Abdulla Al Dhaheri is the CEO of The Blockchain Center in Abu Dhabi, a pivotal figure in the blockchain and Web3 sectors. With a history of having 2 patents in the blockchain ecosystem, author of Into the future of technologies, working on groundbreaking projects inventing 2 concepts such as digital identification and offline payment systems, Abdulla has been a key advisor for companies with total market capitalization of millions of dollars. Abdulla is also prominent speaker at global forums, and dedicated to advancing the UAE’s position as a leader in blockchain, Web3, and AI technologies.

Ahmed Elgabri is an Investment Professional with Shorooq based in Cairo. He studied in Canada and earned a Bachelor’s degree in Economics from the Université de Montréal, after which he joined an investment company in Egypt where he developed his deep interest in early-stage startups and deal origination. In his free time, he enjoys playing golf and is an avid supporter of Liverpool FC.

Alex Scott leads Solana Superteam UAE. He runs hackathons,developer workshops and networking events on behalf of the Solana blockchain network. His goals are to grow web3 talent, deal flow and new tech adoption in the Middle East. 

Aly Madhavji is the Managing Partner at Blockchain Founders Fund which invests in top-tier startups. He is a Knight on the highly anticipated TV Show CryptoKnights. He is a Limited Partner at Loyal VC and Draper Goren Holm. Aly consults organizations on emerging technologies such as INSEAD and the UN on solutions to help alleviate poverty. He served as Senior Blockchain Fellow at INSEAD and was recognized as a “Blockchain 100” Global Leader.

He is an international award-winning author, publishing three books, and a columnist for leading Web3 publications. Aly served as a board member of Soluna Holdings (NASDAQ: SLNH) and on various advisory boards including the University of Toronto’s Governing Council, which manages a $2.5B budget. He is a mentor with Orbit Startups, an elite accelerator program operated by the venture fund SOSV with $1.5B+ AUM and the Mobile Only Accelerator (MOX).

Aly is a Chartered Accountant and Chartered Investment Manager. Aly holds a Master of Global Affairs as a Schwarzman Scholar from Tsinghua University (清华大学), a Master of Business Administration from INSEAD (Singapore and France), and a Bachelor of Commerce with Distinction from the University of Toronto.

Amit is General Partner at Borderless Capital, managing investments in early and growth stage blockchain startups. Prior to Borderless, Amit was Founding Principal at Unicorn India Ventures. He brings nuanced understanding of equity and token investments, token design, tokenomics, equity v/s token value capture and strong transactional experience in the entire investment cycle. A joint MBA from Duke University & London School of Economics, Amit has lived extensively across the Americas, Europe and Hong Kong.

UAE’s Crypto Lawyer, Managing Partner of NeosLegal

Irina Heaver is the managing partner of NeosLegal, the UAE’s first crypto-native law firm,and author of “The Founder’s Guide to the UAE Crypto Laws”. She advises on all aspects of VASP licensing and regulatory compliance across UAE regimes,including VARA, SCA, ADGM and DIFC. Since 2016, she has structured over 300 blockchain and Web3 projects, supporting exchanges, token issuers, DeFi platforms, and RWA tokenisation ventures. Irina works closely with regulators,contributing to the development of virtual asset laws, and is a trusted adviser to founders, VCs and institutions expanding into the UAE’s rapidly evolving crypto ecosystem.

Juliet Su is the Managing Partner at NewTribe Capital, the leading UAE-based Web3 VC firm. After her 15-year legacy career incorporate investments, she ventured into the digital assets realm in 2017. Juliet's insightful outlook on future technologies and the evolving landscape of Web3 has been instrumental in elevating startups to global prominence,particularly in the Middle East.

Her proficiency in Mandarin, English, and Russian languages enhances her ability to foster international relationships. An acclaimed international speaker, Juliet has shared her expertise at over 100+ global conferences, focusing on the latest advancements in the Web3 space.

Juliet is passionate about supporting blockchain startups to gain traction in the Middle East, where only 14% of the population has access to banking services,serving a region of approximately 580 million people.

Karan Gandhi is a Partner at Cypher Capital - a $100m blockchain-focused venture capital fund based out of Dubai, UAE. Prior to working in Blockchain, Karan worked as a senior venture architect building tech startups for the largest licensing authority in the UAE.

He has vast experience scaling startups and has previously advised numerous tech startups in areas related to fundraising, business models, and market strategy.

Karan is a crypto evangelist and has been investing in blockchain projects since 2017. Academically, he is a CFA charter holder and has over 9 years of experience spread across Private Equity, Venture Capital, and Banking.

