With over 12 years of experience in banking and finance, Adilah Holivay is a recognized leader in her field. As Co-Founder of DNA Legacy Blockchain Brokerage, she brings expertise in finance, technology, compliance, and risk management, with a keen eye on the transformative potential of Web3 technologies. Adilah's leadership roles, including Chair of the Board for NABCRMP, demonstrate her commitment to addressing industry challenges.

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Adilah's contributions have earned her recognition, notably a nomination for Board Member of the year in 2021. Her deep understanding of compliance and risk, honed through collaboration with Big 4 firms, is complemented by her status as a published author in the field.

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Passionate about innovation, Adilah focuses on topics such as emerging compliance trends, blockchain's impact on finance, diversity in the sector, and fostering innovation in financial leadership. Her insights and dedication to excellence make her a sought-after speaker and industry influencer.

Alessandra is a researcher in the legal fields of regulatory models, financial innovation, and regulation. Her research focuses on the intersection of financial regulation and innovation and the role of disrupting regulatory models in fostering and enabling innovation. Alessandra is currently an S.J.D. candidate at the University of Pennsylvania Carey Law School where her research focuses on the role of regulatory sandboxes as as tool for innovation in the financial sector and building a better understanding of the regulatory models for regulatory sandboxes. Alessandra is also a research and teaching fellow in the Engineering Ethics Program at the University of Pennsylvania Engineering School with focus on relation between ethics and regulation. 

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Alessandra is also a Parner at Machado Meyer Advogados with focus on banking & financing and technology & innovation departments. She has represented clients in connection with a wide range of corporate and regulatory matters and has played a critical role in some of the most significant corporate transactions in Latin America involving financial and payments institutions, foreign exchange, Fintechs, blockchain & DeFi, cryptocurrencies & NFTs, ICOs & tokenization, instant payments & Pix, Open Banking, regulatory sandboxes and other related subjects, including in the development of groundbreaking regulatory frameworks issued by Brazilian agencies such as the Central Bank and the Brazilian Securities and Exchange Commission. Alessandra's experience also includes representation of national and foreign entrepreneurs, startups, Venture Capital funds in the structuring of innovative projects, mapping of legal risks 360º, investment rounds (from angel to late stage investments), and exits.

Alicka is a dynamic and insightful speaker who delves into the fascinating nexus between creativity and emerging technologies. As a published ghostwriter with a rich 15-year history in the media and literary industries, Toby brings a wealth of knowledge and unique perspectives to the stage. She is particularly passionate about examining how artificial intelligence is reshaping our perceptions of reality and altering the narratives we craft. Alicka's presentations explore the profound implications of technological advancements on storytelling and human expression, making her a sought-after voice for audiences looking to understand the future of creativity in an AI-driven world. With a deep understanding of both the artistic and technical realms, Alicka offers compelling narratives that engage, inform, and inspire.

Alison K. Jimenez is President of Dynamic Securities Analytics, Inc. where she utilizes her extensive background in the financial services industry to consult and provide expert witness testimony on complex matters involving financial crime, fraud, and Anti-Money Laundering (‘AML’).

Ms. Jimenez has been retained as a testifying expert in federal and state courts, international arbitration, and regulatory enforcement actions on a variety of financial crime issues including bribery/corruption, bank fraud, cryptocurrency scams, and Ponzi schemes. In addition, Ms. Jimenez has experience providing damages and other quantitative witness testimony in securities litigation matters.

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Ms. Jimenez has published original research on cryptocurrency crime topics including blockchain analytics, analysis of CFPB cryptocurrency complaints, and Suspicious Activity Reports filed by cryptocurrency exchanges. Alison’s research on financial crime has been cited by the Wall Street Journal, Bloomberg, American Banker, and by government agencies.

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Alison has applied her data analysis and technical skills in developing AML and anti-financial crime software applications. Ms. Jimenez has also served as an independent auditor to plan and conduct AML audits of financial institutions, verify compliance with PATRIOT Act, Suspicious Activity Report filing requirements and other rules/laws.  

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Ms. Jimenez has served on the Education and Examination Task Forces for the Association of Certified Anti-Money Laundering Specialists (ACAMS) and previously served as a member of the Department of Defense- Working Group on Counter Threat Finance. Ms. Jimenez frequently presents on AML and securities fraud issues at national and international conferences.

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Prior to this role, Alison worked at a large financial services firm and was a securities regulator. Ms. Jimenez holds a master’s degree in economics, is a Certified Anti-Money Laundering Specialist and a Cryptocurrency Tracing Certified Examiner.

Alison Mangiero is the Acting Executive Director of the Proof of Stake Alliance (POSA), an industry alliance that advocates for innovation-friendly regulation of growing proof-of-stake ecosystems. Alison previously founded Tocqueville Group (TQ), which incubated new ventures and built products, open source software, and other public goods for the Tezos ecosystem. Before founding TQ, Alison ran the Manhattan Institute’s Adam Smith Society, a nationwide, chapter-based association of free-market MBA students and business leaders. She managed the group from its inception with four students at Harvard Business School and grew it to more than 10,000 students across 30 chapters at top U.S. business schools. A recovering political scientist, Alison spent a decade prior in public policy and academia, and has broad experience in fundraising and growing membership associations. She currently teaches courses on Leadership, Entrepreneurship, and Public Policy at College of the Holy Cross and serves on the Executive Board of Advisors for the University of Richmond's Jepson School of Leadership Studies.

Alma Angotti is a Partner in Guidehouse’s Financial Services Segment, and Global Legislative and Regulatory Risk Lead. Alma is a recognized expert in compliance and investigations with an emphasis on anti-money laundering (AML), combatting the financing of terrorism (CFT) and economic sanctions compliance.

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Alma has over 10 years of consulting experience and has counselled her clients in a variety of projects, managed gap analyses, compliance program reviews, risk assessments, remediation efforts, investigations, and historical transaction reviews. Her clients include large, complex, global financial institutions, global payments institutions, mid-sized banks, broker-dealers, and Fintech and digital assets companies, hedge funds, casinos, and multinational corporations. She leads the firms cryptocurrency, digital assets and fintech projects.

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Alma has also held interim senior compliance leadership positions at several global and regional financial institutions providing day-to-day management of their compliance programs and assisting them with remediation efforts, often in the context of a regulatory or criminal enforcement action. She has trained and advised the financial services industry and regulators and government officials worldwide on AML, sanctions, CFT, and other regulatory compliance issues.

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In her 25 years of experience in regulation and enforcement, Alma held senior enforcement positions at the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) and FINRA (Financial Industry Regulatory Authority). In these positions, she was responsible for investigations and enforcement of the Bank Secrecy Act, the federal securities laws, and FINRA rules. At FinCEN and FINRA, she designed and lead the AML enforcement programs.

Amanda Wick served as a federal prosecutor for the U.S. Department of Justice for nearly a decade, specializing in money laundering and cryptocurrency. After working at the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network, she left government to serve as the Chief of Legal Affairs at Chainalysis, a blockchain analytics company. She briefly returned to government service when she was asked to lead the financial investigation for the House Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the U.S. Capitol. After serving on the Select Committee, she launched the Association for Women In Cryptocurrency, where she is the Founder and Chief Executive Officer. The Association was founded to build a global network of women and male allies in the cryptocurrency, blockchain, and web3 industries, who will advocate for the equal inclusion of women in the future of digital finance. She is also a Principal with Incite Consulting and provides expert and litigation advisory services to cryptocurrency businesses principally focused on business planning, risk and compliance strategy.

Angela leads Asia Pacific public policy and regulatory affairs for TRM Labs, a blockchain intelligence company that helps financial institutions, cryptocurrency businesses and public agencies detect and investigate crypto-related fraud and financial crime.

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A former regulator, Angela spent over a decade at the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS), where she was most recently Deputy Director in charge of licensing for payment service providers. As part of the pioneering team for Singapore’s payments regulatory regime, she oversaw the development and implementation of the licensing framework as well as the assessment of several hundred payments and digital asset license applications. Prior to this, Angela held a diverse range of roles at MAS including in regulatory policy, business development and consumer education, giving her deep insight into the full gamut of policymaking considerations for global financial regulators.

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Angela was recently named one of LinkedIn’s Top Voices for Asian finance. Follow her at

https://www.linkedin.com/in/angelaajl.

Ann Brickley is a Senior Associate General Counsel in NASDAQ’s Enforcement group where she handles all manner of securities-related legal issues, including trading in crypto. Ann works on AML, Compliance, and Banking issues, too.  Prior to joining Nasdaq, Ann was a senior prosecutor at the Department of Justice for many years. Ann prosecuted complex white collar crimes involving domestic and foreign bribery and money laundering.  Ann is an experienced litigator and loves speaking about emerging legal issues.

Ayana Murphy is a Managing Director at Ankura based in New York. She has nearly 20 years of experience in regulatory compliance work, with a focus on Bank Secrecy Act (BSA), Anti-Money Laundering (AML), and Know Your Customer (KYC) compliance for the past 15 years. Ayana is a subject matter expert in BSA/AML compliance and has spent the bulk of her career at major international and domestic banks providing guidance on compliance with BSA/AML rules and regulations and collaborating with senior stakeholders to enhance AML controls, policies, and procedures. She holds a law degree from NYU and a BA from the University of Chicago.

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EXPERIENCE

Ayana has extensive experience in all facets of an institution-wide financial crime and sanctions compliance program, including BSA/AML and KYC program review, compliance testing, lookback reviews, quality assurance, policy and procedure reviews, risk assessments, and Suspicious Activity Report (SAR) drafting and review.

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More recently, Ayana has performed BSA/AML work in the digital assets and cryptocurrencies space, helping blockchain platforms review and enhance their BSA/AML program compliance.

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Ayana’s professional experience includes:

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Conducting an end-to-end BSA/AML program review utilizing the five pillars of BSA/AML model of compliance, including an evaluation of the Know Your Customer, transaction monitoring, and suspicious activity reporting processes, as well as a policy/procedure review.

Leading multiple projects for financial institutions with enforcement actions or regulatory concerns, performing various aspects of anti-money laundering work where she has created and refined materials positioned for federal and state regulators, the board of directors, and internal audit functions, including the presentation of demonstrated testing capabilities and the strengthening of the bank’s control environment.

