Erika Evasdottir
Centrium Advisory Services Limited
Erika Evasdottir's role at Centrium Advisory Services Limited (CASL) is to act as a combination CIO, COO and GC, and sometimes compliance officer, all to ensure clients structure their group companies, investments and portfolio companies properly and have appropriate licensing, governance regimes and other procedures in place to allow the business to concentrate on what it does best. The goal is to promote the growth of the company and its ability to explore new products and markets quickly and efficiently without sacrificing internal controls.
By bringing her experience in PE/M&A corporate and fund transactions to bear, Ms. Evasdottir reviews investment opportunities and structures funds and downstream investments with an eye to avoiding regulatory, compliance and legal pitfalls. Ms. Evasdottir’s extensive experience in big and small deals across Asia, particularly in China and India, has brought insights in to what to look for to avoid future issues, whether it be regulatory, accounting, or even simple logistical problems of moving the widgets, any of which can severely impact returns.
Ms. Evasdottir began her legal career as a ECM/DCM (underwriter’s counsel) capital markets lawyer at Milbank and Paul Hastings, but quickly found her true calling in private equity, M&A and funds structuring at Weil Gotshal. Her practical and real work experience comes from having been Assistant Director – Business Development for an infrastructure fund and GC (Asia) of two US headquartered hedge funds (and thereby fully experiencing both the up and down cycles) before coming to CASL.
Ms. Evasdottir additionally teaches at CUHK, has a PhD from Harvard, a JD from Columbia and is admitted in New York and Hong Kong. Her book is titled “Obedient Autonomy: Chinese Intellectuals and the Achievement of Orderly Life”.
J.D. Salbego
CEO at Moonstax & Hash3Labs
Founder and CEO of Moonstax, a no-coding needed platform that enables NFT businesses to manage, monetize and scale their projects across their entire ecosystem, is a Web3 industry veteran and a strategic leader in the blockchain space for over eight years. Prior to gDEX, J.D. founded AnRKey X, a top Polygon GameFi studio with 5 x #1 NFT Sales on Rarible and one of the first to innovate GameFi back in 2020 and is a familiar name in the gaming, NFT, and the Metaverse communities. Aside from being a startup mentor in the Web3 division of the global renowned accelerator Techstars, J.D. is a weekly on-air contributor on FintechTV Global live on NYSE (New York Stock Exchange) covering the Web3 metaverse, gaming & NFTs markets, is a
http://Cointelegraph.com contributor & member of their Innovation Circle for Web3 Experts. He is frequently quoted by leading blockchain and crypto media, and is a Web3 keynote speaker, presenting at over 45 leading conferences around the world including the World Economic Forum. He is a notable market influencer, internationally recognized Web3 subject matter expert, and his work over the years in Web3 has been featured in NASDAQ, Forbes, Business Insider, Bloomberg, Yahoo Finance etc., including being linked to boosting Japan’s economy with blockchain.
El Lee
Partner, SenSen Tech
El is the three times winner of Top 10 Fintech Leaders Award and Partner at SenSen Tech. Prior to that, he cofounded dtcpay (formerly DTC) a major payment institution and Onchain Custodian. He is dedicated to promote industry growth and often contributes through sharing his knowledge and resources with the community.
Felix Sim
Co-Founder at Salad Ventures
Felix, a dynamic entrepreneur and investor, is the project lead of Salad Ventures. Founded in 2021, Salad taps into the transformative potential of blockchain, creating pioneering products for the discerning next-gen consumer. With its base in bustling Singapore, Salad's primary objective is to amplify community growth for businesses. The dedicated team harnesses the power of gamified NFT campaigns to foster deeper connections and heightened engagement.
Karim Raffa
KPMG - Blockchain & Crypto Advisory
Karim is a renowned figure in the blockchain and fintech landscape, currently serving under blockchain and crypto advisory for KPMG - Singapore. With roots in banking and derivatives, he transitioned into the fintech sector in 2015. Over eight years, Karim demonstrated a strong commitment to innovation and growth, setting up and managing ventures across Singapore, the Philippines, Australia, and the UK. Recognised as one of the top 100 Fintech influencers globally by Onalytica, Karim's influence reaches far beyond his professional endeavours. He regularly shares his expertise in interviews on
http://BTCN.tv and at various events across South-East Asia and Europe. His production, "Broken Chains", a documentary addressing race, inequality, and their economic impacts, underscores his advocacy for social justice. Fluent in English, French, and German, Karim's voice resonates in the global fintech community.
