SPEAKER
Can Sun, J.D., Ph.D., is the co-founder and general counsel of Backpack Exchange , a fully regulated global cryptocurrency exchange. Prior to this position, Can served as general counsel at FTX International, where he oversaw legal operations and regulatory strategies across all non-US jurisdictions, seeking licensure and managing interactions with international regulators such as the Dubai Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority, the Japan Financial Services Agency, the Monetary Authority of Singapore, and others. Prior to FTX, Can co-founded and co-chaired the Blockchain Practice Group at Fenwick & West LLP, where he played a pivotal role in structuring and launching cryptocurrency projects globally and advising major exchanges (such as Coinbase, Binance, and Kraken, and more) on regulatory compliance. Can holds a Juris Doctor from Yale Law School, a Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering from Princeton University, and has authored numerous policy papers, and presented at many blockchain conferences worldwide.
As an expert in economics, Dr. Yongbeom Kim is well known for his deep
knowledge of international affairs and penetrating insights into financial
markets. After his retirement from public service in 2021, Dr. Kim is
leading an active second life by continuing to share his perspectives on
various issues. Major Korean media companies and large conglomerates
regularly seek advice from Dr. Kim on matters related to both domestic
and global economy as well as financial markets; therefore, Dr. Kim
frequently delivers passionate lectures on these topics. Most recently, Dr.
Kim was appointed the President of Hashed Open Research, where he
aims to serve as an intermediary between innovation and regulation.
Dr. Kim is also the author of "Turbulence and Equilibrium" (2022) which
vividly describes how the recent pandemic crisis has fundamentally
shifted our world order and identifies six key issues we need to urgently
address in response to such a shift Macroeconomic
Stability, Fiscal
Reform, Inequality, Big Tech Regulation, Cryptocurrency Regulation, and
Climate Change. Dr. Kim provides insightful solutions to all of the
aforementioned challenges, which is why his book has widely been
acclaimed as a must-read among finance professionals and government
officials.
knowledge of international affairs and penetrating insights into financial
markets. After his retirement from public service in 2021, Dr. Kim is
leading an active second life by continuing to share his perspectives on
various issues. Major Korean media companies and large conglomerates
regularly seek advice from Dr. Kim on matters related to both domestic
and global economy as well as financial markets; therefore, Dr. Kim
frequently delivers passionate lectures on these topics. Most recently, Dr.
Kim was appointed the President of Hashed Open Research, where he
aims to serve as an intermediary between innovation and regulation.
Dr. Kim is also the author of "Turbulence and Equilibrium" (2022) which
vividly describes how the recent pandemic crisis has fundamentally
shifted our world order and identifies six key issues we need to urgently
address in response to such a shift Macroeconomic
Stability, Fiscal
Reform, Inequality, Big Tech Regulation, Cryptocurrency Regulation, and
Climate Change. Dr. Kim provides insightful solutions to all of the
aforementioned challenges, which is why his book has widely been
acclaimed as a must-read among finance professionals and government
officials.
Laser Digital Japan, Representative Director.
He holds a Ph.D in Physics and had worked at research institutes in Japan and abroad. In 2007, he worked at Nomura Asset Management, where he had been involved in quant research, quant investments, analytics and portfolio management of Japanese equities.
In 2019, he began a project at Nomura Holdings to commercialise digital assets, with a particular focus on security tokens. From 2022, he was responsible for the business development of digital assets including crypto assets at Digital Company of Nomura Holdings. He has been in his current position since the inception of Laser Digital Japan in 2023.
He holds a Ph.D in Physics and had worked at research institutes in Japan and abroad. In 2007, he worked at Nomura Asset Management, where he had been involved in quant research, quant investments, analytics and portfolio management of Japanese equities.
In 2019, he began a project at Nomura Holdings to commercialise digital assets, with a particular focus on security tokens. From 2022, he was responsible for the business development of digital assets including crypto assets at Digital Company of Nomura Holdings. He has been in his current position since the inception of Laser Digital Japan in 2023.