Performing independent testing of a bank’s sanctions screening systems and advising the bank with respect to the effectiveness of those controls considering the bank’s risk profile as well as developing targeted trainings based on identified areas of risk in the BSA/AML compliance program, as well as industry best practice and new developments in BSA/AML compliance.

Ayana was a compliance senior manager for an international bank, where she built out the independent controls and testing program and managed the day-to-day operations of the compliance testing program. In this role, she managed a team of experienced compliance professionals and oversaw the execution of independent testing of every Business-as-Usual (“BAU”) workstream of the BSA/AML compliance program.

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Ayana also spent four years working as an attorney, predominantly as a lawyer for the city of New York, with the Department of Investigations/Department of Buildings, where she prepared and argued administrative cases on behalf of the Department of Buildings at the Office of Administrative Trials and Hearings. She worked extensively with New York City’s Department of Investigation in cases involving fraud and other forms of corruption.

Beth Haddock is an independent board director and chief legal officer with over 25 years’ experience leading the design and successful implementation of modern governance programs. With a focus on accelerating safe and sustainable growth, Beth fosters a culture of risk ownership, partnership and creative problem-solving re-positioning governance and compliance as powerful business drivers at notable companies including Brown Brothers Harriman, Guggenheim Investments and AXA Advisors. She is an active board member and advisor, sharing her expertise and guidance on cutting-edge topics related to compliance, blockchain, and emerging technology. Beth currently serves as an Independent Board Member and Chair of the Compliance Committee at GMO-Z.com Trust Company, a yen and USD-backed stablecoin, a member of the advisory board for the Stablecoin Standard, a current Co-Chair for Web3, Digital Tech Taskforce Subcommittee for the New York City Bar Association, and an active member of the Regulatory Advisory Committee for the National Society of Compliance Professionals. As a founder of Warburton Advisers, Beth has advised clients since 2016 including T-Rowe Price, Franklin Templeton subsidiary Advisor Engine, World Gold Council’s ETF, GLD, as well as many blockchain companies notably Balancer, Grayscale and Orca. Beth also developed a patented technology to measure compliance ROI, she is the author of “Triple Bottom-line Compliance: How to Deliver Protection, Productivity and Impact,” and podcast host for “What’s Ethical?”

Bill is a senior vice president for Property & Casualty in Lockton Northeast’s New York office. In this role he is responsible for the development and servicing of digital assets and financial services companies. Bill also provides C-Suite level strategy for a broad array of insurance and alternative risk financing structures. Bill brings his vast experience integrating insurance into the risk-based capital models of our clients. He is an expert in digital assets, financial services, and technology clients. His product expertise includes D&O, Professional Liability, Cyber Liability, and Crime and Specie coverages. Bill brings additional experience with Captive Insurance Companies and Reinsurance.

Bruna Cabús Is an Associate for Iberia and LATAM at 21.co, the global leader in providing access to crypto through simple and easy to use products. 21.co is also the parent company of 21Shares. Bruna joined 21Shares in August 2022, with a primary focus on expanding the investor base of 21Shares in the Iberian and LATAM regions. Holding a degree in Economics and a Master of Science in Banking and Finance from the Zurich University of Applied Sciences, Bruna developed a keen interest in the crypto assets market during her master’s program, this interest prompted her to conduct research at the University on its interactions with TradiFi and its potential future developments.

Producer at Coin Bureau/Elected Educational Influencer/experienced in live podcasts, offline events and summits, talks about web3 community, defi, cryptocurrency, connecting retail with institutions through education.

Carmel King is and insolvency practitioner in Grant Thornton UK’s Insolvency and Asset Recovery team, specialising in investigations, asset tracing and recovery actions for clients who have suffered a financial loss as a result of fraud. Carmel has a particular interest in crypto and digital assets and leads this practice area for the team. The practice combines blockchain analytics with corporate intelligence and digital forensic techniques to conduct investigations, alongside insolvency proceedings, court-appointed receiverships, other civil procedures and litigation funding to formulate legal claims and enforce judgements. She regularly presents on the topic and is widely published in this subject matter.  

Carmel is the Vice-Chair of CFAAR, the Crypto Fraud and Asset Recovery network and the Co-Chair of INSOL Europe’s Anti-Fraud Forum.

Carole House is an Executive in Residence at Terranet Ventures, Inc., and a Nonresident Senior Fellow at the Atlantic Council.  She also currently serves as the Chair of the Technology Advisory Committee (TAC) to the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), on Advisory Boards for Third Way’s U.S.-China Digital World Order initiative, the Digital Dollar Project, and the Idaho Department of Finance’s Financial Innovation Lab (FIL), and as a Senior Advisor at FS Vector.  Carole recently left the White House National Security Council (NSC), where she served as the Director for Cybersecurity and Secure Digital Innovation. Carole joined the NSC from the U.S. Treasury’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN), where she led cybersecurity, virtual currency, and emerging technology policy efforts as a Senior Cyber and Emerging Technology Policy Officer.  Prior to FinCEN, she worked as a Presidential Management Fellow supporting the White House Office of Management and Budget's Cyber and National Security Unit and the U.S. Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs on cybersecurity, supply chain risk management, and critical infrastructure protection policy issues. Carole is a former Army Captain who served in chemical defense and military intelligence until November 2014, including a deployment to Kandahar Province, Afghanistan, from 2012 to 2013 in support of Operation Enduring Freedom. She holds a BA in international affairs from the University of Georgia and an MA in security studies from Georgetown University.

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Carole has spoken publicly and keynoted at many conferences about issues of national security and emerging technology policy, ranging from countering illicit finance, to cybersecurity, to digital assets and the future of money.

Carolyn Dicharry is the founder and president of Canaria, which builds compliance programs for Web3 companies. Carolyn most recently served as the compliance officer at Ripple, where she developed and managed various financial crimes compliance programs for Ripple’s crypto products. Prior to joining Ripple, Carolyn worked as a compliance officer for Sigue, a leading global money transfer firm, and managed AML investigations at Wells Fargo’s FIU. Carolyn is a certified as an advanced anti-money laundering specialist through ACAMS (CAMS, CAMS-Audit). Her clients include crypto money services businesses, wallets, exchanges, alternative payments platforms, and trust companies within the United States.

Charlene is a technology delivery expert specializing in AI, big data and digital regulatory transformation with a focus on anti-money laundering solutions, who has spent years developing and implementing innovative solutions for businesses of all sizes, including large-scale enterprise banks such as RBC, TD Bank, BMO and CIBC. Her collaborative approach and ability to understand complex systems make her a sought-after consultant and mentor.

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Through her writing and speaking engagements, Charlene shares her expertise on topics such as leadership, innovation, and technology. Her insightful perspectives and engaging style have earned her a reputation as a thought leader in her field. Charlene has authored a chapter on using AI-powered techniques for open-source investigations for the CF Manchester FIU Connect texts, along with talks to Binance, Calgary Police Services and the RCMP (Nova Scotia). She has been a moderator and panellist for the London Business School, Bank of England, and Women in Payments and hosts a podcast that discusses the role of technology in fighting financial crime as a Strategic Advisor for the Canadian RegTech Association.

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Whether she is leading a team, delivering a keynote speech, or hosting a podcast, Charlene brings a contagious energy and a wealth of knowledge to every project she takes on. Her passion for helping others succeed is evident in everything she does, making her an engaging speaker at your next event.

I specialise in advising individuals and corporates facing domestic and international internal, criminal and/or regulatory investigations, including those brought by the Serious Fraud Office, the Financial Conduct Authority, the Competition and Markets Authority, the City of London Police, US Department of Justice and Securities and Exchange Commission. I have a particular focus on cybercrime and cyber security related issues, including data privacy and protection, and I regularly speak on these topics as well as on the crypto regulatory landscape, in the UK and in the EU.

Charu is one of the leading women in blockchain in Asia Pacific with over 15 years of experience in technology marketing and product strategy. She has led marketing for IBM Blockchain Asia Pacific in 2016 with a focus on the Asian financial services sector. Charu is now the CMO of Unique Network (an NFT Infrastructure Company) and a Senior Ambassador of Polkadot in Asia. Charu is also driving the diversity agenda in SE Asia through her position as a Regional Ambassador for the Association of Women in Cryptocurrency (AWIC).

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Charu is passionate about the use cases and technology that will lead the next wave of success for NFT applications. She is leading product management of NFT interoperability using Cross Consensus Protocol (XCM) within Polkadot. 

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Charu has been a mentor for web3 start-ups at the Tribe Accelerator, Singapore; and an advisor to Web3 dApps in the Polkadot ecosystem . Charu is also a lead instructor at the Polkadot Blockchain Academy, Hong Kong where she has been invited to give lectures on the topics of web3 GTM, Product Market Fit and Web3 Communities. 

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Charu has been a speaker at top crypto events globally including CoinDesk Consensus, NFT NYC, WOW Summit Hong Kong, PayNet Week Malaysia, Vietnam Blockchain Week, Polkadot Decoded New York and more. She has also been featured in publications like EuroNews, Forekast News, HackerNoon and more. 

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Charu is a Mathematics (hons) graduate, MBA in finance and is now pursuing one year Chief Product Officer Course at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)

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Chiara El Rikabi has worked in financial services for nearly 13 years with a focus on sales and financial information. She spent 11 years at SGR Compliance, as a Senior Sales Executive, where she was responsible for business development and sales. Chiara joined 21SHARES in 2021, where she is Senior Sales Associate for Italian speaking regions working closely with Massimo Siano, Head of Southern Europe.

Head of Revenue & Business at KYAX, a web3 Finanical Reporting Tool. Chloe has over a decade of experience in Investment & Custodian banking, possessing a strong track record in regulatory compliance, management consulting, investment banking, and change management. Chloe's leadership in her field is widely acknowledged, highlighted by her participation on industry leading panels, and prestigious recognition as one of the Top 100 Women in Crypto 2023

Christina has over 15 years of experience of compliance experience, including as a former Chief Compliance of Binance.US and BSA Officer of Uphold.com. She is the founder of RayCor Consulting, a renowned company providing global compliance expertise to fintech and regtech firms, including top 100 global crypto exchanges, payment processors, DeFi and Web3 companies, and fintech startups.

Daley Epstein represents cryptocurrency, blockchain, FinTech, and web3 companies in litigation and regulatory matters. She specializes in helping crypto and web3 builders, investors, and other market participants navigate an emerging and rapidly-evolving regulatory landscape. Recognized as “One to Watch” in New York for 2023 and 2024, Daley is distinguished by her solutions-orientated approach to her clients’ legal challenges and her passion for the incredible innovations they are building.

