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DEFI CONFERENCE 2021

The Rise of Decentralised Finance

The DeFi Conference 2021 was an exciting free 1 day online conference on the 5 August 2021. The event explored two of the hottest trends to emerge in the industry over the last few years: DeFi and Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs).

On the DeFi track, speakers explored the factors contributing to the rise of decentralised finance, its impact on the current financial system, and the players in markets such as in international remittance, lending and borrowing, derivatives, trading, payments and asset transfer.

On the NFT track, speakers explored the current state of NFTs, copyright issues, the leading NFT marketplaces and creation platforms, legal implications and the future of NFTs.

The future is certainly exciting for both DeFi and NFTs, and the decentralisation movement will have a significant impact going forward.

WHO ATTENDED?

CEOs, CIOs, COOs, CTOs, Heads of data science, heads of innovation and strategy, heads of IT, heads of information security, heads of engineering, heads of IT architecture, heads of emerging technology, heads of development, technical advisors, heads of strategy, heads of risk and compliance, regulators, lawyers, business transformation, data architecture, heads of applications, heads of digital, investors, venture capitalists, software engineers, research managers, development managers, marketing managers, developers, blockchain and cryptocurrency start-ups and enthusiasts.

Attendees
Speakers
Countries

Speaker Videos

Watch the speaker videos below or visit our YouTube channel here.

Yele Bademosi: Founder of Bundle Africa

Keynote Address: Web 2.5 – An Alternative Venture Financing Ecosystem for African Technology Entrepreneurs

Aaron Tilton: CEO and Co-Founder at SmartFi

Keynote Address: DeFi Sheriffs: The Good, the Bad & the Ugly

Sam Bankman-Fried: CEO and Founder at FTX

Keynote Address: The Serum and Solana DeFi Ecosystem

Shazaib Jaffer: Co-Founder of Dimo

Keynote Address: Blockchain and Its Applications in Developing Contexts, Particularly East Africa

Joshua Scigala: Co-Founder of TheStandard.io and CIO of Vaultoro

Keynote Address: The Hard Truth of 1:1 Backed Stablecoins and Why Algorithmic Stablecoins are the Future

Andreas Kohl: Director of Institutional Relations at Mintlayer

Mintlayer: Bringing DeFi to Bitcoin Through Layer2 Technology

Edan Yago: Contributor of Sovryn Diego and Gutiérrez-Zaldívar: Co-founder of RSK

DeFi on Bitcoin: RSK and Sovryn

Duke Vu: CEO and Founder of Ulti Arena

NFTs in Gaming and Proof of Gaming

Mohammed Carrim Ganey: CFO and Co-Founder at Curate

Bridging the Gap Between the Traditional World and Blockchain Technology and the Advantages and Capabilities of NFTs and DeFi

Guy Maevsky: Legal Advisor

NFTs and Copyright

Alex Svanevik: Co-founder and CEO at Nansen

NFT and DeFi Market Insights from On-Chain Analytics

Jesus Rodriguez: Co-founder and CEO at IntoTheBlock

High Frequency Trading and DeFi

Panel: Maximising Crypto Earnings with Decentralised Finance

Moderator: Nelson Merchan Jr: CEO of Light Node Media

Panelists:
Aaron Tilton (Keynote): Chief Executive Officer and Co-Founder at SmartFi
Sergej Kunz: Co-founder of 1inch Network
Shane Ai: Head of Research and Development at ByBit
Anish Mohammed: Co-founder of Panther Protocol
Piers Ridyard: CEO of Radix DLT

Panel: The Importance of Cross-Chain Interoperability for DeFi

Moderator: Nelson Merchan Jr: CEO of Light Node Media

Panelists:
Jack Lu: Founder and CEO of Wanchain
Alex Melikhov: Founder and CEO at Equilibrium
John Patrick Mullin: Co-Founder of MANTRA DAO & SOMA.finance
Dylan Dewdney: Chief Effort Officer at Kylin Network

Panel: Ethereum De Facto Choice for DeFi and NFTs?

Moderator: Richard de Sousa: Founder and CEO of AltCoinTrader

Panelists:
Luigi D’Onorio DeMeo: Director of DeFi at Ava Labs
Deniz Omer: Head of Ecosystem Growth at Kyber Network
Thomas Bertani: Head of Poseidon Group and Project Lead at pNetwork

Panel: The State of Regulation: Who is Ahead and Why?

