Adam O'Brien

Chief Executive Officer | Bitcoin Well

As Founder and CEO of Bitcoin Well — a publicly traded Bitcoin company —  Adam O’Brien is a leading advocate for Bitcoin education and consumer protection through the improvement of financial services. In 2013, Adam bought his first bitcoin and after seeing the potential within the space, he installed the first Bitcoin ATMs in the provinces of Alberta and Saskatchewan in 2014. After organically growing that business for a few years, he expanded the organization’s reach across the country with ATMs in every major province in Canada by 2019. In 2020 his attention turned towards bitcoin usability by enabling his customers to pay their credit cards and bills with bitcoin. Today, he is focused on enabling independence with a promise to future-proof money through the  same organization he founded nearly 10 years ago.

Alex Daskalov

Chief Executive Officer | KNOX

Alexander Munro

Chief Executive Officer | Dandelion

Alex Munro is a Co-founder and CEO of Dandelion Networks, a new Layer-1 ledger technology motivated to resolve the limitations and vulnerabilities of conventional blockchains. Starting in banking and commodity hedging products, he moved into long-cycle moonshot VC. He has founded and invested from several major funds, including Saudi Aramco Energy Ventures and Cenovus Energy Ventures. He sits on the Board of Directors for Calgary-based verifiable credential company, Credivera and advises companies across sectors on capital strategies. Despite an MBA (UC Berkeley/Rotterdam EUR) and a BSc (Western U), he continues to headbutt the writer’s-block guarding his PhD.

Alexander Szecsy

Business Development Manager | Memory Express

Alexander Szecsy is the Business Development Manager at Memory Express Inc. and Bitcoin Marketplace. Alexander’s passion for new technologies and their applications has guided his career though oil & gas, Engineering, Information Technology, Crypto Currency and Blockchain Technology. His hobbies and sports are skiing, surfing, Crypto, long-range target shooting, Travel, exotic cars, and R/C design/construction.

Alexis Pappas

Chief Innovation Officer | Guild One

The Chief Innovation Officer at blockchain and digital finance firm GuildOne, Alexis Pappas specializes in energy sector transformation and disruptive technologies for a net-zero future. As the Executive Director of the Canadian Blockchain Association for Women and a Director of the Canadian Blockchain Consortium, Alexis believes that inclusive change is the key to global sustainability.

Andrew Davies

Global Head of Regulatory Affairs | Comply Advantage

Andrew Davies is Global Head of Regulatory Affairs at ComplyAdvantage. In this role, he works with ComplyAdvantage customers, prospects and regulators around the world to design and deploy effective risk management solutions to mitigate financial crime risks with particular focus on compliance, money laundering and fraud. He is also responsible for seeking new markets and applications for ComplyAdvantage’s data, screening and monitoring solutions.

Davies joined ComplyAdvantage in 2022. He has worked in the software industry for more than twenty five years supporting many of the world’s largest financial institutions, both private and public. Davies’ experience covers anti-money laundering, risk mitigation of financial crime risk, real-time payments, front- office trading, settlement risk, and more.

Davies previously worked for Logica and Nomura, the Japanese bank, in the London prior to moving to the US. Most recently he previously worked at Fiserv, in global market strategy for financial crimes risk management. He joined Fiserv through the acquisition of AML trailblazer NetEconomy. He has worked on many diverse programs including secure UK Government projects, distribution systems, trading systems, derivatives pricing projects and SWIFT connectivity for payment systems. Since moving to the United States, he has concentrated on financial crime detection systems and has worked with a variety of institutions to deploy such systems including the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, the Continuous Linked Settlement Bank, ING, ABN AMRO, Manulife Financial, Guardian Life, Deutsche Bank and the Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi among others.

Davies studied Pure Mathematics and Computer Science at the University of Wales. He is a Certified Anti-Money Laundering Specialist and has worked with customers in the Americas, Europe, the Middle East, Australia, Africa and Asia. He is a respected industry speaker having presented at SIBOS, ABA events, CBA events, numerous webinars, and he is a frequent writer on industry issues and has contributed to articles in the American Banker, Credit Union Journal, finextra.com, PYMNTS.com among other publications and websites.

Ben Eacrett

Head of Special Projects | DV Chain

Ben Eacrett is the Head of Operations and Special Projects at DV Chain. Ben has been deeply involved in the buildout of DV Chain Canada and actively engaged in the Canadian crypto ecosystem more broadly. Ben has over a dozen years of experience in proprietary trading and financial markets, coming to DV Chain from DV Trading where he most recently held the role of Director – Strategy Development. Prior to joining DV Trading, Ben was a senior trader on National Bank Financial’s Pro Equity desk, where he was also engaged as the group’s advisor on algorithmic trading.