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Her practice includes prosecuting and defending cutting-edge blockchain and digital asset litigation, defending government investigations, and counseling clients on securities and banking regulations and intellectual property issues. Daley also advises cryptocurrency and FinTech companies on federal and state licensing issues. Daley’s broad experience – from strategizing winning court briefs to helping clients launch NFT marketplaces – makes her uniquely equipped to help her clients accomplish their goals.

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Daley also has experience in complex commercial litigation and government investigations involving private equity, energy, real estate, media, and other technology clients. She has represented clients in all stages of litigation, from initial case assessment through appeal and in mediation and arbitration. Daley began her career as a Judicial Clerk at the Fifth District Court of Appeals in Dallas, TX, and regularly draws upon the experience to develop arguments that resonate with decision makers and to convey those points in a clear and persuasive manner.

Danielle specialize s in funds, DAO’s , Web3 and Cayman Islands foundation companies, combining her wealth of knowledge and experience as an independent director with h er passion for all things crypto.

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She has over 6 years of experience in the digital asset industry and over 7 years offshore and 10 years of experience in financial services and operating companies. Danielle has extensive experience in fund services and private proprietary crypto trading en tities, with a particular focus on regulatory requirements, compliance and accounting. She serves as an independent director on the first fully regulated tokenized mutual fund in the world, leading the fund through a variety of hurdles due to tokenization and providing guidance from a technical and operational side. Danielle currently serves as an independent director across a variety of digital asset entities , both in the British Virgin Islands and Cayman Islands.

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Prior to joining Hash, Danielle was the Manager leading the Digital Asset Fund department for The Catalyst Group, where she established a mature and viable Digital Asset product offering, developed and implemented proprietary Digital Asse ts Valuation Policies and Procedures, Cayman compliant AML Policies and Procedures and Subscriptions in kind AML Procedures. Prior to this, Danielle was a Senior Fund Accountant in the Investment Funds team of Harmonic Fund Services , a leading fund administrator serving some of the biggest investment banks . She administered one of the first Cayman Islands crypto funds and has been immersed in the digital assets space since then. She also has extensive experience as an auditor having perform complex audits of multinational hedge funds based in the Cayman Islands, United States and Canada.

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She is a qualified Chartered Accountant (CA(SA)) and Certified Bitcoin Professional (CBP) with the Crypto Currency Certification Consortium (C4). She obtained her Honours and Bachelors in Accounting at the University of Stellenbosch.Danielle is the founder of Woman in Blockchain Cayman Islands with the mission of educating, empowering and promoting women in the crypto industry.

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Topics covered: Digital assets, cryptocurrency, DAO's, CeFi, DeFi, Governance, The value of a board of directors and independent directors, eKYC, presented Blockchain 101 courses, benefits of incorporating in Cayman Islands as a jurisdiction, Structures in Cayman, Foundation companies training and how its used as a legal wrapper for DAO's, Mutual funds, advocacy for women as the founder for Women in Blockchain Cayman etc.

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She have spoken on over 10 panels in Cayman Islands for Women in Blockchain Cayman Islands, Blockchain Association of the Cayman Islands, RSM Panels, CEC panels etc.

Debra Brookes specializes in regulatory compliance and financial technology, including virtual currency, banking, and insurance regulations, from her experience with the New York State Department of Financial Services.

Deb also worked for the U.S. Department of Justice through the competitive Attorney General's Honors Program. She served as a federal prosecutor investigating and prosecuting white-collar crimes, including bid-rigging, price-fixing, and customer allocation conspiracies. Before that, Deb graduated cum laude from Albany Law School and was elected to Albany Law Review's Note & Comment Editor. Deb also earned master's, bachelor's, and associate's degrees from New York University.

Elise is the Director of Global Policy & Regulatory Affairs for Global Digital Finance.

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Elise was formerly an Associate Director at the Association for Financial Markets in Europe (AFME) where she lead the division’s Digital Assets and Data Strategy work, with a focus on emerging regulation such as the Market in Crypto Assets (MiCA) legislation and the European Commission’s targeted consultation on open finance and data sharing in the financial sector. Furthermore, she also worked closely with global standard setters, driving and guiding engagement between the capital markets industry and bodies such as the FSB and IOSCO.

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Prior to her work at AFME, Elise was in the public sector, working at the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) in both their Technology, Resilience and Cyber Division and International Division. Notably she pioneered the FCA’s International Digital Assets strategy in 2022 and led technical policy dialogue on DLT, Consumer Risks, Central Bank Digital Currencies (CBDC’s), and Decentralised Finance (DeFi), among other topics.Elise was named ‘Next Generation Leader of the Year’ at the 2022 Women in Finance Awards UK.

Elizabeth Kay, an Associate Managing Director with Kroll, is an executive with extensive experience in compliance risk management programs. She has over 30 years of industry experience and has held senior compliance, audit, finance, and project management positions at prominent financial services organizations, including Citigroup, American Express, Commerzbank AG, Royal Bank of Scotland, the Depository Trust & Clearing Corporation, and Lehman Brothers. Prior to joining Kroll, Elizabeth’s recent assignments included the design and implementation of key components of a compliance risk management program as required under Federal Reserve guidance SR 08-8. She has designed and implemented second-line-of-defense regulatory compliance and financial crime testing programs at financial institutions that were operating under public enforcement actions. In addition, Elizabeth has been responsible for the execution of regulatory compliance and financial crime risk assessments associated with banking, securities, derivatives, anti-money laundering, sanctions and fraud regulations. She has experience working with U.S. and European government agencies, including FRB, OCC, SEC, FINRA, NFA, NYDFS, Connecticut Department of Banking, European Central Bank, and BaFin. Her recent experience includes advising crypto clients on the efficacy of their compliance programs.

Elizabeth N. Pendleton (Liz) is a Chief Trial Attorney in the Commodity Futures Trading Commission’s Division of Enforcement. Based in the CFTC’s Chicago office, Liz supervises teams of trial attorneys, investigators and economists, and has represented the Commission in a broad range of matters including those involving cryptocurrency fraud and manipulation, failure to register, false reporting, trade practice violations, and Ponzi schemes. Liz recently concluded a three year tenure as a co-chair of the Division’s Digital Asset Task Force and currently serves on the Commission’s Digital Commodities Working Group where she advises on legal and policy issues in the digital asset space.

Elizabeth Severinovskaya is an associate managing director at K2 Integrity, where she leads the firm's emerging Virtual Asset Practice, advising both crypto natives and traditional finance (TradFi) clients on their financial crimes risk and compliance strategies. She has a broad range of industry experience across banking and financial services, fintechs, payments, and cryptocurrency platforms. Additionally, Elizabeth provides advisory services to regulatory clients in the UAE. In her past roles Elizabeth has advised regulatory bodies, international organizations, global systemically important banks (GSIBs), and industry-leading cryptocurrency firms.

Prior to joining K2 Integrity, Elizabeth worked as a senior consultant in the digital assets practice at Promontory Financial Group, a business unit of IBM Consulting, where she performed a number of industry standard-setting engagements, including leading the development of the Nebraska Digital Asset Depository Institution (DDI) BSA/AML and OFAC Examination Manual and the Nebraska DDI Supervisory Handbook to support implementation of the Nebraska Financial Innovation Act, as well as training a federal supervisory agency on BSA/AML and sanctions risks unique to cryptocurrency. In her time at Promontory, Elizabeth advised several leading virtual asset service providers, including exchanges, prime brokerages, and digital asset custodians, on their licensing, chartering, and remediation strategies, and has developed an expertise in building and implementing BSA/AML compliance programs tailored to the virtual asset industry from the ground up.

Elizabeth previously worked at two leading fintechs, Coinbase and Stripe, where she held several risk and compliance roles involving policy development, program development and implementation, and process optimization. At Coinbase, Elizabeth also headed up the compliance partnerships function for Coinbase’s fiat partners and developed Coinbase’s BSA/AML program governance. At Stripe, Elizabeth developed the Fintech user supportability strategy through a cross-functional partnership with legal, product, engineering, and credit for Stripe’s fastest-growing user segment.

Prior to her foray into the Fintech space, Elizabeth served as the BSA/AML head of governance and strategy at Scotiabank, where she led Scotiabank’s BSA/AML remediation strategy for its public Written Agreement with the Federal Reserve Bank of New York and the New York State Department of Financial Services, ultimately resulting in enforcement action closure.

Elizabeth earned a Masters in global affairs and a J.D. from the University of Toronto, during which time she advised the Egmont Group of Financial Intelligence Units and interned with several leading UN-affiliated international organizations, including the Coalition for the International Criminal Court.

Midwest-raised and educated, Libby initially pursued Mechanical Engineering at the University of Michigan. However, a transformative experience working for an Australian engineering firm designing pool parts led her to realize that this path wasn't for her. Subsequently, she shifted gears to Industrial and Operations Engineering, focusing on Financial Engineering. Drawn to the dynamic realm of finance, she naturally gravitated towards FinTech and most recently, crypto.

In her role as the Head of Revenue Operations at Talos, Libby has been immersed in managing strategies, data, infrastructure, and processes across Sales, Marketing, and Account Management. Before joining Talos, she dedicated ~8 years to Arcesium, a spin-off of D.E. Shaw. In this tenure, she played a pivotal role in launching the new business, wearing various hats across commercial strategy including Chief Operating Officer of Client and Partner Development.

At FTI’s Consulting Technology practice, Emma focuses on blockchain and digital asset investigations and disputes. Her background in data science and mathematics drives her methodical investigation strategy and ability to identify patterns in complex data sets.

Emma has performed digital asset investigations, blockchain analysis, andcrypto-native compliance and Anti-Money Laundering program support. She brings expertise in cryptography, blockchain, smart contract technology implementation, and complex blockchain transaction obfuscation techniques.

Emma champions the pro bono work at her practice, and is a cryptocurrency subject matter expert for the high impact charity The Life You Can Save. She has also worked as an applied mathematician, developing machine learning components for a digital asset tracing tool.Emma has previously spoken at the Lesbians Who Tech Pride Event and STEM for Her Day.

