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Daniel is an Advisor and Solution Architect at the Bank for International Settlements (BIS) in the Innovation Hub where he builds technology solutions for the central banking community with a special focus on blockchain and CBDC. Currently, Daniel serves as the Project Manager for Project Agorá, which explores how tokenisation can enhance the functioning of the wholesale cross-border payments. Before the BIS he was lead digital currency work at R3, was a software engineer manager and a technical educator. He started his career as an Infantry Combat Commander in the Israeli army and received an honours degree in Computer Science and Mathematics from the University of Toronto.

At the Deutsche Bundesbank, Heike Winter is responsible for policy issues relating to the digital euro. This comprises committee work in the Eurosystem and in the German banking industry. After completing her degree in economics, Heike worked at an institute for economic theory. She joined the Deutsche Bundesbank in February 1999, working initially in the Public Relations and Economic Education Departments before transferring to the Payments Department in March 2007. Since February 2024 she is team head in the new department digital euro.

Shearin Cao is Citi’s EMEA Regulatory Engagement Function Director for Regulatory Policy:  She has extensive experience in regulatory policy advocacy, regulatory analysis and interpretation, regulatory change implementation and compliance, business strategy planning and execution, traded and model risk management.  She provides strategic and technical advisory to business and product heads to help navigate regulatory uncertainty, and to deliver regulatory compliance from a forward-looking perspective. Prior to Citi, she was the Global Head of Regulatory Change function across Risk, Compliance, and Financial Crime at Standard Chartered Bank.

Gilbert is focused on unlocking the power of blockchain for everyone, to create an empowered, interconnected world. Gilbert has more than 20 years of cybersecurity experience and C-level accountability as a CISO, CIO and CTO. He has worked in government – for Downing Street, HM Treasury, the Cabinet Office, Ministry of Justice and NSW Health – and has also served in the private sector, at Mastercard, Vocalink, CSC, EY, PwC, BP and HSBC. With a keen interest in disruptive technology, Gilbert established the Blockchain ISO Standard TC307 initiative in 2015 and is the Convenor of the the Interoperability working group WG7 for ISO.

Sophia Shluger is a financial services executive and global business development professional, with almost two decades of track record and deal-making experience from Goldman Sachs, Santander Investment Securities, American Express and Amber Group, among others. As a crypto market specialist, she has recently focused on RWAs, specifically putting digitally native bonds onto blockchain as Chief Commercial Officer at PV01. Previous to that, she was responsible for UK and EMEA institutional expansion as European Managing Director for Amber Group, a fintech unicorn and crypto native market maker. 

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Peter Left has over 20 years of Financial Markets experience in Treasury & Trading at Lloyds Banking Group. Peter started his career structuring and trading derivative solutions. Recognising the increasing costs of derivatives on the balance sheet Peter moved to managing the balance sheet costs of derivatives. Peter then ran Money Market and Repo Sales and Trading eventually moving to Treasury where he managed the Funding and Liquidity of the Ring-fenced Bank group. From this role Peter led the thinking on Digital Money & Assets. Peter is now Head of Digital & Markets Innovation at Lloyds Banking Group where he works to ensure regulated money and assets benefit from the latest technologies.

Alex Dunn is Director for Innovation & Strategic Initiatives at Visa.  He is part of the Visa Direct money movement business where he is leading global strategic growth projects to build the future of money and payments inc. several cross-industry collaborations. He previously worked in Visa’s Product & Payment Services Risk team, leading strategic risk initiatives to drive growth, enhance Visa’s operational resilience and protect the payments ecosystem.

Before Visa, Alex worked for 7.5 years at the Bank of England across Risk, Supervision and Parliamentary Affairs.  Inc. a secondment from the Bank as Head of Risk at the Office for National Statistics.  He has an MBA from the University of Exeter Business School and MSc from the London School of Economics.

Jon is a co-founder and the chairman of Monerium. Prior to this, he served as the vice chairman and chairman of the Icelandic Central Bank’s supervisory board from 2013 to 2017. Jon has been involved in the crypto space since 2012. Back then he developed a model to estimate the power consumption and profitability of mining Bitcoin. When Ethereum launched soon after, he recognized its potential to revolutionize finance and co-founded Monerium following six months of research. Jon holds a Ph.D. degree in Economics and a master’s degree in engineering. He is a former adjunct professor at Reykjavik University and lectured at the University of Iceland in the economics and engineering departments. Additionally, Jon was a visiting scholar at Columbia University in New York. Fun fact: Jon wrote the all time most read paper on “Journal of Applied Economics”

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Amarjit leads EY’s Blockchain Assurance Practice across Europe, the Middle East, India and Africa. He works with clients across the financial services sector who hold digital assets. His assignments range from traditional audits, to internal control reviews, as well as external regulatory investigations for the UK Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) on areas of complex regulatory change. Amarjit represents EY at the Institute of Chartered Accountants of England and Wales (ICAEW) chairing the Digital Assets SteerCo as well as at the UK Financial Reporting Council (FRC) and FCA on financial services and Client Asset (CASS) matters.
Amarjit is chair of the EY Sikh Network and an active supporter of the Diversity and Inclusiveness program within EY.