LauraK. Inamedinova - an award-winning serial entrepreneur, investor, and keynote speaker sharing her insights on Web3 space since 2016.
She currently holds a dual-role within Gate ecosystem, managing global growth of the exchange and attracting new investments to its venture arm - GVC.
In her position as a CGEO at Gate.com, she builds cross-border partnerships and as a Principal at Gate Ventures, Laura oversees investments, partnerships, and development of the fund.
Before joining Gate.com, she founded a Web3 marketing agency LKI Consulting, that she grew to 8-figures. This led her to beglobally acclaimed as one of the “10 Women Entrepreneurs” by Entrepreneur Magazine and among “Top 10 Women in International Business” by Silicon Valley Times.
In 2024, she transferred the leadership of LKI Consulting to a new management team, while Laura retained her position as a majority shareholder.
Laura was also recognized as one of the “Forbes 30 Under 30 Blockchain Visionaries” by Forbes Mexico in 2025, highlighting her impact on the Web3 industry.
On a personal level, Laura is a successful angel investor with 40+ projects in her portfolio, ex-Forbes and Huffington Post columnist, and an internationally renowned speaker with a track record of 205+conferences in 25+ countries.

CEO of Helius—Solana's largest validator and developer platform. Angel investor in 30+leading crypto startups. Previously engineering@Coinbase.

Mike Chan is the Managing Partner at Deep Ventures, a venture fund and syndicate that has invested $15 million into over 60 startups.Mike has over 25 years of experience in venture capital, marketing, biz dev,product, and operations and has started multiple companies and helped launch and grow early-stage crypto projects such as Thesis*, Panther Protocol, UTU,and Meter. Mike first bought Bitcoin in 2013, and he definitely wishes he bought more then.

Mohammed Al Hakim is a visionary leader and innovator in the fields of finance, technology, and public service. Currently serving as the President of Crypto.com for the GCC and Turkey, Mohammed oversees operations valued at $24 billion, with a staggering trading volume of $1 trillion in just two months.His role focuses on advancing cryptocurrency adoption in the region, including pioneering Sharia-compliant financial solutions to broaden accessibility and trust in the crypto world.

The first stage of NAFIS, the UAE Government initiative launched in 2021,was developed and implemented under the leadership of a collaborative team comprising senior government officials, policymakers, and key stakeholders from the public and private sectors. Mohammed Al Hakim was among the distinguished contributors to this groundbreaking initiative, bringing his expertise and dedication to its design and execution. His involvement in NAFIS was instrumental in aligning its objectives with the UAE’s vision for empowering Emirati talent and enhancing their presence in the private sector. The program’s success reflects the collective efforts of visionary leaders and their commitment to fostering sustainable economic growth in the UAE.

A Cohort of the prestigious Mohammed Bin Rashid Centre for Leadership Development, Mohammed exemplifies the center’s mission to cultivate future leaders. He combines strategic foresight with a deep dedication to innovation, leveraging his expertise to strengthen the UAE’s global influence in finance and technology.

Beyond his professional achievements, Mohammed values collaboration and mentorship, often engaging with industry leaders and government officials to shape impactful initiatives. He recently introduced a groundbreaking concept of cryptocurrency-based Sukuk, blending modern financial technology with Islamic principles to attract diverse audiences.

Passionate about fostering innovation and building robust ecosystems,Mohammed’s leadership continues to leave a lasting impact on the UAE, the GCC,and the global financial landscape.

Nikita Sachdev is an American entrepreneur and a prominent voice in the global blockchain and Web3 space.

With academic foundations in Chemistry and Business from the University of Texas at Austin and James Cook University, Nikita launched her first venture, Luna Management, in Singapore in 2015 - a talent and production agency that became her gateway into crypto. Her early work with Huobi (now HTX) in 2017, where she interviewed blockchain pioneers, sparked her deep involvement in the industry.

Following a successful exit from Luna Management, she founded Luna PR in 2019. Today, the multi-award-winning, multi-million-dollar agency is globally recognized for its contributions to the Web3 and emerging tech sectors. With a team of over 75 specialists and offices across four continents, Luna PR has worked with more than 600 clients, from ambitious startups to government institutions - delivering strategic communications, media visibility, and growth support.

Omar is an investment professional with 12+ years of experience in VC & PE investments and sell side across various deal types such as PE buyout/M&A transactions, minority early & growth stage VC investments, VC fund of funds investments and government grants. During his career, he has also supported multiple portfolio companies in an advisory CFO capacity. He is currently the Principal at Oraseya Capital managing deal flow end to end for core investments i.e. Seed-Series B stage deals.