Erin West has a passion for assisting victims and has served as a Deputy District Attorney in Santa Clara County, California for 25 years. She has worked for the past 8 years with the REACT high tech task force, nationally known for its arrests and prosecutions of SIM-swapping and recovery of cryptocurrency to victims of pig butchering scams. Ms. West leads the Crypto Coalition, a group of more than 1000 local, state, federal and international law enforcement agents who specialize in cryptocurrency investigation.

Evelyn B. Sheehan focuses her practice on advising high-net-worth individuals, institutional clients and their executives in cross-border investigations and enforcement actions. Ms. Sheehan also has an active international asset recovery practice, including the enforcement of judgments and arbitration awards and the representation of individual and institutional victims of crime. She regularly designs aggressive and creative strategies to increase leverage and monetize high-value claims and to plan and pursue global asset recovery campaigns. These bespoke strategies often include coordinating efforts across multiple international jurisdictions, analyzing litigation risks posed by different governing bodies, and leveraging her experience tracing digital assets and cryptocurrency to arrive at public and private remedies.

I am a Chief Superintendent of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) Nigeria. EFCC is a Law Enforcement and the leading Anti-Corruption Agency in Nigeria with the mandate to rid the country of economic and financial crimes. 

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I hold a B.A. Degree in Mass Communication from the University of Maiduguri, a PGD in Criminology & Security Studies, National Open University, Enugu Study Centre and currently running a Masters in Anti -Corruption Studies (MACS-Online) at the International Academy of Anti -Corruption, Vienna, Austria. 

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I have 13 years’ experience as a financial crimes investigator with focus on Advance Fee Fraud, Cyber Crimes and Money Laundering investigations.

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Investigations activities skills acquired includes Intelligence gathering, surveillance, arrest, Interview, statement taking, document analysis, reports writing and testifying in court during prosecution with several records of conviction and recoveries in cash and properties.

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I'm a Certified Anti-Money Laundering Specialist (CAMS), Certified TRM-ACE, Member, UNODC Women In Cyber (WIC) group, and Association for Women in Crypto(AWIC)

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I have interest in the politics and economics of corruption, how these subjects influence crime and how the interplay affects gender.

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I feature a guest speaker at NYSC Camps, Local Radio stations and the EFCC Eagle Radio where I have discussed several subjects on emerging trends of AFF, Cybercrimes and Money Laundering.

Flavia just recently retired from her role as General Counsel and Corporate Secretary at Circle, a global financial technology firm that enables businesses of all sizes to harness the power of stablecoins and public blockchains for payments, commerce and financial applications. Prior to her time at Circle, Flavia worked at different organizations in the SF Bay Area engaging with industries ranging from software licensing and copyrights to entertainment, e-commerce and payments.

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Born and raised in Belo Horizonte, Brazil, Flavia is active in the local Brazilian community and provides mentoring to young attorneys. She was also a long-term Board member at Instituto Familiar de la Raza.

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Flavia obtained her legal degree from Pontifícia Universidade Católica de Minas Gerais and a certificate of US legal studies from Widener University Commonwealth Law School. She lives in San Francisco with her husband and daughters, where they enjoy the beach, hiking, and the Tahoe mountains during the winter.

Gabriella Kusz is a Senior Fellow at AI 2030, the organization advancing responsible innovation in the AI space as well as Advisor - Operations to TCS which works to enhance freight financing terms for the trucking industry via AI and blockchain settlement. She is the former CEO of the Global Digital Asset Association (GDCA). In 2023, Gabby was named among the 'Top 20 Most Influential Women in Fintech' by the American Banker. She is a true ambassador for blockchain & Web3, and is regularly named as one of the top c-suiters in industry publications.

I am a barrister in London specialising in digital asset disputes in the context of a broader commercial, company, fraud and insolvency practice. As a barrister I am a specialist advocate, regularly appearing on behalf of clients in High Court, and I also have a significant advisory practice providing clients with advises on the merits, on settlement parameters, and acting for them in settlement forums.

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I have been involved in some of the first cryptocurrency-related matters in England & Wales, acting in a bitcoin misappropriation case for a respondent to a worldwide freezing order which we successfully challenged, and advising liquidators on digital asset aspects of a company liquidation. 

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I have regularly been asked to speak on the topic of cryptocurrency, including this year at London International Disputes Week, at a CFAAR event on mis-selling cryptocurrencies and by the Tech Disputes Network in a podcast roundup of interesting recent cases in the area. I have been published in the Journal of International Banking and Finance Law on the topic of the bona fide purchaser of misappropriated cryptocurrencies and was cited by the Law Commission in their report on Digital Assets in 2023. I am also due to speak at an event organised by the Society of Computer Law on Artificial Intelligence and a joint event held by Tech Disputes Network and the Female Fraud Forum (of which I am a committee member).

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I am always happy to be contacted about opportunities and would love to be able to promote other women in the space as well.

Helen is an expert in crypto insurnace. A well-recognized leader in the international (re)insurance industry, Helen has almost 20 years of very successful experience across technical underwriting, risk management and management. Throughout her career, she is passionate about technology and always trying to bring innovative products and services to the industry. A frequent speaker in the insurance industry, Helen has recently started to broaden her scope to the digital asset industry. She spoke about crypto insurance at Token 2049 London in 2022.

Hillary is the Head of Business Development, Americas at Talos, based in New York. She joined Talos in September 2022 and is responsible for executing the firm's go-to-market strategy, building strategic partnerships with institutional clients, and driving future revenue growth. She spent the last five years in the crypto markets at Gemini as a Director of Business Development, where she was deeply involved in strategic business initiatives and fostering key institutional client relationships. She wore several hats on the institutional team throughout the years, most recently leading hedge fund sales and market maker partnerships across the organization. Prior to joining Gemini in 2017, she spent several years at Bloomberg LP in Sales and Marketing roles, and at Sterling Bank as a Credit Analyst.

Isabell Moessler is a Senior Vice President, Head of Distribution for 21Shares and part of the Executive Leadership Team of the parent company 21.co. Her focus is to grow the 21Shares investor base by geographic and client segment expansion. She and her team work closely with investors, regulators and other stakeholders to increase awareness and understanding of the rapidly changing digital asset space and explain how 21Shares’ innovative products provide access to this asset class.As a seasoned finance professional, she has over 15 years of leadership and management experience at several leading companies - including iShares, ETF Securities, Goldman Sachs and most recently at Euronext. Isabell holds an MBA from the University of Cambridge, a BSc Hons in business administration from City University, London and, and is involved in several volunteer organizations, including Women in ETFs and as an Advisory Board member of Equileap.

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Past Speaking

Engagements include:

- World Economic Forum, Davos, Switzerland (2024)
- International Trader Forum Barcelona (2023), Lisbon (2022)
- EY Annual ETF Roadshow, Dublin and London (2024)
- Irish Funds Symposium, London (2023)
- Warwick University, WWiE’s International Women’s Day Conference (2024)

Topics of Expertise include:
- Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs) including Crypto ETFs
- Crypto Education
- Digital Asset Investing
- Building a bridge between TradFi and DeFi
- Tokenization
- Diversity and Inclusion
- Building high performing Sales Teams

Isabella Chase is a Senior Policy Advisor at TRM Labs where she focuses on UK and EU policy and regulatory affairs. Her specific expertise lies in building effective policy responses to combating financial crimes and ensuring financial integrity. 

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Prior to joining TRM Labs, Isabella was a senior research fellow at the Centre for Financial Crime and Security Studies at RUSI where she remains an associate fellow. Her research at the CFCS focused on new technologies (including crypto), compliance and financial inclusion.

Jennifer Lassiter, Executive Director of The Digital Dollar Project (DDP), shapes the future of money through collaboration with stakeholders. She brings together diverse groups to achieve shared outcomes and address complex regulatory and technology challenges. With former roles at the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, Jennifer is a trusted advisor in the financial sector. Additionally, she is actively involved in esteemed organizations such as the World Economic Forum’s Digital Currency Governance Consortium and the Progressive Policy Institute’s Mosaic Economic Project. Jennifer also holds the position of Salzburg Global Financial Forum Fellow.

Jessica Renier is Managing Director and Head of Digital Finance at the Institute of International Finance. She previously served as Program Associate Director at the Office of Management and Budget in the Executive Office of the President. In this role, she oversaw a range of Federal Government agencies, including the Departments of Housing and Urban Development, Treasury, Commerce, and the Small Business Administration. She also previously served as Senior Counselor for Terrorist Financing and Financial Crimes at the U.S. Department of the Treasury, as well as Senior Advisor in the office of the Under Secretary for Domestic Finance where she led the Department’s financial technology and innovation policy, with subject matter expertise in digital assets, smart contracts, andartificial intelligence. Prior to joining Treasury, she was a manager in Deloitte Consulting’s Strategy & Operations practice for the banking and securities industry, specializing in blockchain technology and digital identity. Renier previously worked at the Federal Reserve Banks of New York and Dallas, J.P. Morgan Securities, and the Hoover Institution. She holds an M.B.A. from Stanford’s Graduate School of Business, an M.A. in Defense and Strategic Studies from the Naval War College, and a B.A. in Economics, Communication, and Spanish from Trinity University. She is an advisory board member of the Digital Dollar Project, Dubai International Financial Centre’s (DIFC) Innovation Panel, and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission’s (CFTC) Market Risk Advisory Committee. Jessica is a member of the Bretton Woods Committee, a term member of the Council on Foreign Relations, and an Officer in the U.S. Navy Reserve.

Jessica de Brignac is a leading expert in blockchain technology, digital assets, and cryptocurrencies. With over 20 years of experience in technology consulting, she has established herself as a trusted advisor guiding corporations to optimize their blockchain strategies. 

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Ms. de Brignac has led high-profile engagements in the crypto space, including supporting a major crypto exchange bankruptcy and performing technical and operational due diligence of a top crypto exchange on behalf of a large financial company. She regularly provides technology assessments, operational due diligence, and strategic guidance on digital asset platforms and technology. 

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With her deep knowledge across the digital asset landscape, Ms. de Brignac is an insightful speaker on blockchain, cryptocurrency, NFTs, and how these technologies are disrupting organizations and industries. She provides audiences with actionable advice on implementing blockchain strategies based on real-world experience.

