatory&Forum and the UNIDROIT Digital Assets Working Group. She is co-editor of the new magazine ZdiW (magazine for law of digital economy) and chairperson of the board of directors of thinkBLOCKtank, a Luxembourg based legal thinktank for blockchain experts.
Nico Heinze
Blockchain Lead at iteratec
Munich / Germany
Nico Heinze is Project Area Manager and Blockchain Lead of iteratec GmbH in Munich. As a business informatics graduate, he advises companies and public institutions on the implementation of blockchain-based applications and is responsible for the iteratec Blockchain Lab. He has been involved with blockchain and distributed ledger technologies such as Hashgraph for years and is iteratec GmbH’s representative in Blockchain Bayern e.V..
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Pascal van Knijff
Founder & CEO Future of Trust
Ermelo / Netherlands
Pascal builds propositions by showing the importance and advantages of incorporating next generation technologies for sustainable practices. He has over 20 years of experience as Executive, Consultant and Global Speaker. He’s the founder of the Future of Trust and Cuttingwood Academy Additional industry successes include the creation of an ESG focused STO platform for qzulu.com and ESG Digital. His work is all about the trust machine blockchain and a new era of cooperation amongst those who competed before.
Dr. Peter Tschentscher
First Mayor of the City of Hamburg, head of the state government and patron of BLOCKCHANCE EUROPE 2021
Hamburg / Germany
“Blockchain is a key technology for the networking of digital processes. It offers transparency and stability for decentralized data systems, which are becoming increasingly important in the course of digital globalization. ‘Blockchance Europe 2021’ in Hamburg is one of the most important gatherings in the industry and will showcase the wide range of applications that blockchain has in business and society as a whole. Hamburg is an important location for the digital economy in Europe and is committed to the development of blockchain technology, which we intend to use for the purposes of digitalization and innovation.”. Our First Mayor is a passionate supporter of blockchain and patron for the BLOCKCHANCE EUROPE 2021 conference.
Peter Großkopf
MD & CTO at Unstoppable Finance
Berlin / Germany
Peter was CTO and MD at Börse Stuttgart Digital Exchange the first regulated digital asset exchange in Germany. Before he was CTO and co-founder at solarisBank. Peter has a technology and also entrepreneurial background. In 2008 he founded a software engineering consultancy out of university, grew it profitably to 27 employees. In 2014 he came to Berlin to join the company builder Hitfoxgroup and Finleap that focuses on fintech as CTO. Blockchain and decentralization fascinates him from the moment he got in touch end of 2016. Since then he shapes the vision to bring decentralized finance to reality. Now he is working on a new venture in DeFi.
Prof. Dr. Philipp Sandner
Professor and Head of Blockchain Center at Frankfurt School of Finance and Management
Frankfurt / Germany
Philipp is the most influential German blockchain scientist. He is Professor and Head of the Blockchain Center at Frankfurt School of Finance and Management, ranked as one of the Top30 Economists by FAZ and is member of the FinTech Council of the Federal Ministry of Finance. His expertise includes blockchain technology in general, crypto assets such as Bitcoin and Ethereum, the digital programmable Euro, tokenization of assets and rights and digital identity. His groundbreaking research is substantial for the German blockchain strategy and he is a famous voice for the advantages of blockchain in the media.
Raoul Pal
Founder at Real Vision
Frankfurt / Germany
Former hedge fund manager who retired at 36, Raoul Pal is a co-founder of Real Vision, a financial media company offering in-depth video interviews and research publications from the world’s best investors. He has run a successful global macro hedge fund, co-managed Goldman Sachs’ hedge fund sales business in Equities and Equity Derivatives in Europe, and helped design the BBC TV program Million Dollar Traders, training participants in investment and risk management strategy. Raoul retired from managing client money and now lives in the Cayman Islands, from where he manages Real Vision and writes for The Global Macro Investor, a highly regarded original research service for hedge funds, family offices, sovereign wealth funds, and other elite investors.