Karnika E. Yashwant- KEY
Founder- KEY Difference Media & Utopian Capital
Mr. KEY (Karnika E. Yashwant) is an impact entrepreneur building and supporting the next billion-dollar start-ups. Co-founder of Forward Protocol, and founder of Utopian Capital and KEY Difference Media, he has been in the blockchain space since 2013. He continues to hold many strategic positions and is a sought-after speaker and advisor in the crypto sphere. He is based in Dubai.
Jane Lo
Finboxx, Director
Jane started her career in Canada after graduating from Electrical and Computer Engineering and M.B.A studies, and worked in the City of London for 10 years before relocating back to Singapore. She has extensive experience working with financial institutions and consultancies, including implementing solutions using data predictive analytics to detect anomalies and fraud. She currently specialises in helping firms manage today’s emerging risks, including cyber and data protection measures, anti-money laundering frameworks, capacity and capabilities building to combat financial crime and threats in the cyber space. More on her podcasts and interviews can be found here
https://www.youtube.com/@misscyberpenny .
Ling Wu
TBCASoft, Inc.; CEO and Founder
Ling Wu is Founder & CEO of TBCASoft, a Silicon Valley-based company at the forefront of DLT/blockchain tech. In 2017, Ling and SoftBank launched the CBSG Consortium to build a revolutionary cross-border payment platform called HIVEX that enables seamless interoperable cross-border merchant acceptance sharing for payment service providers. Ling has an MS degree in Scientific Computing & Computational Mathematics from Stanford University and a BS degree in Physics from National Taiwan University.
Christian Trumm
CT Advisory, Fintech & Web3 Advisor
Christian Trumm is an accomplished Fintech & Web3 Advisor with a strong track record in Payments, Stablecoins, CBDC and Trade Finance between Asia and Europe. A strong believer in the global scalability of world-class tech from Asia, Christian has learned that products and solutions can and need to be adapted to local conditions. He is an adept networker, popular speaker and thought leader who connects his clients with the right partners, explores opportunities, and helps them realise their true global potential. An enthusiast in Web3 and all things digital, Christian has worked with some of the global innovation leaders in Fintech and Banking, and successfully shaped, adapted and rolled out cutting-edge solutions across continents.
Nadja Bester
AdLunam Inc, Co-Founder
Nadja Bester brings a wealth of diverse expertise to AdLunam as an entrepreneur, board member, advisor, award-winning startup mentor, speaker, author, and host of the successful podcast The Future of NFTs. She is also the executive producer of a Netflix documentary on the future of the internet and the evolution of the digital self through the use of cutting-edge technologies such as Web3, AI, and spatial computing. With nearly two decades of experience in marketing and communications and former owner of two marketing agencies, she has a proven track record that includes a role as a former Chief Digital Marketing Officer in the pharmaceutical industry. Nadja's impressive tenure in the blockchain sector since 2017 includes consulting and fractional CMO roles where she significantly contributed to fundraising efforts that collectively secured over $300 million for various companies. In addition to her broad consulting and leadership roles, she has contributed as a journalist to several publications, including
http://Bitcoin.com and
http://Investing.com . Nadja has been featured in media outlets like International Business Times, Benzinga, HackerNoon, Be in Crypto, L'Atelier BNP Paribas, The South African, DC News Now, and Viet Nam News.
Soh Wan Wei
W3bverse, CEO
Wan Wei is a Singaporean tech futurist, author and thought leader in the Web3.0 and metaverse space. As an advocate of open source movements and using GenAI to augment human intelligence, she is also one of the founding team members of the dWeb Southeast Asian node. She has also written the wildly popular community book “Navigating the NFT Mania” and made the e-copy open-sourced. Wan Wei is the CEO of W3bverse, an edtech startup that empowers business, founders and freelancers to become Web2.5 leaders. She also founded IKIGUIDE Metaverse Collective (IMC), an entity with a mission to help 10million people crossover to the Web3.0 space. IMC counts NYSE-listed Nutanix, Hitachi,
http://Crypto.com and non-profit alliance ChangemakersXchange as some of the key partners in its portfolio.
Loretta Chen
Smobler, CEO & Co-Founder
Hailed as “a force of nature”, “Asia’s Anna Wintour” and “Top 100 Women of the Future”, Dr Loretta Chen is an award-winning creative director, bestselling author and respected professor. She was the People’s Choice as Nominated Member of Parliament and is International Consultant to the investment arm of the Royal Government of Bhutan. She is currently CEO and Co-Founder of Smobler, a leading metaverse architecture firm backed by The Sandbox, Brinc and Animoca Brands. Loretta’s personal tagline is People, Purpose, Possibilities and is committed to accelerating the next generation of leaders, entrepreneurs and changemakers. She is based in Hawaii and is a rescue mom to eighteen fur babies.
