Crypto Hipster

Bill Laboon is the Director of Education and Governance Initiatives at Web3 Foundation.  Before this, he was a lecturer in the Computer Science Department of the University of Pittsburgh, teaching courses in software quality assurance, software engineering, and blockchain technology. He is a frequent speaker at conferences on a variety of topics, including cryptocurrency, software quality, and the ethics of software development. He is the author of two books: A Friendly Introduction to Software Testing, an undergraduate textbook; and Strength in Numbers, a near-future novel set in a world in which cryptocurrency has eliminated traditional money.  Bill has a BS in Computer Science and Political Science from the University of Pittsburgh, as well as an MS in Software Design & Management from Carnegie Mellon University.  

Ibrahim Mustapha is a multi-talented young Ghanaian  public speaking coach, and social entrepreneur who was selected as a Mandela Washington Fellow in 2021. He is also a Global Shaper with the World Economic Forum and the founder of Me for Africa, an NGO focused on promoting sustainable development and economic empowerment in Ghana. Additionally, Ibrahim is the founder of IM radio, an online radio platform, and has a growing community on Udemy where he shares his expertise on public speaking, writing, and digital skills. He was also a Digital skills trainer with the Google Digital Skills Africa Program.

Oliver Linch started his legal career with leading law firm Shearman & Sterling, after which he became Chief Executive Officer and General Counsel of Bittrex Global, the global cryptocurrency exchange. He has over a decade of experience as a financial regulatory lawyer, having advised major investment banks, exchanges, and leading financial institutions on regulatory matters across the UK, EMEA, and North America. As part of one of the world’s top-ranking law firms, Oliver specialised in various areas of financial regulatory advisory work, such as financial market infrastructure, payment services, and special economic zone and legislative drafting.Dedicated to regulatory best practice in financial services, Oliver is an active member of the Financial Markets Law Committee’s Finance & Technology Scoping Forum and the AIMA Anti-Money Laundering Working Group. Oliver is also a Senior Consultant to the Adam Smith Institute, and heads up the ASI’s Fintech, AI, & Emerging Technologies Policy Unit.Oliver is frequently quoted in the media on matters of legal and regulatory policy across the digital assets and fintech space, and is often highly sought to be interviewed for TV or podcasts from around the world.He received a double first in Jurisprudence and a Master’s in Law, both from the University of Oxford."Outside work, Oliver enjoys cricket, travelling, and cheese — often all at the same time. He tweets at @OliverLinch. 

Aki Balogh, Co-founder & CEO Aki Balogh is the Co-founder and CEO of DLC.Link, a self-wrapped BTC solution offering the highest levels of security and user control through Discreet Log Contracts (DLCs). An entrepreneur building decentralized technologies to empower society, Aki is also the Co-founder & President of MarketMuse, an AI-based content optimization platform. Along with acting as an advisor to Dakai.io, a software development firm that built Chivo (the Bitcoin wallet created by the government of El Salvador), Aki also holds two patents in semantic analysis. Before founding DLC.Link and MarketMuse, Aki worked as a Venture Capital Associate at OpenView Venture Partners where he invested in Big Data and AI companies.

Vlad Costea is a Romanian bitcoiner who dropped out from his PhD in political philosophy to create the Bitcoin Takeover podcast. Over the last 5 years, he recorded more than 200 interviews with some of the most brilliant people in the space. He also created the free open source BTCTKVR magazine, which features educational articles about Bitcoin. Find his entire work at https://btctkvr.com

Omer Sadika | Co-Founder of dWallet Network, CEO of dWallet Labs Omer Sadika is the founder and CEO of dWallet Labs, dWallet Labs is a cybersecurity company specializing in blockchain technology and the builder of dWallet Network. He’s a former cybersecurity expert for Israeli Defense and YCombinator alumni. Previously he was the co-founder and CEO of the first API Security company, Salt Security, which is now a unicorn. Together with his team, Omer built the dWallet Network - a composable modular signature network. They introduced a new blockchain primitive, dWallets, expanding the capabilities of smart contract networks with multi-chain, noncollusive and massively decentralized MPC.