Ala Shaabana is the Co-Founder of the Opentensor Foundation, the organization behind the groundbreaking decentralized AI protocol, Bittensor—a $2 billion open-source network pioneering a new frontier where machine intelligence is trained, validated, and rewarded on-chain. Under Ala’s leadership, Bittensor has become one of the most technically ambitious and philosophically pure expressions of Web3 ideals, merging blockchain infrastructure with distributed AI collaboration.
With over a decade of expertise in machine learning, embedded systems, and distributed computing, Ala has previously led engineering efforts at leading tech companies including VMware and Instacart, where he specialized in large-scale system design, predictive scaling, and AI productization. He holds a Ph.D. in Computer Science from McMaster University, with research spanning wearable sensors, pattern recognition, and human-centric sensing platforms. Ala is also a published academic with numerous IEEE and ACM contributions, and a holder of multiple patents in applied AI and cloud computing.
Ala’s current work at Crucible Labs—an ecosystem product studio for TAO—focuses on building high-performance crypto wallets and staking infrastructure for large-scale decentralized participation. He is also a vocal advocate for the sovereign ownership of compute, data, and capital in the age of artificial intelligence.
With over a decade of expertise in machine learning, embedded systems, and distributed computing, Ala has previously led engineering efforts at leading tech companies including VMware and Instacart, where he specialized in large-scale system design, predictive scaling, and AI productization. He holds a Ph.D. in Computer Science from McMaster University, with research spanning wearable sensors, pattern recognition, and human-centric sensing platforms. Ala is also a published academic with numerous IEEE and ACM contributions, and a holder of multiple patents in applied AI and cloud computing.
Ala’s current work at Crucible Labs—an ecosystem product studio for TAO—focuses on building high-performance crypto wallets and staking infrastructure for large-scale decentralized participation. He is also a vocal advocate for the sovereign ownership of compute, data, and capital in the age of artificial intelligence.
Veteran technology entrepreneur/investor Yat Siu is the co-founder and executive chairman of Animoca Brands, a global leader in blockchain and gaming with the goal to provide property rights for virtual assets. Yat began his career at Atari Germany, then 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. After selling one of its business units to IBM, he pivoted Outblaze to incubate digital entertainment projects. One of those projects is Animoca Brands.
Yat has 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.
Diana Biggs is a Partner at crypto venture firm 1kx, where she leads institutional connectivity across the firm and its 90+ portfolio projects. In addition to her role at 1kx, Diana is a Board Member for Kiln and HIVE Digital Technologies Switzerland and serves as an Associate Fellow with Saïd Business School, University of Oxford. Before joining 1kx, Diana was Chief Strategy Officer at Valour and served as CEO of its crypto ETP business from its launch to over $300M in AUM through to acquisition. Earlier roles include Global Head of Innovation for HSBC Private Banking, VP, Head of Growth & Partnerships, EMEA for Uphold, Chief Strategy Officer for Soko, and consultant at Oliver Wyman Financial Services.
Simon Kim is the CEO and Managing Partner at Hashed, a prominent blockchain investment firm. As South Korea's leading blockchain thought leader and evangelist, he has spearheaded blockchain initiatives with major IT companies. Before founding Hashed, Simon co-founded Knowre, an innovative ed-tech startup in the US and Korea, where he served as Chief Product Officer. Under his leadership, Knowre was recognized by Fast Company as one of the World's Top 10 Most Innovative Companies in Education and was later acquired by Daekyo, South Korea's largest education company. Kim's expertise extends to policy-advising, having served as a member of the 4th Industrial Revolution Committee of the South Korean Parliament. He also held a position as a Director of the Korea Blockchain Association and a member of the Busan Blockchain Free Zone committee. With a strong technical background, Kim studied Computer Science and Engineering at Pohang University of Science and Technology (POSTECH).
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