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Prof. Dr. Dr. Stefan Brunnhuber
Full Member of the Club of Rome, advisor at UN, Board of Trustees World Academy of Science and Arts and Medical Director at Diakonie Zschadrass
Dresden / Germany
A genius the world needs – As a practicing Buddhist and Catholic, his professional activities are embedded into the mystical traditions and practices of the perennial Eastern and Western philosophies. Professor Brunnhuber is a member of Club of Rome, advisor to the UN, medical director at Diakonie Zschadrass, Professor and fellow and some of the most prestigous universities, member of the Board of Trustees at the World Academy of Arts and Science and a fighter for a better world. Listening to him inspires you to dedicate all your work on creating a fair and sustainable future. His current work focuses on how to finance the SDG with blockchain.
Prof. Dr. Stephan Breidenbach
Founder at betterplace.org, Professor at University of Vienna, Head of Policy & Legal at German Zero
Berlin / Germany
As a pioneer in the legal tech field, Stephan Breidenbach has been working with knowledgeTools International, Legal OS, Betterlaw and the Viadrina Legal Tech Center for over 20 years on the digitalization of law and more access to justice. As founder of the new school of [Law] and in cooperation with GermanZero, he is developing the key points of a legislative package for the 1.5 degree climate target. For the BMJV, he is working with the new school on training for legislation. As one of Germany’s leading business mediators, he accompanies complex decision-making processes, especially in disputes between companies and between shareholders. As an arbitrator, he works for the DIS, the ICC in Paris and the CAS (Court of Arbitration for Sport), among others. Stephan is Professor for mediation at the University of Vienna and professor and fellow at some of the most prestigious European universities. Stephan is the also founder of different social initiatives, including School in Awakening, and impact companies such as betterplace.org. As a co-founder, angel or investor, he supports DeepL, Clue and the ReDI School, among others.
Stephen Stonberg
CEO at Bittrex Global
Vaduz / Liechtenstein
Stephen has spent his entire 25-year career working in financial markets in London and New York. He left the traditional world of finance to get involved in the crypto and blockchain industry. He now serves as the CEO of Bittrex Global, one of the most reliable and secure cryptocurrency exchanges in the world. Prior to Bittrex Global, Stephen joined the Investment Management Division of Goldman, Sachs & Co. Stephen advised executives, entrepreneurs, and foundations on all items of economic impact to their balance sheet. Prior to joining Goldman Sachs, he advised some of the world’s most sophisticated investors as a Partner and US CEO at Brevan Howard, Head of the New York office at Winton Capital, and Managing Director at Credit Suisse Asset Management. Prior to this, Stephen worked as a Managing Director in Fixed Income Sales and Trading at JPMorgan, and in Mergers and Acquisitions. Stephen holds an MBA from Harvard Business School and a bachelor’s degree in Economics from Columbia University. He has served on several public company and non-profit boards.
Dr. Sven Hildebrandt
Managing Director at Distributed Ledger Consulting GmbH and board member at INATBA
Hamburg / Germany
Dr. Sven Hildebrandt is an integral part of the European Blockchain sphere, usually consulting financial institutions in regards to blockchain technology. His DLC – Distributed Ledger Consulting is a leading consultancy for the implementation of blockchain across industries. With foreverontheblockchain he now taps into lighter, more fun waters leveraging this great invention. You wanna be immortal? Now you can. With foreverontheblockchain you can add an immortal entry about your loved ones on the Ethereum or Bitcoin blockchain, saving your love forever.
Sven Wagenknecht
Editor in Chief at BTC-ECHO
Berlin / Germany
Sven Wagenknecht is editor-in-chief of BTC-ECHO, the highest-coverage medium on the topic of blockchain in the DACH region. In his role, he regularly comments on the socio- and macroeconomic impact of decentralized technologies. In addition, he advises public institutions (including the United Nations, the European Union and the Federal Ministry of Economics and Energy) on individual blockchain initiatives. After training as a banker, Wagenknecht studied politics and economics in Münster and Barcelona.
Prof. Svetlana Boyanova
Chairperson at Institute for Agrostrategies and Innovation and former Minister of Agriculture of Bulgaria
Sofia / Bulgaria
Svetlana is one of the most recognizable and proven names in the field of agriculture and food sector in Bulgaria. She hold the position of a Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Food and for years was in charge of some of the most important issues in the sector. After her withdrawal of this position in 2013 she laid the foundations of the Institute for Agrostrategies and Innovations (IAI), a public benefit non-governmental organization aimed at keeping track of new developments, analysing trends and offering solutions to problems in the field of agriculture and rural areas. One of the ambitious aims of IAI is to establish a network between all the stakeholders in the agri-food sector and to unite them in searching and using new technologies and innovative instruments in order to facilitate their work and production processes and become more competitive.