Ben Gagnon

Chief Mining Officer | Bitfarms

As Chief Mining Officer of Bitfarms, Ben manages mining operations and strategy for one of the largest and oldest publicly traded Bitcoin mining companies in the world. Before joining Bitfarms, Ben started building and operating Bitcoin mining facilities in mainland China in 2015. Ben has also founded multiple mining companies where he was responsible for sourcing and developing strategic low-cost power opportunities, facility planning, economic analysis, equipment sourcing, operation, and optimization of industrial-scale crypto mining facilities in Asia and North America. Ben brings over 7 years of real-world Bitcoin mining experience and is a recognized industry thought leader whose expertise is regularly requested at conferences and from industry leaders around the world.

https://twitter.com/Bitfarms_io

Ben Harper

Financial Associate | Luxor Technologies

As a Financial Associate with Luxor Technologies, a Seattle-based digital mining services company, Ben helps build the software and financial service infrastructure to support the next generation of digital assets.
Before joining Luxor, Ben spent six years working in numerous positions in the public and private sector, in Canada and abroad, as a financial, economic, and public policy analyst. Ben sits on the Canadian Blockchain Consortium’s Policy and Advocacy Committee and is passionate about advancing policy to encourage the development of the blockchain industry, and digital asset mining specifically, in Canada.
Ben holds a Master of Arts in Economics from Columbia University, and a Bachelor of Commerce and Bachelor of Arts (Economics) from Queen’s University.

Bilal Hammoud

Chief Executive Officer and Founder | National Digital Asset Exchange Inc.

Bilal Hammoud is a Canadian tech entrepreneur and crypto industry leader. As CEO & Founder of NDAX, one of Canada’s largest cryptocurrency trading platforms, Bilal spearheads pioneering the crypto industry daily with over a decade of expertise in finance, engineering, digital assets and blockchain. With a global ambition and mindset driven to innovate the digital asset sector, Bilal’s mission is to offer a premium experience for all investors and assure a seamless and secure crypto experience for everyone.

Brett Colvin

Chief Executive Officer | Goodlawyer

Brett Colvin is Goodlawyer’s Co-founder and CEO. Brett has overseen Goodlawyer’s growth from inception to a 25+ person team. Brett was a corporate lawyer for 4+ years, and he experienced firsthand that most business owners can’t afford the legal help they need. So, he quit the big firm, teamed up with a developer and a designer, and got to work on building something better.

Dean Skurka

President | Bitbuy

Dean Skurka was formerly the Head of Finance and Compliance for FLC, and is currently the Head of Exchanges at WonderFi, and President at Bitbuy. Since joining Bitbuy in 2018, Dean has led all finance, compliance, and regulatory strategy development and implementation and growth initiatives including all M&A transactions. Key milestones include completing Canada’s first Proof of Reserve & Solvency Report, structuring insured user bitcoin holdings 1:1, and growing cumulative transaction volume on the platform from $25M in 2018 to over $3B in 2021. Prior to FLC, Dean spent over 5 years working in corporate restructuring and insolvency, acting as a financial advisor to secured lenders and financial institutions. Dean holds a Bachelor of Commerce from Ryerson University, having majored in finance, and minored in accounting.

Didier Lavallee

Chief Executive Officer | Tetra Trust

Didier brings over 16 years of capital markets and asset servicing experience to Tetra. Prior to becoming CEO of Tetra, Didier held various leadership positions at the Royal Bank of Canada including Head of Canadian Custody Product for RBC Investor and Treasury Services. Before that, Didier also ran RBC I&TS North American FX Sales Trading team, FX Product and held various roles in capital markets with RBC, UBS and Genuity. Didier holds a B.A. in Finance and Administrative Studies from Western University.

Dina Mainville

Founder | Collisionless

Dina is the Founder of Collisionless, a consulting and advisory services firm that provides strategic guidance, fractional management, and outsourced staffing solutions to the blockchain industry. Since 2016, Dina has advised global governments, regulators, law enforcement agencies, blockchain companies, and large financial institutions on blockchain initiatives and cryptocurrency. For the last 3 years, her focus has been on regulatory matters related to virtual assets, including the Financial Action Task Force Travel Rule. Most recently, she was Sales Director for CipherTrace, a leading cryptocurrency anti-money laundering compliance firm that was acquired by Mastercard in 2021. Dina currently serves as Head and Chair of the FinTech Committee at the Canadian Blockchain Consortium, and as a member of its Access 2 Banking Committee. She is an Advisory Board member for the Northern Alberta Institute of Technology.

Doug Schweitzer

Senior Advisor - Technology, Media and Telecommunication | Deloitte

Doug’s not a career politician. He’s a father, husband and former Partner with the largest law firm in the world with a love for his Province and an unrelenting optimism for what it can be. He’s a third generation Albertan who believes it is up to us to make sure future generations have the same opportunities many of us have enjoyed over the years.