Joanna Summers is the Chief Recovery Officer at Asset Reality, a fin-tech organization responsible for developing the world’s first end-to-end solution for asset recovery, from training to investigating crypto fraud to managing and realizing seized digital assets. Prior to her role with Asset Reality, Joanna headed the U.S. Marshals Service (USMS), Asset Forfeiture Division Complex Assets Unit. There, her unit oversaw the custody, management, and disposal of all ongoing business and complex financial instruments subject to forfeiture. Joanna and her team built the USMS Cryptocurrency program starting with the Silk Road Bitcoin seizure, ultimately innovating a streamlined liquidation process through an exchange. Joanna holds a Masters in Finance from The Johns Hopkins University Carey School of Business.

Founder of LV8RLABS - “Trustless Building Data for Tokenizedw Real Estate" l Enterprise Edge Compute & Facilities Delivery l Artificial Intelligence l BIM(ISO-19650) l AECO/VDCO l Community Ambassador @Centrifuge l #🛠️

Julia Hardy is a senior investigator at Chainalysis specializing in DeFi and web3 investigations. In the past 2 years, Julia has investigated over 35 hacks, tracking the movements of over $12 billion USD worth of stolen funds.

Ms. Brown has nearly 15 years of experience as a lawyer working in U.S. sanctions, with six years of that experience coming from the time she spent at the United States Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (“OFAC”) as a Policy Analyst and Senior Enforcement Officer.

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During her time at OFAC, Ms. Brown worked extensively on the Iran sanctions program, including drafting interpretative guidance and the Statement of Licensing Policy on Internet Freedom in Iran, and investigating violations of the Iranian Transactions and Sanctions Regulations (“ITSR”) and other sanctions programs. Further, Ms. Brown drafted and published regulations underlying the Iran sanctions program, including those implementing the provisions of the Comprehensive Iran Sanctions Accountability, and Divestment Act of 2010 (“CISADA”). Ms. Brown also served as the government’s expert witness on sanctions in a criminal prosecution related to the illegal export of telecommunications services to Iran. For that testimony, Ms. Brown received a commendation from the former U.S. Attorney for the District of Maryland.

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Prior to her time at OFAC, Ms. Brown spent several years at the Department of Homeland Security (“DHS”), where she served as an Attorney-Advisor in both the Office of Chief Counsel, and the Office of International Trade. During her time at DHS, Ms. Brown advised importers on the proper classification of goods under the U.S. Harmonized Tariff Schedule, and issued administrative decisions in connection with imports or attempted imports in violation of customs and international trade laws.

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Since leaving government, Ms. Brown has remained in the sanctions and international trade compliance space working at both IBM, as well as Payward, Inc. (aka “Kraken”), a virtual currency exchange and infrastructure company. At IBM, Ms. Brown served as the OFAC and ITAR Lead, and in that role updated IBM’s compliance manual, conducted export compliance reviews, and reviewed service agreements to ensure compliance with OFAC, ITAR, and EAR regulations. At Kraken, Ms. Brown supervised a team conducting sanctions screening and blockchain transaction monitoring; led investigations of U.S., EU, UK, and UN sanctions issues; drafted and reviewed sanctions compliance policies and procedures; and conducted risk assessments and implemented controls to remediate compliance gaps.

Kristina Howard is a Principal at RXN Group. She has 15+ years of experience advising companies in highly regulated industries on overcoming barriers to scale. She specializes in helping disruptive start-ups develop proactive strategies to navigate the political landscape, mitigate regulatory risks, and capitalize on public sector partnership opportunities. One area of focus that Kristina specializes in is non-fungible tokens (NFTs), and she serves on the Advisory Board of NFT San Francisco. Before joining RXN, Kristina was an Executive Vice President at Tusk Strategies, where she led multi-state public affairs campaigns on a broad range of policy issues at the federal, state, and local levels. Before that, she was a member of the Public Policy and State Attorneys General Practices at Cozen O’Connor and Orrick Herrington & Sutcliffe. She began her career managing federal grassroots at the National Federation of Independent Business.

Kristy Lam is a Policy Coordinator for CCI. Kristy has expertise in studying digital currencies and sanctions enforcement.

Kyla Curley, a Partner with StoneTurn, has over 20 years of experience investigating and making sense of complex and sensitive issues involving financial fraud, misuse, and misappropriation, as well as analyzing the flow of funds and other transactional reviews for organizations, counsel, and other stakeholders.

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Kyla’s experience includes investigations into the flow and usage of funds, and transaction lifecycle reviews of institutional and private investments, acquisitions, and other significant activity. Kyla is also experienced with cryptocurrencies and blockchain technology and transactions. As a Certified Cryptocurrency Forensic Investigator (CCFI), Kyla conducts reviews into digital asset lifecycles to assist investors, law enforcement professionals, or other stakeholders to identify and isolate digital assets, and to assist with recovery, when applicable.

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As a forensic accountant and CPA, Kyla’s experience includes accounting investigations related to revenue recognition, bad debt and inventory reserves, financial statement, and public disclosures, and other issues related to the application of Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP).

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Kyla has also led engagements and consults with clients on complex business litigation matters, including lost profits and business interruption claims, purchase price disputes, construction claims, royalty audits, partnership equity allocations, and other special audits and investigations.

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Kyla is a Certified Public Accountant (CPA) and Certified in Financial Forensics (CFF) by the AICPA, a Certified Fraud Examiner (CFE), a Certified Anti-Money Laundering Specialist (CAMS), and a Certified Cryptocurrency Forensic Investigator (CCFI).

Laura is a Board Member and Co-Founder of the DigiByte Alliance. She holds a master's degree in mathematics and worked as a college-level math instructor in North Carolina for 15 years. Laura’s role with the DigiByte blockchain has focused on community outreach, education, team building, and volunteer coordination. She has spoken at universities and colleges on the DigiByte blockchain and Awareness Team as well as moderated discussions on blockchain topics including: demystifying Bitcoin, security, wallets and payment systems using cryptocurrencies.

Laurel Loomis Rimon is a former federal prosecutor with deep experience in the financial regulatory and enforcement sector. An unrelenting and pragmatic problem solver, Laurel offers clients practical advice when facing compliance or enforcement challenges involving anti-money laundering, consumer protection, federal or state oversight, fintech, and payments. Laurel is also a leading practitioner and thought leader in the emerging blockchain ecosystem. She serves as a Co-Chair of the firm’s Fintech and Crypto Assets Practice.

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Recognized as a Chambers-ranked Leading Individual in 2022 and 2023, Laurel’s "communication style is very direct and she is an excellent writer," clients say. And, "[i]n addition to her deep substantive knowledge, she is able to draw on her extensive government experience to provide nuanced risk assessments and, when necessary, to be a highly credible and effective advocate for us with regulators at both the leadership and staff levels."

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A veteran investigator and trial lawyer, Laurel brings an efficiency in gathering facts and delivering strong responses to government enforcement agencies, correcting the record where necessary, and obtaining favorable resolutions. Through years of front-line experience, she is uniquely positioned to provide clients with a realistic and common-sense approach to regulatory risks and to help them design compliance plans aimed at avoiding and reducing the risk of an enforcement action. Laurel is highly effective at navigating difficult conversations with the government, witnesses, and client teams when necessary.

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Prior to private practice, she served for more than 15 years as an Assistant United States Attorney and DOJ Trial Attorney, including as head of Litigation for DOJ’s Asset Forfeiture and Money Laundering Section, supervising and litigating cases involving criminal and civil money laundering and other financial crimes, domestically and internationally. Laurel also served as an Assistant Deputy Enforcement Director for the Office of Enforcement at the CFPB, leading complex and sensitive investigations and litigation involving bank and non-bank subjects. Through a senior executive service appointment, she served as General Counsel to the Inspector General for the Department of Homeland Security, where she oversaw sensitive investigations into program misconduct and department-wide whistleblower retaliations.

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Laurel leverages this deep regulatory and enforcement experience to represent clients in responding to DOJ, FinCEN, OFAC, OIG, NY DFS, CFPB, state AG inquiries and enforcement actions, and related compliance matters. Many of Laurel’s clients are forward-leaning fintech companies in the payment and cryptocurrency spaces, as she has been on the cutting edge of financial technology enforcement since leading DOJ’s first digital assets litigation more than 15 years ago.

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Prior to joining Jenner & Block, Laurel led the fintech practice at another AmLaw100 law firm.

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Lauren Weymouth is a Director at Ripple, where she leads its University Blockchain Research Initiative (UBRI), a partnerships program that funds financial technology curriculum development, research, technical projects, entrepreneurship and student activities. Since the program's inception, she has activated more than 50 global university partnerships such that 1,000+ research projects have been engaged to tackle real-world issues in blockchain, cryptocurrency, cryptography and digital assets. Before joining Ripple, Lauren held leadership roles in education, private equity and at technology startups, pioneering ventures that grew record-setting profits.

Leah Dempsey, co-chair of the financial services practice, is a lawyer and advocate with a unique ability to lead efforts bridging policy, financial and telecommunications laws, regulations and politics. She advises several trade associations and helps a range of businesses in the financial services, housing, capital markets and fintech marketplaces navigate rulemaking and legislative processes.

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Leah advocates before the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, National Credit Union Administration, Federal Communications Commission, Federal Trade Commission, Small Business Administration Office of Advocacy, Department of Labor, the U.S. Treasury, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, the Federal Housing Finance Agency, the Department of Housing and Urban Development, as well as other regulators.  

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Leah also helps organizations understand their rights and options when facing regulatory supervision and enforcement activity. She has a deep understanding of the Administrative Procedure Act, the Small Business Regulatory Enforcement Fairness Act process and the Congressional oversight tools needed to ensure a fair and transparent process for businesses and industries. Leah has advocated for reforms to dozens of federal rulemakings and related legislation in Congress on her client's behalf. She also regularly works with colleagues to file amicus briefs in courts around the country including the U.S. Supreme Court.

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During her time in executive and leadership roles at financial trade associations in Washington, Leah fostered strong relationships on Capitol Hill and at federal agencies. She served as vice president and senior counsel for federal advocacy at ACA International, where she led efforts to develop and implement the industry agenda for third-party agencies, asset buyers, vendors, banks and other creditors. She also represented thousands of credit unions across the country as senior director of advocacy and counsel at Credit Union National Association (CUNA), leading its Consumer Protection Advocacy team. Prior, she worked on the legal team for several Republican candidates, including Sen. Mitt Romney’s (R-UT) presidential campaign.

Leila was an early enthusiast of Bitcoin and since then, has been exploring, advising and investing in systems built on blockchain technology. Day to day, she supports the onboarding of institutional platforms onto the use of blockchain and digital asset technologies to create new business models, access new communities and respond to the demand for digital-first identities and experiences. 