Peter is a Partner and Global Head of Business Development at Hack VC. Prior to Hack, Peter was the Head of Digital Assets Product and Strategy for Fidelity Asset Management as well as the Chief Strategy Officer for Arca Investment Management, where he helped grow the firm from a $4M hedge fund to a multi-product RIA managing over $600M. Peter has 25+ years of professional experience across investment management, FinTech and Capital Markets. He holds a B.A. from Colby College and an MBA from Vanderbilt University.

‍

Sagar Barvaliya is a General Partner and Co-Founder at Blockchain Founders Capital (BFC), an emerging tech venture fund, BFC operates with an equal partnership model and backs underdog and migrant founders building use case–driven solutions across frontier technologies.

Sagar is also a founder of ETH Munich and annual web3 investor gathering happening in Davos.

Sebastian is a Founding Partner at Greenfield.
He is a seasoned venture capital manager with 15 years of experience and an operational background in several Silicon Valley startups. He spent 11 years in San Francisco before founding Greenfield, along with Jascha Samadi, as a digital asset-focused investment firm.
Prior to that, he led business development at Dedrone (acquired by Axon), a drone defense startup, and at Cooliris,a mobile app company acquired by Yahoo!.
Sebastian also served as Managing Director USA for T-Venture,the corporate VC arm of Deutsche Telekom, and as a Partner at Active Venture Partners.

In Greenfield’s early years, Sebastian was directly involved in sourcing individual investments. As the team and the investment platform grew, he shifted focus toward his role on the Investment Committee, founder sparring across the portfolio, and oversight of Finance and Investor Relations.

Shawn is an entrepreneur turned investor and advisor with over a decade of experience in venture investments, strategy, and zero-to-one management. As General Partner at TRIVE Digital, Shawn focuses on game-changing investments in Web3 and AI. He is also an advisor with TZ APAC (Tezos' Web3 ecosystem builder), a mentor with Next Challenge Foundation (Seoul-based global accelerator), and a recognized Global Expert by Blockchain Founders Fund.

Prior to his time at TRIVE, Shawn was Partner at R3D3 Ventures, specialising in early-stage investments in FinTech, Web3, and digital transformation. He also previously launched a hackathon-winning start-up across 3 markets and built a blockchain-powered franchise expansion platform between SEA and China.

Shawn holds an MBA (with Distinction) from INSEAD and a BBA (Hons. in Finance) from the National University of Singapore.

Viktor Fischer is the founder and CEO of RockawayX investment and engineering firm with $2 billion AUM Previously Viktor worked at McKinsey & Company focusing on corporate finance and M&A Before that Viktor cofounded Innovatrics a biometric identification startup recognized as Leading Technology Company by Deloitte Technology Fast 50 Viktor is a computer science graduate holds MBA from INSEAD and Masters degree from HEC Paris.

Viktor is interested in speaking at one of the following:

•Cryptos next chapter

•Navigating the future

•Tokenizing the future

•Unlocking the power

Vineet is the CEO & Managing Partner at Cypher Capital, a leading Web3 Native VC based in UAE and has led 200+ Investments like Mysten Labs, Sei Network, Casper Labs, Web3Auth, ZKLink among others. An entrepreneur for 15 years before the Investment Role, Vineet has built 3 Web2 startups in the past as well as worked at global corporations like Rocket Internet, Emirates, and TCS. He was highlighted as one of the Top 50 Indians in the Middle East by Arabian Business and has extensively been featured across Media (The Times, Sun, etc.), Podcasts (Wolf of All Streets, Kisco News), and regularly speaks at Global Crypto Conferences.

Veteran technology entrepreneur/investor Yat Siu is a major figure in the open metaverse and blockchain gaming. He is the co-founder and executive chairman of Animoca Brands, a global leader in blockchain and gaming that is working to provide property rights for virtual assets via NFTs and related technologies. Yat began his career at Atari Germany in 1990. In 1995 he established Hong Kong Cybercity/Freenation, the first free web page and email provider in Asia. In 1998 he set up Outblaze, an award-winning pioneer of multilingual white label web services. In 2009, he sold Outblaze’s messaging unit to IBM,and pivoted Outblaze to become an incubator of projects and companies to develop digital entertainment services and products. One of those incubated projects is Animoca Brands, created in 2014.

Since 2018, Yat has been an advocate for the use of blockchain and NFTs in the gaming industry. With a strong vision of the potential of decentralized apps and assets, Yat quickly steered Animoca Brands to a leadership position in the open metaverse: the company has one of the largest blockchain portfolios in the world. 

Yat has earned numerous accolades, including Global Leader of Tomorrow at the World Economic Forum, Young Entrepreneur of the Year at the DHL/SCMP Awards, and recognition as one of Cointelegraph's top 100 notable people in blockchain. A classically trained musician, Yat is a member of the advisory board of BAFTA (British Academy of Film and Television Arts) and a director of the Asian Youth Orchestra.