Michael Ainger

Chief Executive Officer | Block Resources

Michael is the chief executive officer for Block Resources..

Eric Kryski

Chief Executive Officer and Co-Founder | Bidali

Eric Kryski is the CEO and co-founder of Bidali — a financial infrastructure company that uses blockchain technology to provide better, cheaper and more transparent financial services. Eric has been building software and distributed systems for over 15 years, some that still powers existing startups, SMBs and Fortune 100s. He also previously spoke during the World Economic Forum about the future of money, and has advised multiple governments on their financial digital transformation strategies. Eric received a BSc in Computer Science from the University of Calgary in 2011 where he published research in the area of Human Computer Interaction, and was the co-creator of the popular web application framework FeathersJS.

Erin Dermer

Senior Vice President, Communications and Culture | Hut 8 Mining

With more than 20 years of experience promoting and protecting the brands of many of Canada’s top companies, Erin is an expert in strategy, communications, marketing, and culture. She has served as a trusted advisor to c-suite executives in the telecom, technology, transportation, retail, and resource mining sectors, leading organizations through significant periods of growth and transformation. A champion of all elements of ESG and embedding them into a company’s DNA, Erin is steering Hut 8’s strategy, supporting its growth, and sharing its unique story.

George Bordianu

Co-founder & CEO | Balance

George is the co-founder and CEO of Balance, Canada’s largest digital asset custodian. He is a second-time founder with a strong technical background, holds an MSc. in Computer Science from McGill University, and prior to Balance worked in the digital media sector as 500px’s Director of Engineering.

Jade Alberts

Vice President | Canada Blockchain Consortium

I’m an Entrepreneur, Angel Investor and a Strategist that Tells It Like It Is. I’ve had a successful career as a sales Entrepreneur. Yes, I mean Sales Entrepreneur. I was allowed to create the sales that allowed me to understand growth, margin and profit. This was extremely handy when I became an Entrepreneur. I now share my knowledge with aspiring entrepreneurs as I believe lack of capital should not get in the way of what you need to succeed. I have exited a business and helped three others exit. Peer Guidance – Purpose Before Profit is Entrepreneurs helping Entrepreneurs. We guide Startups, Entrepreneurs and Small Businesses through their challenges focusing on Growth, Scaling & Angel Investment. https://peerguidance.ca/

James Burron

Co-founder and Partner | CAASA - Canadian Association of Alternative Strategies & Assets

James co-founded CAASA in response to industry support for a Canadian alternatives association to serve all aspects including: hedge / alternative strategies; private lending; private real estate; private equity; plus emerging areas where Canada is a leader such as digital assets / blockchain and robo-advisors.

Prior to CAASA, James was the Chief Operating Officer of AIMA Canada where his team of three worked with 12 committees to produce 50-60 events per annum across Canada, organize 100+ committee meetings, and increase member numbers over his 7-year tenure from 66 to 164 corporate entities.

James also has experience in research and writing for the CAIA Association as well as serving on CAIA’s Exam Council and as a grader for the Level II portion of the exam. He also had roles in institutional sales and FoHF structuring in Seoul, South Korea, as a Product Manager at ICICI Wealth Management, and an Investment Advisor at RBC Dominion Securities. He graduated from Simon Fraser University with a BBA (Finance).

Jennifer Edgar

Client Executive, Commercial Lines | NFP Canada

Experienced professional with a demonstrated history in the Commercial Risk Management & Insurance industry – building strong connections with the global market, as well as clients from all industry spaces.

I excel in technical sales and communication skills, with a focus on developing relationships through all levels of the business community internally and externally. I thrive on working within a team, helping to create unique and creative solutions.

Skilled in Negotiation, Analytical Skills, Sales, Team Building, and Teamwork.

Joseph Seibert

Managing Group Director and Senior Vice President | Signature Bank

Joseph Seibert serves as Managing Group Director and Senior Vice President of Digital Asset Banking at Signature Bank (Nasdaq: SBNY), a New York-based full-service commercial bank. He was appointed to his role in January 2018.

Seibert and his team of 25 specialize in serving companies engaged in digital asset banking and blockchain technology, and oversee all aspects of private client commercial banking related to FIAT settlement for cryptocurrency and blockchain technology firms trading digital assets worldwide. Seibert currently manages in excess of $30 billion (in deposit balances) for the crypto currency eco system.

Seibert brings more than 24 years of experience in private commercial banking to his role. Most recently, he served as Vice President and Market Sales Manager at Metropolitan Commercial Bank in Manhattan. Prior, he was Vice President and Sales Manager at Valley National Bank for eight years and Vice President and Banking Center Manager at Bank of America for eight years. In 2014, he pivoted to the Digital Asset banking space, building his expertise in this area. He quickly learned the digital asset industry needed a path to successfully merge its clientele with the commercial banking industry, one vertical at a time.