Abhishek Bhattacharya
CEO & Co-founder, The Impact Wave; Advisory Board Member, Umojalands; Blockchain Author
Abhishek has been a 3x entrepreneur focused on FinTech and BlockchainTech. He's a Forbes 30 under 30 Asia honoree, a 3-times Author, and an Ethereum Foundation Fellow and a UNDP INSPIRO Fellow. While at Brú Finance, he brought Blockchain to farmers to save their income, covering 1,400 warehouses & 20,000+ farmers and US $300 Million in committed TVL and connected them to global DeFi lenders, supported by United Nations Development Programme, IIM Ahmedabad and MassChallenge USA. At Bru, he was instrumental in raising US $350,000 of VC funds and US $200,000+ in equity-free grants. He's also a Blockchain Educator and has taught 8,000+ faculty, PhDs, and students globally. He recently delivered talks at SmartCon ’22 in New York, DEVCON in Bogota, cNFTCon ’22 in Las Vegas, CITC Conference by Ministry of Communication and IT in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, AIBC Asia in Philippines in Jul '23, and Coinfest Asia in Bali, Indonesia in Aug ’23, at ETHSingapore and the Fintech Festival Asia in Thailand in Sep '23, Arab Fintech Forum in Qatar and ETHKL in Kuala Lumpur in Oct '23, web3BB in Japan in Dec '23, and AIBC Dubai in Feb '24.
Joel Lin
Co-Founder at CitaDAO
Joel has worked at Citigroup, UBS Investment Bank, Capitaland, CBRE Asia Pacific, and Real Estate Private Equity Fund during the course of his 12 years in real estate and finance. He has prior experience in real estate and blockchain. His areas of expertise include real estate strategy, real estate economics, capital markets, private equity, and financial modeling. Strong financial specialist with a master's degree in real estate from the National University of Singapore. Joel has been panelists and speakers at various events here: Event
Charu Sethi
CMO at Unique Network, Senior Ambassador for Polkadot
Charu is one of the leading women in blockchain in Asia Pacific with over 15 years of experience in technology marketing and products. 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 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.
Charu is a Mathematics (hons) graduate, MBA in finance and is now pursuing one year Chief Product Officer Course at MIT
Belinda Ang
ARTO, CEO-Founder
Belinda is the Founder and CEO of ARTO, an ArtTech startup optimising art IP to digital and physical assets to bring accessibility and cultural capital to a new generation of cultural consumers. She spent 16 years managing businesses across communications, entertainment & blockchain. Her cross-disciplinary experience allows her to recognise seemingly unconnected dots & implement cross-industry knowledge to new applications.
Ken Berry
CEO & Founder of ConnectWeb3 PH
CEO & Founder of ConnectWeb3 PH, marketing consultant and Marketing Strategist with 200+ crypto projects since 2020, Founder of Blockchain Network Philippines and Mindanao Blockchain Association
Gabriel Tham
Google Cloud, Web3 BD
Gabriel leads the Web3 Startups Sales for APAC in Google Cloud, fostering strategic partnerships and driving business growth by delivering cloud solutions and support to startups. Based in Singapore, he is an active advocate of the Web3 startup ecosystem in APAC, promoting cross-collaboration, and supporting startups in their expansion. Gabriel has spoken at top crypto events globally including Coinfest Asia and various community events.
Ryan Rabaglia
Blockchain.com Managing Director Global Head of Institutional Sales and Trading
Ryan is responsible for expanding and growing Blockchain.com’s institutional sales and trading businesses as well as oversee the broader business in Singapore. Ryan has 20 years trading and sales trading experience across most major asset classes. With 10 years spent in the digital asset space and 7 of those as Global Head of Trading at OSL where he built Asia’s first OTC trading desk, his desk and teams have provided liquidity to the majority of the industry through the last near decade. Ryan’s lengthy status in the industry has enabled him to procure and maintain one of the largest professional and personal networks in the space. He has successfully traded and invested through multiple market cycles. Ryan has also co-founded Libra Capital which, since 2019, has deployed proprietary capital into many high profile venture investments across the Web3 space. He also advises early stage projects on Asia and US centric growth plans. Ryan was born and raised in New York and spent the last 15 years in Asia, Hong Kong and Singapore