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Valentin Preobrazhenskiy
Founder & CEO at LATOKEN
Singapore / Singapore
Valentin Preobrazhenskiy is the CEO and Founder of LATOKEN pioneering digital assets markets. Valentin founded 5 startups (1 exit) and worked as a VC director, hedge fund manager and communities builder. He was a director of the Founder Institute tech incubator ($20B+ alumni companies value). Valentin was a Research Director for $180+ million long/short equities portfolio at Marcuard Spectrum hedge fund (Marcuard group $3bn+ assets). He also managed Avega Capital hedge fund. As a 20x+ keynote speaker and host of LATOKEN forums visited by 2 presidents and $120bn funds, Valentin contributes to the financial system transformation agenda.
Vanessa Grellet
Head of Portfolio Growth at CoinFund.io and WEF Global Innovator
New York / USA
Vanessa recently joined CoinFund as Head of Portofolio Growth. Prior she led led Strategic Partnerships, Alliances and Channelsat ConsenSys. She focuses on financial services, global trade and enterprise blockchain. As an alumna of renowned HEC Business School in Paris Vanessa has a strong business background. Prior to joining ConsenSys she had executive positions at NYSE and PwC. Vanessa is passionate about the chances for social impact of blockchain and her department builds bridges between initiatives to strengthen the impact of blockchain.
Viktoria Soltesz
Founder & CEO at PSP Angels
Cyprus
Viktoria is the founder of the payment consulting firm, PSP Angels, which helps online businesses optimising their payment flows and costs by finding the best payment and banking solutions. She also runs a finance and tax consulting firm in Cyprus for over 14 years now. Viktoria has extensive experience with high risk industries, and used to work as a Chief Financial Officer with various Fintech & E-commerce companies. She used to lecture at the University of West London and is a regular speaker at blockchain, fintech and investment conferences.
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Yanislav Malahov
Founder at aeternity
Vaduz / Liechtenstein
Yanislav Malahov is the Founder of aeternity, an open source blockchain protocol that focuses on high bandwidth transacting, purely-functional smart contracts, and decentralized oracles. Yani is a true veteran of the blockchain space, having exchanged ideas and pursued blockchain endeavors with many of the greatest minds including those behind Ethereum. Back in 2013, the “Godfather of Ethereum” and computer scientist envisioned powerful algorithms on blockchains, helping to build several software crypto wallets. With æternity, Yani’s vision of enabling faster transactions without sacrificing rich functionality and decentralization is now a reality. The protocol of the æternity blockchain is based on an entirely new architecture and is an important step toward mainstream adoption of the blockchain.
Yaniv Tal
Co-Founder & Project Lead at The Graph
San Francisco / USA
Yaniv Tal is the Project Lead and Co-Founder of The Graph. Yaniv has been working in crypto for more than three years. Prior to starting The Graph, Yaniv worked at Mulesoft and Co-Founded a developer tooling startup using immutable databases. As co-founder and Project Lead, Yaniv has successfully led the The Graph team and community of Indexers and Curators to get us where we are today. Yaniv believes that decentralization will fundamentally transform how humans cooperate and that this will only be possible once a fully decentralized protocol stack is in place with incentives for allocating talent and resources. He identified that an open data layer that developers and users could collaborate on in a decentralized way was the missing piece to realizing Web3. Yaniv is excited to be part of this decentralization movement to help people achieve their full potential through self-determination and social coordination.
Yuri Lobyntsev
Co-Founder & CEO at Cindicator
St. Petersburg / Russia
Inventor, tech entrepreneur, and software engineer with over a decade of experience. As a co-founder of Cindicator, Yuri has developed the core technology and user experience of Hybrid Intelligence, which combines Artificial Intelligence and the collective intelligence of humans to forecast prices of cryptocurrencies, digital assets, equities, commodities, and other financial instruments. Prior to Cindicator, Yuri has built Octobrain, an award-winning app development and startup production studio. Within Octabrain, he has also set up a Neuro-Laboratory, leading R&D of brain-computer interfaces and inventing a technology of a complex signal synchronization in brain-to-brain communication.