From OTC desks to crypto currency exchanges to crypto mining operations, Signature Bank’s Digital Assets team manages all of the day-to-day banking needs, encompassing client onboarding, account approvals, 24×7 client servicing and ongoing risk mitigation controls for Signature Bank.

In January 2019, Signature Bank successfully launched Signet™, a proprietary, blockchain-based payments platform used to settle USD 24/7/365 for all approved Signature Bank commercial clients. Signature Bank is the first FDIC-insured bank to launch a blockchain-based digital payments platform, and Signet is the first such platform to be approved for use by the NYS Department of Financial Services.

Seibert hails from Kutztown, Pa. and currently resides in Orefield, Pa.
His team and banking office are located @ 1400 Broadway in Manhattan.

Julie Bogle

Partner in the Securities and Capital Markets Group | Borden Ladner Gervais LLP

Julie is a partner with Borden Ladner Gervais LLP and is a member of BLG’s Securities and Capital Markets Group and Cryptocurrency and Blockchain Group. Julie acts for public and private companies in connection with mergers & acquisitions, initial public offerings, corporate financings, corporate reorganizations and compliance matters. Julie represents a growing number of technology companies, and has helped cryptocurrency companies become publicly listed on the NEO, TSX Venture Exchange and CSE. She is the founder of the Driven by Women Initiative and dedicated to helping more women get into leadership positions.

Jonathan Han

Managing Director | VirgoCX Wealth

Jonathan Han is the Managing Director at VirgoCX Wealth, one of the leading Crypto OTC service providers in Canada. Jonathan is also a founding member of VirgoCX and was responsible for the scaling of Virgo’s retail platform and then expanding its OTC services internationally. Prior to Virgo, Jonathan worked in commodity trading and helped to scale high-growth tech start-ups in North America, Asia, and Europe. Jonathan obtained a Dual Master’s Degree from Ivey Business School and Rotterdam School of Management.

Julia Baranovskaya

Chief Compliance Officer | National Digital Asset Exchange Inc.

Julia Baranovskaya is a compliance leader with over 15 years of financial service industry experience specializing in regulatory compliance in her role as Chief Compliance Officer at NDAX. Julia is a co-founding team member of NDAX and has worked alongside talented individuals for the last five years to build the company from concept to creation.
Julia has aimed to contribute to a safer and more secure cryptocurrency experience for Canadians with a mission to implement regulations for virtual currency markets. Before joining NDAX, Julia worked in several IIROC-registered firms, including CIBC Wood Gundy and Altacorp Capital, where she held various positions. The combination of her legal and compliance background, sparked by her entrepreneurial spirit, drew her to blockchain and the digital asset class.

Kate Goldman

Senior Policy Associate | Elliptic

Kate Goldman is the Senior Policy Associate within Elliptic’s Global Policy and Research Group. Goldman’s work focuses on developing the regulatory framework surrounding cryptocurrencies for US-based regulators and policymakers. Goldman is a board member of the Modern Markets Initiative. Goldman previously led the FinTech program within the Milken Institute’s Center for Financial Markets, where her work emphasized responsible and pro-innovation policies for digital assets. While at the Milken Institute, she led many executive groups, roundtables, and panels on matters related to financial technology. Kate Goldman holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Public Policy from the University of Delaware.

Katrina Prokopy

Chief Legal Officer & Head of Regulatory Affairs | Coinsquare

Katrina Prokopy has extensive experience working as internal legal counsel in large financial institutions both in Canada and the US, specializing in broker-dealer matters, electronic trading and market structure issues. Katrina also worked at the Alberta Securities Commission as senior legal counsel and as Manager of Market Oversight in the Market Regulation Division where she was a member of the CSA Sandbox Committee and was involved in fintech policy development, the Canadian crypto regulatory framework and review of crypto asset trading platform files. She joined Coinsquare in November, 2021 as Chief Legal Officer & Head of Regulatory Affairs.

Kerem Kolcuoglu, MBA

Managing Partner | Penrose Partners

Kerem is an MBA and Managing Partner at Penrose Partners, a blockchain focused consulting firm advising startups, enterprises, governments and investors on navigating the blockchain and digital assets space.

Kerem has also held the CMO position at Mantle Technology, a cybersecurity and data privacy focused software businesses, highlighted by its blockchain infrastructure agnosticism and ease of adoption for enterprise.

Kerem is a blockchain advisor to the Canadian Technology Accelerators and the Premier’s Office of FinTech for the Bermuda Government. He has also been elected as a Founding Board Member of the Bermuda Innovation & Technology Association (BITA).