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She is a believer in the power of ‘blockchain for good’, working on developing programmes for blockchain-based Philanthropy with the UN and other organisations. 

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She is also an avid collector of art and artists deploying the technological tools that correspond to our time, in particular generative and AI tech. She supports a number of artists and platforms in the digital art space, and is a frequent speaker at art fairs highlighting on-chain art. 

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Leila is a graduate of Georgetown Law and sits on its European Advisory Board. She started her career at Willkie Farr & Gallagher in New York then moved in-house, at JPMorgan Asset Management in London, where she was appointed GC for Europe. She subsequently joined start-up Jabre Capital Partners as Partner & GC, supporting rapid growth of Swiss-based global investment platform. She is often consulted for advice on navigating uncertain and overlapping regulatory frameworks.

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Focus: International regulatory frameworks, digital assets and NFTs, Philanthropy in a digital world

Liat Shetret is Director of Global Policy and Regulation at Elliptic. For more than 15 years, she has led global capacity-building and technical assistance programs on anti–money laundering (AML), countering the financing of terrorism (CFT), financial inclusion, and countering violent extremism. She has formerly worked as the Director of Regulatory Affairs & Compliance Policy at Solidus Labs, at the Egmont Group of Financial Intelligence Units, Citigroup Bank, the Global Center on Cooperative Security, and the US House of Representatives Committee for Homeland Security. Liat has extensive experience implementing technical assistance programs, particularly in emerging markets and developing countries across Africa, the Americas, Europe, and the Middle East. She is an Adjunct Instructor at New York University and holds a Master of International Affairs degree from Columbia University’s School of International and Public Affairs (SIPA) and a BA in political science and psychology from the University of Illinois. Liat is also a Certified Anti-Money Laundering Specialist (CAMS).

Lili Infante is the CEO of CAT Labs - a tech startup building digital asset recovery and cyber defense tools to fight crypto crime. In her previous life, she was a DEA Special Agent with the U.S. Department of Justice Special who pioneered an early federal task force focusing exclusively on crypto and dark web crimes.  Lili has led numerous major crypto-related investigations to include the takedown of Hydra - the largest crypto-powered dark web criminal organization and money laundering platform in the world. She has spoken at countless conferences including Offshore Alert, ETH Denver, Parliamentary Intelligence Security Forum and others.

Elizabeth N. Pendleton (Liz) is a Chief Trial Attorney in the Commodity Futures Trading Commission’s Division of Enforcement. Based in the CFTC’s Chicago office, Liz supervises teams of trial attorneys, investigators and economists, and has represented the Commission in a broad range of matters including those involving cryptocurrency fraud and manipulation, failure to register, false reporting, trade practice violations, and Ponzi schemes. Liz recently concluded a three year tenure as a co-chair of the Division’s Digital Asset Task Force and currently serves on the Commission’s Digital Commodities Working Group where she advises on legal and policy issues in the digital asset space.

I don't feel that I am ready to be a public speaker yet, I'm very shy. Maybe in a few years hehe :-)

Maggje Sklar is the Principal and Founder of Sklar Strategies LLC and Managing Director at SEDA Experts.  Her work includes advising on a range of financial regulatory, compliance, enforcement, and policy matters involving financial markets, financial institutions, regulated entities, investment firms, and fintech and start-up companies, involving derivatives, commodities, securities, cryptocurrency, DeFi, and digital assets.  Ms. Sklar is also the Chair of the Global Digital Asset and Cryptocurrency Association’s (Global DCA) Public Policy and Regulation Committee, and a founding member of the Association of Women in Cryptocurrency.  

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Ms. Sklar was previously a Banking and Financial Services Partner at Davis Wright Tremaine.  Before that, she was the Senior Policy Advisor and Director of International Engagement, Financial Markets Group, at the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago.  Before joining the Federal Reserve, Ms. Sklar served in various roles at the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission in Washington, DC, including as the Senior Counsel to the Chairman, Senior Counsel to a Commissioner, Deputy to the Financial Stability Oversight Council, an Associate Director in the Office of International Affairs, the Senior Counsel to LabCFTC, and a Special Counsel in the Division of Market Oversight.  Ms. Sklar was previously a complex civil litigator and government enforcement defense attorney at international law firms for financial services institutions, banks, payment processors, hedge funds, energy companies, and their executives.

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She is a cum laude graduate of Georgetown University Law Center and Georgetown University.

Margaret Rosenfeld is the Chief Legal Officer of Cube Group, Inc., the global holding company for Cube Exchange, a hybrid DEX/CEX crypto exchange. Prior to joining Cube, Margaret was the Chief Strategy and Legal Officer of Deltec International Group, a global financial platform serving innovative and disruptive businesses and private individuals for their fiat banking, digital asset and insurance needs. She also served on the board of directors of Gryphon Digital Mining, a Bitcoin mining operation with a net carbon-negative footprint and board of advisors of Caturiant, a DLT-based carbon credit registry and validator. 

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Prior to Deltec, Margaret was a partner of K&L Gates, where she co-founded and chaired its global Digital Assets, Blockchain and Cryptocurrency practice. Margaret has more than 26 years of corporate, financing, strategic and securities experience focused on large private and public technology companies both in the United States and internationally, having practiced law with Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison in Tokyo, Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer in London and Frankfurt and Smith Anderson in the Research Triangle Park region. Margaret has been actively involved in the cryptocurrency industry since 2015, advising FinTechs, exchanges, OTC Desks, crypto mining and hosting companies, DeFi platforms, banks, DAOs, NFT issuers and platforms, stable coin companies and many others. Margaret has engaged in service activities including serving on the NY Bar’s Committee on Securities Regulation, the NC Board of Science, Technology and Innovation, and the advisory board of the North Carolina Technology Association. Margaret served as the Honorary German Consul for North Carolina (while maintaining her law practice) from January 2014 to December 2021, which was a joint diplomatic appointment by the U.S. State Department and the German government. She is a 1997 graduate of the George Washington University law school and received a B.A. from Rutgers University in 1992.

After 20+ years driving changes in Fixed Income markets through a variety of client facing roles, Marina joined 21Shares, the world’s largest Crypto ETP issuer 100% collateralised in 2022. Through her career, Marina has always been driven by providing clients best in-class solutions that combine finance and technology to successfully embrace financial innovation. She held multiple speaking engagements over the years and more recently at NFT Paris 2024 on Tokenisation and on Crypto investments in upcoming European flagship events.

As Senior Counsel for Blockchain Association, Marisa helps develop and advocate for policy positions on behalf of the crypto industry as well as manages long-term legal projects and strategic litigation. Prior to joining the Association, Marisa represented corporate clients in regulatory enforcement actions, internal investigations, and civil litigation matters at Covington & Burling LLP and at O'Melveny & Myers LLP. Marisa earned her B.A. from Brandeis University, her J.D. from Loyola Law School in Los Angeles, and completed a federal clerkship in the Central District of California.

Mark Dempsey is a Principal Consultant at Aspect Advisors bringing more than 10 years of experience in the financial services industry, holding various leadership roles in compliance. As a compliance professional and former regulator, Mark has a deep understanding of issues facing investment advisors and those in the digital assets space. Mark has specifically focused on private fund adviser compliance at Aspect Advisors.

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Prior to joining Aspect, Mark was the Director, Investment Adviser Compliance at MissionSquare Retirement, where he oversaw the compliance program for its robo-advisor ($6B in AUM). Additionally, Mark previously served as the Chief Compliance Officer at Navy Federal Brokerage Services (over 2B in AUM), where he focused on developing and implementing a compliance program for its retail broker-dealer and registered investment adviser that included oversight of financial advisors and a digital fractional share investing program. Prior to this, Mark was a regulatory analyst at the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) where he focused on reviews of fixed income trading.

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Mark earned his Bachelor of Arts in Economics at the University of Delaware and a Masters of Security Analysis and Portfolio Management at Creighton University. Mark holds or has held various securities licenses including Series 4, 6, 7, 24, 27, 31, 52, 53, and 66 as well as a DC insurance license. Mark also holds or has held the Certified Anti-Money Laundering Specialist (CAMS), Certified Regulatory Compliance Professional (CRCP) and Investment Adviser Certified Compliance Professional (IACCP) certifications. Mark served in the United States Marine Corps, including a deployment overseas. Mark lives in Washington DC with his wife and two children.

Meagan is an Of Counsel min the Global Fintech & Payments Group at Paul Hastings. She focuses her practice on the representation of bank and non-bank financial institutions, financial services and financial technology companies, digital asset platforms, payment networks, and investment firms on transactional and regulatory issues in all areas related to the provision of payments.

Meagan has advised clients on issues related to global product development, enforcement actions, and regulatory compliance, as well as acquisitions, investments, and commercial arrangements between parties in the global payments space.

Meagan regularly counsels clients on compliance with federal and state law applicable to electronic payments, mobile payments, digital assets (including cryptocurrency, non-fungible tokens (NFTs), in-game currencies, stablecoins, and central bank digital currencies), and prepaid access, including state and federal money transmission laws and licensing regimes, state and federal gift card laws, Regulation E, and the Bank Secrecy Act.

Meredith joined FRA’s Washington, DC office after seven years as a Special Agent at the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI). She is a subject matter expert in the investigation of cryptocurrency enabled money laundering and computer intrusion incidents, including Russian state sponsored computer intrusions, non-compliant cryptocurrency exchanges, theft of Personally Identifiable Information and Intellectual Property, ransomware, dark-web marketplaces, and Business Email Compromise (BEC) schemes. Meredith has extensive experience working multinational investigations and collaborating with foreign intelligence services and law enforcement agencies to solve complex investigative issues.

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As a member of the FBI’s Virtual Currency Response Team, she provided subject matter expertise for the FBI’s largest cryptocurrency money laundering cases and hands-on tracing training to FBI agents, prosecutors, and law enforcement partners. Meredith led investigations into non-compliant cryptocurrency exchanges and liaised with numerous blockchain analysis companies, cryptocurrency exchanges, and mining pools.