Mike Manning is a strategic advisor and former fintech executive focused on the business applications of digital assets, cryptocurrencies, and CBDCs. As Amazon’s first Head of Blockchain and Digital Currency, he led the company’s strategic engagement with central banks and helped shape the design of the digital euro. He has held senior roles at Figure Technologies and Symbiont, advancing blockchain use in capital markets, and was the founding CEO of DealVector, a fintech platform improving transparency and liquidity in structured finance. Mike specializes in bridging emerging technologies with go-to-market strategy and real-world adoption.  

Jonny Fry is Head of Digital Assets Strategy for ClearBank Ltd, established in 2015 becoming the first bank in over 250 years to be regulated as a clearing bank in the UK. Jonny is CEO of TeamBlockchain Ltd a research and publishing firm that since March 2018 has produced Digital Bytes, a weekly analysis focused on the commercial opportunities of using blockchain technology and digital assets. He is a NED of TURN, a blockchain-powered reporting platform for the asset management industry and is an advisor to a number of other firms. Jonny is Chairman at Gemini Capital UK,  which owns a Dublin based fund administration platform where he is regulated by the Central Bank of Ireland. For over 20 years Jonny was CEO of Premier Asset Management Plc, a London Stock Exchange-listed asset management company that he co-founded.

Emanuel Vila joined CLS in 2024, as the Strategy and Innovation Director in the CEO Office, where he is responsible for supporting the shaping and execution of CLS’s corporate strategy, while driving innovation across the organization. 

His work focuses on existing and emerging technologies, particularly Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT) and Artificial Intelligence (AI), helping CLS explore new opportunities and efficiencies in the industry.

Prior to joining CLS, Emanuel spent a decade as a Management Consultant at Ernst & Young, during which he supported several industry-wide projects, including the Regulated Liabilities Network (RLN), the Digital Gilt Roadmap and The Future of FX.

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Aka the Bankers’ Plumber. Olaf has been in Financial Services for over 35 years. Liquidity has been a central theme in Olaf’s work over the last 25 years. Recently, Olaf worked with what is now Fnality International in the early stages of their work to create a means of on-chain payment, a synthetic CBDC. Olaf has led various projects related to CLS and FX settlement. Most recently, with Prof. Alistair Milne, Olaf co-authored a paper for the SWIFT Institute: Payment “Tokens”: a route to optimising liquidity management?

Olaf has taught on several subjects including Intraday Liquidty Risk Management and Investment Banking Operations. He is also the author of a book on operations: “The Bankers’ Plumber’s Handbook“

Tony McLaughlin is the Founder of Ubyx Inc., a company dedicated to achieving stablecoin ubiquity through cash equivalence and mutualized acceptance. With extensive experience in emerging payments and financial technology, Tony bridges the gap between regulated finance and the modern digital economy.  https://ubyx.xyz

Prior to founding Ubyx Inc., Tony led Emerging Payments and Business Development in Citi’s Treasury and Trade Solutions (TTS) business. During his tenure at Citi (2004-2024), he served as Cash Management Head for Asia Pacific based in Hong Kong and Global Transaction Services Head for the United Kingdom, where he spearheaded engagement with large public sector clients and payment aggregators.

Austen is a senior product manager, covering interoperability and integration for R3’s Corda and existing Corda use-cases. Prior to this, Austen acted as a strategic advisor and product manager for CBDC and tokenized deposits, working on R3’s initiatives with Central Banks in EMEA, APAC, and AMER.

As President of Bullish Exchange, Chris provides strategic leadership to broaden Bullish’s institutional customer base, expand its regulatory footprint, and drive the platform’s next phase of growth. Prior to this role, Chris served as Vice President, Head of Institutional, where he led strategic initiatives that fueled growth and innovation between the exchange and exchange-related products. 

Chris joined Bullish after nearly five years at Fidelity, where he was instrumental in their rapid growth, serving in various leadership roles including Head of Institutional, Head of Europe, and President of Fidelity Digital Asset Management. Prior to Fidelity, he was a Managing Director at Barclays Investment Bank, where he led commodities trading and digital assets. 

Chris holds a Bachelor of Science in Accounting and Finance from the London School of Economics and Political Science. 

Natasha has 25+ years of experience in Capital Markets and Fintech, she led structured products at Goldman Sachs and pioneered fintechs with Standard Chartered and Barclays in wealth and the aid payments space. Her proudest moment to date is feeding 4000 displaced people in Afghanistan and providing them with lifesaving support.

Natasha is a fitness fanatic and in her spare time likes to workout or practice Yoga. She finds that a combination of fitness and yoga helps her create balance and mindfulness.

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