Previously at PricewaterhouseCoopers and at MLG Blockchain, he has consulted multinational enterprises, governments and educational institutions on understanding and adopting blockchain technology. Bridging his experience in multiple industries, he has foreseen change and advised clients on navigating digital transformation in an age of disruption.

Khurram Shroff

Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer | iMinning Technologies Inc.

Mr. Khurram Shroff has been an early adopter and supporter of Blockchain technology. He has been involved in various activities within the sector since 2010. Over the years, Mr. Shroff, through his Family Investment Office, has invested in multiple Blockchain solutions and protocols, has been an ardent champion of Blockchain and was also instrumental in the launch of Ethereum 2.0. Mr. Shroff is also an award-winning global banking and finance leader, who has been featured in the prestigious list of the “Top100 Most Powerful and Influential Muslims in the World” by Power100.

More recently, Mr. Shroff was nominated to become the Chairman and the CEO of iMining Technologies Inc., a Web3.0 company listed on the Toronto Stock Ventures Exchange (TSXV: IMIN). Under Mr. Shroff’s leadership iMining has expanded into developing technology for Crypto Mining, Decentralized Finance (“DeFi”), Metaverse Non-Fungible Tokens (“NFT”) and acquired BitBit Financial Inc., a crypto OTC Trading Platform for individual and institutions.

Mr. Shroff is very passionate about entrepreneurship and has mentored some of the most influential blockchain projects and blockchain teams around the world. He is avid speaker and thought leader in the blockchain technology space.

Mr. Shroff is a founding member of the Aga Khan Museum, in addition to being a member of the University Club of Toronto. In 2015, Mr. Shroff was appointed as a Civilian Sponsor at the Canadian Armed Forces College.

Koleya Karringten

President / Founder | Absolute Combustion International

A proud Albertan technology entrepreneur, advocate, and leader, Koleya Karringten has a unique perspective on the challenges and opportunities of product commercialization, ecosystem building and fostering inclusion in the technology industry. As the co-founder and CEO of Absolute Combustion, she has spent over a decade successfully designing and developing ground-breaking cleantech solutions for multiple industry sectors, including aerospace and Oil & Gas. She is a driving force in Canada’s blockchain technology industry as the Executive Director of the Canadian Blockchain Consortium (CBC) and co-founder/board member of the Canadian Blockchain Association for Women (CBAW). In her leadership role at the CBC, she has merged her passions for technology and social good to bring together blockchain companies, corporate leaders and the government to build the country’s largest blockchain ecosystem organization. An influential public speaker, writer, and community volunteer, Koleya strongly believes that uniting diverse voices behind a common goal is the path to creating a fairer, more sustainable and prosperous nation. Koleya also shares her passion for supporting women in STEM through her volunteer role the Vice Chair of Elevate Aviation a Not for Profit organization dedicated to supporting the education and training of women to have technical careers in Aviation.

Kunal Bhasin

Director & Co-Lead, Cryptoassets & Blockchain Chief Operating Executive | KPMG Canada

Kunal is the Director and Co-Leader of KPMG Canada’s Cryptoassets and Blockchain CoE. He possesses over 10 years of experience conducting and leading compliance and risk assessments, and technology audits for crypto, fintec, TradFi, and technology sectors.

Lawrence Truong

Chief Executive Officer | Binance Canada

Lawrence Truong is the CEO for Binance Canada and UDP for Binance Canada Capital Markets Inc. He holds CFA and CAMS designations as well as MBAs from Queen’s University and Cornell University and has over 25 years of experience in financial markets across front and middle office roles with financial institutions, hedge funds, and large corporations. In the capital markets, he traded billions of dollars in spot fx, fixed income and derivatives. Lawrence began his journey on a boat out of Vietnam with his family escaping the crisis in the country as a refugee to Canada in 1979. In the late 90’s armed with a Bachelor of Commerce (Finance) from the University of Calgary, he headed to Bay Street where he traded billions of dollars a day as a spot Canada trader at TD Bank. Having spent the last decade in regulatory compliance roles, Lawrence appreciates and values the part regulators and government play in fintech and innovation.

MADEX

Creative Director | Bull Bitcoin

Madex is the creative director of Bull Bitcoin, a non-custodial, bitcoin only, exchange founded in 2013. He also runs a self titled art project “MADEX” which creates paintings and designer products that celebrate the beauty of individuality and the magnificence of human potential. His work has been sold to and admired by collectors from around the world.

Mark Connors

Head of Research | 3iQ

Mark Connors; Head of Research, 3iQ

Mark recently joined 3iQ with over 30 years of investment management experience in Portfolio Management, Risk Management and most recently as Credit Suisse’s Global Head of Portfolio & Risk Advisory.