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Meredith has deep experience tracing complex cryptocurrency money laundering typologies using open source and commercial blockchain analysis tools including Chainalysis, TRM, and CipherTrace. She holds multiple certifications for blockchain analysis tools including Chainalysis Reactor Certification (CRC), Chainalysis Ethereum Investigations Certification (CEIC), TRM Crypto Fundamentals Certification (TRM-CFC), TRM Certified Investigator (TRM-CI), TRM Advanced Crypto Investigator (TRM-ACI), and TRM Crypto Compliance Specialist (TRM-CSS). She also holds the GIAC Security Essentials Certification (GSEC), GIAC Certified Incident Handler (GCIH), and GIAC Certified Forensic Examiner (GCFE) certifications from the SANS Institute.

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At FRA, Meredith uses her investigative experience and deep ties in the crypto and blockchain intelligence industries to develop solutions that support organizations resolving issues associated with cryptocurrency and emerging financial technology. Meredith has used her blockchain expertise to investigate cryptocurrency enabled money laundering, wash-trading allegations, and high-value cryptocurrency thefts.

Michelle Ann Gitlitz, Esq. is a leading expert on cryptocurrencies, digital payments, blockchain, and related technologies. Michelle provides strategic legal and advisory services to nascent and established blockchain, cryptocurrency, and financial services companies. She frequently meets with policymakers, legislators, and industry leaders to facilitate intelligent adoption and regulation. Michelle is a partner at Arktouros PLLC. Michelle holds degrees from Cornell University and Brooklyn Law School. She is the author of Reimagining Payments: The Business Case for Digital Currencies.

Michelle Kallen is a partner at Jenner & Block LLP.  She served as the seventh Solicitor General of the Commonwealth of Virginia.  During her time in the Office of the Attorney General, Michelle represented the Commonwealth in litigation involving constitutional and other high-profile and novel areas of law.  In 2022, Michelle served as Special Litigation Counsel in the United States House of Representatives Office of the General Counsel representing the Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the United States Capitol in litigation.

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Michelle has represented clients filing amicus briefs in some of the highest-profile litigation involving the crypto industry.  Her clients include Senator Cytnhia Lummis (in SEC v. Coinbase), the Blockchain Association and payment scholars (in Custodia v. Federal Reserve), and the Crypto Council for Innovation (in In re Coinbase).  She regularly presents about separation of powers issues (including the major questions doctrine) and uncharted areas of law.

A seasoned technology and financial services executive, Michelle is the Vice President of Strategic Initiatives and Global Communications at TaxBit. In this role, she leads all marketing and public relations to elevate TaxBit’s brand as an industry leader.  Her team promotes an inclusive culture, encouraging engagement through leadership and collaboration.

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In addition to her role at TaxBit, Michelle is a well-known FinTech leader, Voted top 30 FinTech Marketer and Leading Web3 Executive.  

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She is passionate about improving access to financial services for the unbanked. She has a proven track record of leading brand management, marketing communications, and community building in the FinTech space.

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Before joining TaxBit, she was the VP of Marketing and Community at Uphold, a digital money platform. In that role, she developed and implemented the brand’s marketing strategy, brought cohesion and intention to the brand voice, and facilitated Uphold’s online community. She also managed public relations, content marketing and development, and social media strategy.

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Michelle is also the Expansion Chair of NYC FinTech Women, a founding member and board member of the Association Women in Crypto member, and an advisor for The Financial Club and Blockchain steering committee of WTIA.

Mike Carter is an expert in digital assets, regulatory compliance, and financial crimes investigations. Mr. Carter has extensive experience providing advisory and investigative services for financial crime matters globally, including leading complex engagements for financial institutions, digital asset service providers, and payments companies to address risk and compliance concerns.

Mr. Carter most recently served as the Chief Compliance Officer (CCO) from 2020-23 at a major digital asset exchange where he led the scaling and redesign of the global compliance program addressing issues related to money laundering, sanctions, fraud, data privacy and protection, consumer protection, market surveillance, product risks, licensing, and regulatory examinations.

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In addition to his experience as CCO, Mr. Carter has led numerous compliance and regulatory projects at global consulting firms including: addressing regulatory risks at numerous digital asset companies during startup and growth phases, supporting government-appointed monitors, conducting sensitive investigations for high-profile matters, building executable compliance roadmaps, and implementing data models to assess risk.

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He has assisted clients in the digital assets space since 2017, and served as the AML/BSA Committee Chair for the Virtual Commodity Association in 2019-20. Mike also served on the AML Committee for TRUST Travel Rule from 2020-23.

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A frequent contributor to financial crimes industry publications, Mr. Carter has been featured in Bloomberg Law, Wall Street Journal, and the New York Law Journal. He recently authored the digital assets section of the COSO/ACFE 2023 Fraud Risk Management Guide.

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Mike is a US Army veteran and served in Operation Enduring Freedom. He also serves as a board member of The Ability Experience.

Moty is an insatiable enthusiast for the dynamic intersection of Finance and Technology. After a decade of thriving in the finance industry, she embarked on a thrilling academic journey, ultimately earning her Finance Ph.D. Moty's intellectual curiosity knows no bounds, and under the guidance of Dr. Alfred Lehar, she delves deep into the fascinating realm of fintech research. Breaking barriers and setting records, she etched her name in history as Iran's SEO's first-ever female and youngest-ever Director, ascending to the prestigious role of CTO. Her global footprint extends far and wide, from orchestrating fintech projects across Sweden, Australia, Brazil, South Korea, Oman, and beyond to her pivotal role as a project manager at Nasdaq. With her remarkable expertise, she's lent her genius to pivotal international initiatives such as Market Linkage, Energy Exchange Establishment, Cross-border Settlement, High-Frequency Trade Engine design, Real-time Surveillance, and Supervision in the Stock Market.

Nicole WaakaDirector of Sales, Metaco/RippleBased in Sydney, Australia, Nicole leads the business development and sales execution for Metaco/Ripple across Australia and New Zealand (“ANZ”).Nicole’s mission is to build a foundational business model for Metaco/Ripple in ANZ, leveraging her expertise and experience in the financial services and technology sectors to position Metaco/Ripple for long-term success.Nicole transitioned her career into the Technology sector in 2021, after forging a successful career in the Banking and Finance industry. During her ~ 25 years working for Tier 1 Global Banks, Nicole managed sales and coverage organisations for the Asia Pacific region, with roles based in Singapore, China, and Australia.Nicole has a proven track record of formulating and executing business strategies, transforming and optimising businesses, revenue growth, driving sales, leading diverse teams, and building positive corporate cultures.Nicole advocates for life-long learning and covets opportunities to learn new skills. She is a passionate supporter of diversity and inclusion initiatives and is currently a Regional Ambassador for the Association of Women in Cryptocurrency and Co-Lead for Women@Ripple. Topics close to Nicole's heart include advancing women in business, leadership/mentoring, business topics including sales, business development, go-to-market and other strategic business-related subjects. Having worked in banking/finance for decades Nicole is comfortable discussing payments, working capital and other banking related subjects. Having pivoted into the digital assets arena in 2021, Nicole can also discuss crypto, digital assets, NFTs, stablecoins and DLT/blockchain topics.

Nikita is the co-founder of CryptoGirls, the first crypto media company made by women for women. Her research specialty is market design, where game theory & technology is used to create desirable outcomes in online and offline markets. Nikita is a proficient coder and has had a varied career spanning United Nations Secretariat to capital management. She was awarded the Prime Minister's Scholarship to Latin America and the Japanese Government MEXT scholarship, and has been a keynote speaker at several government events, including at APEC leaders week and New Zealand Parliament. Nikita holds a Masters of Economics from the University of Tokyo.

Nilmini Rubin is the Chief Policy Officer for Hedera, a fast and green distributed ledger or public blockchain. Essentially, Hedera provides a layer of trusted, open source, internet infrastructure for applications with real-world impact.

Prior to joining Hedera, Nilmini worked on the global policy team at Meta and co-founded Fix the System, a coalition of organizations committed to election integrity and democracy strengthening in the United States. She headed Tetra Tech’s global team implementing energy and internet projects that resulted in millions of people gaining access to electricity for the first time. For roughly twelve years, she served as a senior aide on both the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee and the U.S. House Foreign Affairs Committee, where she spearheaded the passage of legislation to provide electricity access in Africa, increase global internet access, reduce corruption through transparency, and reform U.S. foreign assistance. As a director at the National Security Council, Nilmini helped secure agreements on non-proliferation, international health, and foreign aid.

Nilmini was named a Young Global Leader by the World Economic Forum and is a member of its Experts Network and Digital ID Working Group. Nilmini earned her MBA and B.A. from the University of California at Berkeley. She is a competitive adult ice skater. Nilmini and her husband have three daughters.

Nisa has been investing in fintech/Blockchain and has been an early stage investor for the past decade. She was named one of Business Insider’s Women VC’s to watch and top 100 Women in Fintech, and top 50 global Blockchain thinkers. She is a securities lawyer and on the Boards of several institutions including Wharton Entrepreneurship and Girls Who Invest. She contributes for Forbes and Hosts the Coinscrum Markets show. Prior to investing, she was an entrepreneur and spent many years in business development And strategy at companies like Time Warner, NBC Universal and Anderson Kill. She holds a business degree from the University of Michigan and a law degree from the University of Pennsylvania. She is Finra-licensed.

Olta Andoni is the General Counsel and Chief Compliance Officer at Enclave Markets, the very first fully encrypted exchange in the USA, guiding the development of Enclave's internal compliance systems and policies, assisting in the company's growth efforts, and ensures that it remains compliant so as to offer top-tier services to Enclave's clients. Prior to Enclave, Andoni served as the Deputy General Counsel at Ava Labs where she oversaw implementation of the legal strategy for the company, drove day to day legal affairs, and aligned the legal and business strategies of the company. Before joining Ava Labs, Ms. Andoni was the Chief Legal Officer of Nifty’s, an NFT focused social media platform. She also lectured for Chicago – Kent, College of Law since 2013. Leveraging many years of IP and Fintech expertise, Ms. Andoni has voiced her passion about DeFi, NFTs and protection of IP rights. She is part of many regulatory policy groups in the USA where she helps strategize the future of the regulation of digital assets in the country. She is a regular speaker and moderator for industry conferences on topics regarding regulatory considerations, decentralized exchanges, compliance matters, DeFi, NFTs and antitrust law issues facing the broader fintech space.

Pamela works with governments, law enforcement officials, regulators, law firms and financial institutions around the world to understand and mitigate cryptocurrency risk and conduct cryptocurrency financial investigations. She trains and educates officials and staff on cryptocurrency, its underlying technology and relevant regulations to empower them to  identify and conduct investigations into financial crimes, money laundering and other criminal activity within the cryptocurrency ecosystem.