Dr Alun Evans, Co-Founder of LAOS Network With over 20 years of experience leading and designing games and tech companies, Alun is well-versed in creating innovative products that tackle experiential and developer challenges. In addition to his stewardship of LAOS Network, he is CEO and Co-Founder of the company building LAOS, Freeverse, which focuses on building scalable blockchain infrastructure. His history as the co-founder of ‘Barcelona World Race - THE GAME’, a cutting-edge video game enabling virtual participation in real-world events, and his wider passion for gaming, have fed into his vision for LAOS Network as a solution for Web3 game developers. Alun also led Shar3d.io, a pioneering company enabling collaborative 3D web applications, and served as CTO of Bodypal.com, a virtual garment services company. He holds a Ph.D. in Medical Physics from University College London.

Zain Talyarkhan, CEO and Founder at Notable.artZain Talyarkhan is CEO and Founder of Notable.art, a production studio, blockchain-enabled issuance platform, and marketplace bridging digital and physical art. Notable.art partners with leading curatorially- and commercially-successful visual artists to bring their work to the digital medium.An accomplished auctioneer, collector, and entrepreneur, Zain brings over a decade of expertise in the art world, including ten years at Christie's, where he spearheaded business development and corporate strategy for the key Russia/CIS, Middle East & India regions. He subsequently founded Actium Advisory, a boutique consultancy specializing in fine art and luxury goods. Prior to founding Notable, he was Director of Luxury & Passion Assets at Yieldstreet, the leading D2C fintech platform for private market alternative investments.Zain holds a BA (Hons.) in Philosophy, Politics, and Economics from the University of Oxford, an MA in Art Business from the Sotheby’s Institute of Art as well as MBAs from London Business School and Columbia Business School. He was formerly on the Board of Advisors of the Cosmoscow Art Fair and is a leading patron of various cultural institutions in the US, UK, Europe, and India.

Carlos Balbin is a Venture Partner, who specializes in sourcing early-stage deals in AI, Web3, and Fintech. Throughout his career, Carlos has embraced a disciplined, facts based, collaborative, innovative and results oriented approach gained along his more than 20 years of experience as a Banker and Consultant. Academically, Carlos always ranked #1 in high school, well versed in math and quant skills, holds a BA degree in Business Administration with specialization in Strategy and Finance from Pontifical Catholic University of Peru (Top Tier) as well as an MBA from Tepper Business School at Carnegie Mellon University (Top Tier) with specializations in Strategy, Operations, Marketing, Organizational Behavior, and Data Analytics. A visionary that pioneers in new market opportunities as demonstrated by his early research papers on Neural Networks (2000) and Blockchain (2015) Carlos is always looking to build his skillset and has just graduated from a Venture Capital Program at GoingVC – Cohort 13. Professionally, Carlos started his banking career in Scotiabank performing in several roles in Corporate Banking, Commercial Banking, Commodity Research, and Investment Banking. Migrated to USA in 2005 where he continued his career progression in the Hedge Fund Industry before his MBA. Post graduation, he became a Strategy Consultant for Banking, Capital Markets and Financial Institutions working for Cognizant and later for American Express as a Risk Manager for Commercial Portfolios. In addition to sourcing VC deals, Carlos is running his independent Fractional CFO Consulting Practice at Pathfinders Advisors LLC enjoying a lot to help entrepreneurs to meet their goals. Carlos has an impressive and successful track record of portfolio management in the order of billions across several industries Personally, Carlos is as multifaceted as the industries he has covered. For instance, Carlos enjoys cooking, singing, guitar playing, hiking, kayaking, traveling, wine tasting, paragliding, dancing, mountain climbing, and teaching. He also speaks Spanish, English, and French. Currently learning Russian and German

Casey Stubbs is a 9 ½ year United States Army Veteran and married father of nine. He is an entrepreneur, a leader in his local church, and is a successful business owner, trader, and author. That, however, wasn’t always the case. Casey’s compelling broke-dad to seven-figure trading education business story will captivate and inspire you. He loves to share his failures with others because he believes that is where the most growth and character-building takes place. Casey is dedicated to helping people from all walks of life fulfill their financial dreams, while also achieving financial freedom. Helping others is at the heart of all that drives Casey on a daily basis.