At Credit Suisse, Mark’s team provided investment consulting services and proprietary content including sentiment data relevant to hedge fund and real money clients in capacities across Portfolio, Treasury, Risk and Marketing.
Mark held Senior portfolio and risk management roles at the multi-strategy fund Diamondback Capital as well as Strategic Value Partners in various capacities including Head of Fixed Income, Currency & Commodity (FICC) Risk, and Counterparty Credit Risk and as Co-Chair of the Diamondback’s Investment Risk Committee.
Prior to these dedicated risk management roles, Mark traded a capital structure arbitrage book at CIBC World Markets which served as the cornerstone strategy for the hedge fund Maystone Partners, which he co-founded and ran from 2002 thru 2005. Mr. Connors has also been a regular participant in industry conferences and a contributor to media outlets including Barron’s, Bloomberg TV & Radio, Reuters and the Wall Street Journal.

Matthew T. Burgoyne

Partner | Osler, Hoskin & Harcourt LLP

Matthew is the co-head of Osler’s Digital Asset practice. His practice includes private market financings, mergers and acquisitions, secured and unsecured lending transactions, stock exchange listings, regulatory compliance, and securities issues facing the cryptocurrency industry. Matthew routinely advises national and international clients in digital currency law. He has assisted in the formation of cryptocurrency exchanges and has advised digital token and coin developers, decentralized finance platforms, centralized finance platforms, non-fungible token (“NFT”) issuers, stablecoin issuers, cryptocurrency ATM providers, cryptocurrency miners, cryptocurrency investors, anddecentralized autonomous organizations (“DAOs”). Matthew was one of the first Canadian lawyers to act for cryptocurrency companies in Canada and is regularly called to give his opinion to the media on issues relating to cryptocurrency and Canadian law, and has been quoted in Fortune Magazine, Reuters, The Globe and Mail, Bloomberg, The Logic, the Toronto Star, the Winnipeg Free Press and has also been interviewed on CBC radio and CBC television. Matthew is also an author on Coindesk.com, the world’s largest cryptocurrency and blockchain news site. Matthew sits on a variety of advisory boards of his clients and is currently an advisor to the Alberta Securities Commission’s New Economy Advisory Committee.

Melissa Smith

Partner | Borden Ladner Gervais LLP

Melissa is a partner in the Securities and Capital Markets Group in BLG’s Calgary office. Melissa focuses her practice on corporate and securities law with an emphasis on mergers, acquisitions and other business combinations of public and private issuers including take-over bids, amalgamations and plans of arrangement. She also advises clients on financing transactions including public and private offerings of debt, equity and convertible securities, and compliance with corporate and securities regulatory requirements and drafting of a large number of corporate and commercial documents including governance documents, shareholder agreements and other business agreements.

In addition, Melissa assists with plans of arrangement, mergers, acquisitions and other business combinations, prepares a wide variety of commercial, securities and corporate documents, and conducts due diligence on behalf of issuers, agents and underwriters in a variety of contexts.

Melissa is the Chair of the BLG’s Calgary Student Committee.

Hon. Michelle Rempel Garner

Member of Parliament for Calgary Nose Hill House of Commons | Parliament of Canada

The Honourable Michelle Rempel is the Member of Parliament for Calgary Nose Hill. She was first elected to the House of Commons in 2011 and re-elected in 2015. Michelle is currently serving as the Shadow Minister for Health.

Michelle has held the positions of Minister of State for Western Economic Diversification, the Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of the Environment, the Shadow Minister for Industry and Economic Development, the Shadow Minister for Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship, and was the Vice-Chair of the House of Commons Standing Committee on Citizenship and Immigration. . Michelle has twice been named Maclean’s Magazine’s Parliamentarian of the Year – Rising Star, calling her “one of the government’s most impressive performers.” In 2016, Michelle was also named to the Forum of Young Global Leaders, an integral part of the World Economic Forum. Prior to entering politics, she was named one of “Canada’s Top 100 Most Powerful Women” by the Women’s Executive Network.

Prior to her election Michelle was the Director of the University of Calgary’s Institutional Programs Division, and built a strong reputation for successfully promoting innovative academic and business research partnerships. An expert in innovation policy, Michelle also worked in the technology commercialization division of the University of Manitoba, where she assisted in administering commercialization strategies for a portfolio of over 200 emerging technologies.

Michelle has also worked as a managerial consultant in Calgary, applying her knowledge of intellectual property management within a professional service framework in the areas of strategic planning, project management, process reengineering, and marketing where she gained insight in the health and educational sectors.

Michelle holds a degree in economics and has a strong history of volunteerism in Calgary. She has led significant legislative efforts, is a prolific public speaker, social media expert, and has been published in national newspapers.

Nitin Sathawane

Head of Alberta Business | Mphasis

A growth driven leader with entrepreneur mindset, Nitin has over twenty two years of expertise in building large scale operations in business and technology services globally. At Mphasis, he is responsible for spearheading growth strategies, client pursuits, client services, partnership with University of Calgary & Govt institutions and heading newly launched Calgary Development Center and building Quantum City in the Alberta region, a strategic initiative for Mphasis.