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Prior to joining CipherTrace, Pamela was the Assistant Vice President - BSA and Information Security for First State Bank. She also has over 20 years of international experience with investigations, due diligence and operations mostly in Latin America with the U.S. Government.

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Pamela has her Certified Anti-Money Laundering Specialist (CAMS).  She obtained her B.A. from the University of Texas at Austin and her MBA from the Universidad Autónoma de Madrid.  She has conducted trainings and workshops, and spoken about cryptocurrency and financial crimes globally, to include speaking engagements at INTERPOL, UN, EUROPOL, Basel Governance, ACAMS, ACFCS and other international and federal agencies and organizations. Pamela is an acknowledged industry expert in cryptocurrency intelligence and evidentiary criminal investigations. Her opinions and advice have been featured in the Wall Street Journal, Forbes, and on the TV program News Nation. Pam is fluent in both English and Spanish.

With a decade of experience spanning IT, fintech, and cryptoassets domains, Polina is a seasoned professional at the forefront of blockchain technology and data analytics. Collaborating with prestigious institutions such as the United Nations, the Economist, and Cambridge University, Polina brings a wealth of expertise to the table. As the founder of Syntagma Labs, a web3 consulting agency, she excels in startup consulting, strategy development, and decentralization initiatives. Renowned for her proficiency in conducting comprehensive industry research and analyzing blockchain data, Polina delivers actionable insights tailored to the specific requirements of startups and SMEs, with expertise in tokenomics, platform economies, and the strategic integration of AI and blockchain technologies. Polina is a sought-after speaker on topics including blockchain, AI, startup consulting, data analysis, web3, decentralization, and strategic planning, captivating audiences with her depth of knowledge and forward-thinking perspectives.

Puja is a financial services professional with over 17 years of industry experience. Her experience stems from firms such as Digital Currency Group (DCG), JP Morgan, Citi, New York Life, Hertz and McKinsey. Puja has held various roles throughout her career including, Head of Corporate Development, Head of Ideation for AreaX, and Head of External Innovation. She is well versed in strategy, innovation, and establishing partnerships with thought leaders, academics, and the startup ecosystem to unlock new opportunities and explore emerging technologies. She currently serves as the Head of Client Success for Onyx Digital Assets for JPM driving strategy for client experience and solutions. Puja’s expertise focuses on designing and implementing strategic growth initiatives, developing corporate and digital strategies, fostering commercial opportunities, and new product development.

Rani Nagpal is an innovative, tech-centric senior leader with deep expertise building successful startups and growing profitable revenue at large, multinational corporations. Currently, she's the Vice President of Marketing at Front Finance. Rani is passionate about increasing the diversity of founders, advisors and investors in the startup ecosystem. Through her work as a mentor for Andreessen Horowitz and Company Ventures, she advises early-stage startups with diverse founders on building and scaling enduring businesses. Rani is also a Venture Partner at Republic, and a founding member of Chief, a private network focused on connecting and supporting exceptional women leaders.

Samantha brings 25+ years of experience in financial services as an attorney, regulator, central banker, policy maker and advocate, chief compliance officer, and consultant. She is acknowledged as an international authority on AML and sanctions compliance, payments, and blockchain technology.

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Recently, Samantha has been advising clients on the development of robust compliance programs and leading the compliance function of digital assets startup companies. In addition to her roles at AWIC, she currently serves as the Founder & CEO of Unconventional Consulting and Senior Advisor to several management consulting firms. She has served as CCO at two crypto exchanges and a non-fungible tokens (NFTs) platform. At each company, Samantha established a comprehensive compliance program, oversaw day-to-day compliance activities such as customer onboarding and transaction monitoring, managed registration and licensing, interfaced with regulators, and secured strategic banking partners. Prior to these experiences, Samantha was a Senior Director in the risk and regulatory compliance consulting practice at Guidehouse.

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Samantha launched new strategies and initiatives in financial crime compliance, payments, and innovative technology at BAFT, the international banking subsidiary of the American Bankers Association.  Her efforts significantly increased the association's policy influence and industry visibility. She also produced industry tools that are globally recognized as best practice, including a playbook for obtaining and maintaining correspondent banking accounts, an indemnity agreement for securing the return of funds fraudulently transferred abroad, and a framework for auditing blockchain solutions used in banking.

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Samantha joined the Federal Reserve Board at height of the global financial crisis and FinCEN following the 9/11 terrorist attacks to write regulations implementing the laws which transformed the U.S. financial services industry:  the Dodd-Frank Act and USA PATRIOT Act. At the Fed, she drafted rules governing remittance transfers (Reg. E), mortgage lending and servicing (Reg. Z), check clearing and processing (Reg. CC), and debit card interchange and routing (Reg. II). Samantha also led the retail payments team’s analysis of mobile and cryptopayments, oversight of the Fed’s check, ACH, and payments security systems, and introduction of chip and PIN cards and faster payments in the U.S. In addition to writing regulations at FinCEN, Samantha brought high-profile enforcement actions against financial institutions for Bank Secrecy Act violations and negotiated agreements with foreign counterparts to share financial intelligence information.

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As the global head of regulations and compliance, Samantha built international money transmitter Ruesch’s compliance function from scratch in 15 months to prepare the company for sale. After Travelex acquired Ruesch, she integrated the compliance teams, programs, and technology systems world-wide. Samantha began her career as an attorney at top-tier global law firm of Morrison & Foerster.

As Lockton's Blockchain Advisory Leader, Sarah is focused on positioning Lockton as a trusted advisor, thought leader and solution developer for insuring blockchain and digital asset companies and the risks they face. Lockton has successfully placed coverage for a number of blockchain companies including trading platforms, lenders, decentralized finance companies, mining companies, wallet providers, market makers, liquidity providers, investment managers, asset managers, private equity/venture capital firms, custodians, payment platforms, blockchain technology incubators and others.

Sorcha Mulligan is a Web3 & Immersive Technology entrepreneur, advisor, mentor & diversity advocate drawing on a 15 year TradFi Corporate Treasury career in Tier 1 Financial Institutions. Founder of The SMEChain, a Consultancy for purpose driven founders applying emerging technology to solve real world problems addressing ESG challenges, she has been immersed in the world of Blockchain since 2016.

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Sorcha sits on numerous industry group committees or represents as Ambassador or Mentor for AWIC, Women in Immersive Tech Europe WiiT, BlockW, Blockchain Ireland, the Impact Innovation Foundation, Tech FoundHer, ECOTA, CHAISE & Global InvestHer. Sorcha has been voted Top 100 Women in VC & Startups in Ireland, Top Voice for Diversity & Inclusion, Top 100 Women in Blockchain & LinkedIn Top Voice.

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Sorcha has featured as a speaker, moderator, panelist, podcast guest at over 50 events & conferences in-person, online & hybrid all over the world & is open to speak passionately about technology for positive change. Her core objective is to join the dots across networks of networks to elevate & empower women & diverse thinkers.

Steffi is a highly skilled and experienced business development professional with a passion for driving growth and innovation. As the Marketing Head at Metaco APAC and MEA, her primary focus is to advance the institutional adoption of digital assets by providing institutions with a robust and secure digital asset infrastructure.

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Steffi is passionate about fintech, and her expertise in the field has helped her to develop a deep understanding of the industry. She is also a strong advocate for advancing more women in fintech and is actively involved in initiatives that promote gender diversity in the industry.

Tiffany J. Smith is a partner at WilmerHale and Co-Chair of the Firm’s Blockchain and Cryptocurrency Working Group.  

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Tiffany is a seasoned regulatory attorney with experience advising tradfi and crypto/Web3 companies on cutting edge regulatory and compliance matters, and has emerged as one of the leading experts on crypto regulation because of her securities regulatory expertise and understanding of the underlying technology. She is a thought leader and highly sought after speaker, and often writes and speaks on crypto and diversity at conferences and client events across the country.  Specifically, Tiffany has spoken at events hosted by Bloomberg, the Cato Institute, American Bar Association and the Practicing Law Institute.  

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Tiffany is also Co-Founder of the Blockchain Braintrust, a non-profit focused on ensuring disruptive technologies promote financial inclusion.  The Blockchain Braintrust also hosts an annual convening of Black crypto and Web3 executives. She has a J.D. from The George Washington University Law School, and a BBA from The George Washington University.

Valeria Kennedy is the Director of International Intelligence Solutions at Chainalysis where she leads a team of best-in-class investigators. Valeria specializes in the post-Soviet space, emerging technology, and malign interference. Before Chainalysis, Valeria was nominated as a Fulbright scholar and researched artificial intelligence and cyber warfare in Tel Aviv. Valeria previously worked on crisis response at UNICEF Ukraine. She also served at several think tanks and non-profit institutions, including the German Marshall Fund's Alliance for Securing Democracy, where she worked on autocratic interference.

Wei is an experienced commercial attorney specializing in complex transactions and strategic partnerships. Captivated by the revolutionary potential of blockchain and cryptocurrencies, she made it her mission to unravel the intricate legal landscapes governing these novel technologies. With steadfast commitment to staying ahead of the curve, Wei immersed herself in supporting high-growth tech clients in the crypto space. Wei's legal expertise is grounded in a deep understanding of the technical, business, and legal facets of her clients' pursuits. 

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Based in Lake Tahoe, Wei's parallel love for the outdoors continues to complement her legal prowess, serving as a wellspring of inspiration and rejuvenation. When she's not crafting groundbreaking legal strategies, you can find her summiting mountains, embarking on cross-country ski adventures, or simply soaking in the beauty of the natural world.

Zenobia has over 20 years of experience in high tech PR , helping companies create and dominate new categories. She is the Senior Vice President of Corporate Communications for Swirlds Labs, driving awareness of the Hedera ecosystem, and the founder of ZAG Communications, a multi-million dollar technology PR firm. Previously, she was a sell-side analyst with investment bank Morgan Keegan, where she was part of The Wall Street Journal’s #1 Ranked Software Analyst team. Prior to this, she served as the head of communications for Opsware Inc (NASDAQ: OPSW), founded by Marc Andreessen and Ben Horowitz, which was acquired by HP for $1.6B. Zenobia graduated from Stanford University with a BA in Economics and Psychology, minor in Industrial Engineering.