Nitin’s priority is to help clients accelerate enterprise digital transformation through Mphasis’ customer-centric Front2Back™ approach, harnessing cloud and cognitive for a hyper-personalized (X2C2TM) digital experience.

Prior to his current role, Nitin led number of strategic clients in USA, Canada and Europe and was a large deal principal for Service Transformation, leading large deals and execution across all verticals, channels and geographies. This included developing and implementing next- generation sourcing solutions to deliver outcome-based service and new business models. Nitin brings a strong track record as an entrepreneur wherein he built two successful business from scratch in short span. He has also led some of the large technology transformation and integration programs, delivering on business objectives and establishing operating models for value creation.

Nitin had worked with top employers servicing some of the fortune 100 clients globally. Nitin has proven record as global sales leader (North America, Europe & Asia) developing new regions, managing strategic accounts (PnL ownership) and large deal sales leader with an expertise in large transformation deal sales, opening and building multi-million-dollar accounts from early stage and building new sales pipeline.

Pamela Draper

President and Chief Executive Officer of Bitvo | Bitvo

Pamela Draper is the President and Chief Executive Officer of Bitvo Inc., a crypto asset trading platform launched in Canada in 2018 (entered agreement to be acquired by FTX Trading Limited in June 2022, transaction pending). Prior to joining Pateno and Bitvo, Pamela spent approximately 14 years with top tier Canadian banks, in the areas of corporate and investment banking. Most recently Pamela held the position of Director in BMO Capital Markets’ Equity Capital Markets group in Toronto where she was responsible for assisting North American corporate clients raising capital in public and private markets. Pamela obtained an Honours Business Administration degree from the Richard Ivey School of Business at the University of Western Ontario. Current voluntary positions include acting as a Director for the Canadian Blockchain Association for Women and for the Calgary Public Library Foundation. Pamela also serves as an Advisory Committee Member to Rallie, a financial technology company on a mission to get more women investing.

Paul Chafe

Chief Security Officer | Dandelion

Paul is Founder and Chief Science Officer at Dandelion networks, and the developer of Dandelion’s innovative Blocklattice data structure and the Client-Leader technology that supports it. He is a serial entrepreneur with multiple successful startups to his name, beginning with one of Canada’s first Internet Service Providers in 1993. Today he leads Dandelion’s research and development, in partnership with the University of Toronto Department of Computer Science, Metro Toronto University’s Cybersecurity Research Lab, and the Fields Institute.

Pascal St-Jean

President | 3iQ Corp.

I believe in helping create opportunities to help businesses unleash their true potential and as such, I work with founders & entrepreneurs, who recognize the value of investing in personal and professional growth, not only for their own benefit, but also for that of their employees and customers. My focus is helping companies grow faster, easier, with less risk.

As a serial entrepreneur, I understand the importance of leadership development, team culture building, strategic thinking, and clear operational processes. My long-term vision is simple, yet ambitious – to lead and inspire businesses and their teams so they can reach their full potential. I have done so over the past 20 years, largely by facilitating the understanding and development of the kind of strategic thinking, planning, and execution that helps businesses to succeed.

Philippe Noelting

VP of Corporate Clients and Partnerships | Be One Financial

Philippe is the VP of Corporate Clients and Partnerships at Be One Financial where he focuses on solving banking needs for clients globally. Philippe’s team at Be One helps onboard and manage key accounts in over 70 countries, ranging from crypto protocols who need reliable banking services and access to fiat currencies like USD or EUR, to traditional companies like real estate developers and brokers who want to accept crypto but want to limit their exposure. Philippe has a BA from Babson College, has founded and advised various startups, and has over 10 years experience in growing enterprise focused solutions internationally.https://www.linkedin.com/in/philnoelting/

Ryan Mueller CFE - CCCI - CAMS

Chief Compliance Officer | Phantom Compliance

I have been active in online payments for 18 years with the majority of that time spent in an investigative/risk management role.

I’ve been a customer service representative and I’ve managed entire call centers with employees in customer services/fraud/collections/investigations roles to name a few.

Very familiar with online commerce specifically in the high risk environment.

I have extensive experience in high risk merchant account provision, placement, and sales as well.

Specialties: Fraud investigation, underwriting of new application risk, fraud prevention, policy generation, compliance, managing 3rd party requests for information, crypto currencies. The list goes on.

Ryan Wass

Chief Executive Officer | Advisory Firm

Ryan is the Co-founder and CEO of an advisory firm specializing in risk, insurance, and captive services.
Known for his strategic and technical approach, Ryan has extensive experience advising companies on their risk management and insurance. Prior to his current role, Ryan was a partner at a commercial insurance brokerage. Ryan is a graduate of Insurance & Risk Management at MacEwan University, is a Fellow with the Insurance Institute of Canada (FCIP) and holds a Canadian Risk Management designation (CRM)

Ryan Ryder

Senior Cybercrime Investigator, Investigations and Special Programs | Chainalysis

Ryan Ryder is a Senior Cyber Crimes Investigator for Chainalysis Government Solutions where he is part of a team of best-in-class investigators. Prior to that, he was the lead cryptocurrency investigator for the Calgary Police Service (CPS) Cyber Crimes team. Ryan was recognized nationally for his investigations and leaned on heavily by agencies abroad, tracing the flow of illicit funds in criminal cases and identifying transactional behaviour occurring on the blockchain. As the CPS lead, Ryan developed and trained hundreds of Police Officers and analysts from law enforcement agencies across Canada on cyber crime and blockchain. Ryan has assisted on numerous International Investigations, conducted seizures and authored legal processes. He has been researching cryptocurrency and their illicit use, and actively working cases in that area since 2017.

Sean Tweed, BA, CFE, CCI

Co Founder | The Preston Matthews Group Inc.

Sean is a Cryptocurrency & Fraud Investigator with The Preston Matthews Group, a private investigation and blockchain forensics firm. As a Certified Fraud Examiner, a licensed Private Investigator in British Columbia, and a Certified Cryptocurrency Investigator, he focuses on utilizing well known investigative techniques and applying them to cryptocurrency fraud situations. Predominantly, Sean’s work centres around tracing and recovering funds for individuals who have fallen victim to frauds and scams involving cryptocurrency. Sean obtained a Bachelor of Arts in Criminology from Simon Fraser University.

Stephen Barbour

Chief Executive Officer | Upstream Data

Stephen Barbour is a mechanical engineer and is the owner of Upstream Data Inc., an oil and gas service business based in Alberta which focuses on upstream oil and gas power generation and bitcoin mining solutions. Stephen has over 10 years experience in facilities and production in Canada’s heavy oil industry and is passionate about increasing oil and gas production efficiency.

Tyler Argue

Vice President and Partner | Risk Control Canada

As an influential leader and entrepreneur, Tyler is known as a business strategist who specializes in building collaborative ecosystems while developing impactful teams. Tyler is Vice President and Partner at Risk Control Canada Inc. and is actively engaged with other entrepreneurs as an advisor while coaching start-ups from inception to maturity. As a Shareholder and Senior Advisor, Tyler is currently Chair of the InfoSec Advisory Board at Gray Wolf Analytics Inc., a crypto blockchain analytics and cybersecurity firm founded in Fredericton, New Brunswick, Canada.

Tyler’s professional experience consists of having oversight of investigation services, cyber security, blockchain infrastructure, Information Security Management Systems (ISMS) and risk mitigation services. As a professional investigator, Tyler has conducted various complex investigations on behalf of some of Canada’s premier law firms, businesses and corporations, including speaking engagements with the Canadian Bar Association and insurance benefits providers.

Tyler Chisholm

Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer | Clearmotive Marketing

Tyler is the Co-Founder and CEO of clearmotive marketing, a full-service agency focused on industrial clients.

Tyler also hosts two podcasts – They Just Get It and Collisions YYC which allows him to feed his endless curiosity. He uses his conversational style to give a voice to the eccentrics of the world and the innovators changing Alberta. In his free time, he is dedicated to philanthropy through Red Express, a toys for kids project and as an ambassador for International Justice Mission Canada to support their cause of ending modern-day slavery in our lifetime.”

Wayne Logan

Partner | Miller Thomson LLP

Wayne Logan, is an experienced Intellectual Property specialist, who leads Miller Thomson’s Blockchain, Cryptocurrency and Smart Contracts expertise at the Firm. He is also a co-leader for the Firm’s Entertainment and Media Law Group. Wayne and his specialized legal team are working with a variety of Canadian and international business’ that are actively and successfully competing in the rapidly evolving “cryptocurrency eco-system”. Wayne understands that in order to properly advise these clients, he has to be willing to explore and analyze new legal concepts and business frameworks. Wayne thoroughly enjoys applying his legal knowledge and creativity to solve these challenges with clients. Wayne realizes blockchain technology systems, crypto assets and defi are revolutionizing many aspects of social and business operations and he is proud to offer meaningful contributions to clients. Be it smart contract royalty distribution for energy or entertainment, security token offerings, NFT’s, understanding regulations and related custodial issues, Wayne is confident you will benefit from his expertise and passion. Wayne is a director of the Canadian Blockchain Consortium and the Fintech Committee. Wayne is a founder of two successful startups: ProREP (1987-2004) an NHL Players Association Agency and Enthrill (2012-2016), an ebook distribution system.