Moderator: Nerushka Bowan: Director and Head of Technology and Innovation at Norton Rose Fulbright South Africa

Panelists:
Agata Ferreira: Expert at the EU Blockchain Observatory and Forum and an Advisor for Blockchain for Europe
Joshua Ellul: Director of the Centre for DLT at the University of Malta
Toufic Adlouni: Co-founder and MD at Renno & Co

Panel: Challenges in Decentralised Projects Governance

Moderator: Alexis Johnson: President of Light Node Media

Panelists:
Bill Xing: Head of Financial Products at Bybit
Daniel Ospina: Head of Governance at Aragon
Joshua Scigala (Keynote): Co-Founder of TheStandard.io and CIO of Vaultoro

Panel: Institutional Investment in DeFi

Moderator: Monica Singer: South Africa Lead for ConsenSys

Panelists:
Stephen Stonberg: CEO of Bittrex Global
Ajit Tripathi: Head of Institutional Business at Aave
Eric Anziani: Chief Operating Officer at Crypto.com
Nick Martitsch: Business Development Associate at Compound

Panel: Art, Collectibles and the Future of NFTs

Moderator: Kristina Lucrezia Cornèr: Editor-in-Chief of Cointelegraph

Panelists:
Serena Tabacchi: Director and Co-founder MoCDA, Museum of Contemporary Digital Art
María Paula Fernández: Advisor at Golem Factory GmbH and Founder and Managing Director of ETHBerlin
Jillian Godsil: Journalist, Broadcaster and Chair/Keynote

Fireside Chat hosted by Ran Neu Ner

Host: Ran Neu Ner: Co-founder and CEO at Onchain Capital and Founder at Crypto Banter

Elliot Wainman: Creator at EllioTrades and Co-Founder and CEO of SuperFarm

PROGRAMME

The event hosted 20 sessions and 44 DeFi and NFT industry leaders, showcasing the opportunities and trends in Decentralised Finance (DeFi) and Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs).

Time Session Speakers Venue
09:30am-10:00am Registration Online
10:00am-10:05am Welcome Address by Master of Ceremonies Lavinia Osbourne (MC) Online
10:10am-10:50am Panel: Challenges in Decentralised Projects Governance Joshua Scigala (Keynote) Bill Xing Alexis Johnson Daniel Ospina Moderator: Alexis Johnson
10:55am-11:10am Mintlayer: Bringing DeFi to Bitcoin Through Layer 2 Technology Andreas Kohl Online
11:15am-11:40am Keynote Address: The Serum and Solana DeFi Ecosystem Sam Bankman-Fried (Keynote) Online
11:45am-12:10pm Keynote Address: Web 2.5 - An Alternative Venture Financing Ecosystem for African Technology Entrepreneurs Yele Bademosi (Keynote) Online
12:30pm-13:00pm Panel: DeFi on Bitcoin: RSK and Sovryn Edan Yago Diego Gutiérrez-Zaldívar Online
13:05pm-13:25pm High Frequency Trading and DeFi: Ideas, Strategies, Building Blocks and Things You Should Know About Jesus Rodriguez Online
13:30pm-13:55pm Keynote Address: Blockchain and Its Applications in Developing Contexts, Particularly East Africa Shazaib Jaffer (Keynote) Online
13:45pm-14:15pm Panel: Maximising Crypto Earnings with Decentralised Finance Aaron Tilton (Keynote) Sergej Kunz Shane Ai Anish Mohammed Piers Ridyard Nelson Merchan Jr Moderator: Nelson Merchan Jr
14:05pm-14:45pm Keynote Address: The Hard Truth of 1:1 Backed Stablecoins and Why Algorithmic Stablecoins are the Future Joshua Scigala (Keynote) Online
14:20pm-15:00pm Panel: Ethereum: De Facto Choice for DeFi and NFTs? Why and Who are the Real Competitors? Luigi D’Onorio DeMeo Deniz Omer Richard de Sousa Moderator: Richard de Sousa
15:00pm-15:10pm Networking Online
15:10pm-15:55pm Panel: The Importance of Cross-Chain Interoperability for DeFi Jack Lu Alex Melikhov John Patrick Mullin Dylan Dewdney Nelson Merchan Jr Moderator: Nelson Merchan Jr
16:00pm-16:40pm Panel: The State of Regulation: Who is Ahead and Why? Agata Ferreira Nerushka Bowan Joshua Ellul Toufic Adlouni Moderator: Nerushka Bowan
16:45pm-17:25pm Keynote Address: DeFi Sheriffs: The Good, the Bad & the Ugly. The Future of Defi and Its Necessary Evolution from the Wild West of Finance Aaron Tilton (Keynote) Online
17:15pm-17:55pm Fireside Chat - Hosted by Ran Neu Ner Ran Neu Ner Elliot Wainman Online
17:25pm-18:00pm Panel: Institutional Investment in DeFi Stephen Stonberg Ajit Tripathi Eric Anziani Nick Martitsch Monica Singer Moderator: Monica Singer
18:00pm-18:05pm Closing Address by Master of Ceremonies Lavinia Osbourne (MC) Online
Time Session Speakers Venue
11:25am-11:55am NFTs in Gaming and Proof of Gaming Duke Vu Online
12:00pm-12:25pm NFT and DeFi Market Insights from On-Chain Analytics Alex Svanevik Online
12:50pm-13:15pm NFTs and Copyright Guy Maevsky Online
14:00pm-14:30pm Bridging the Gap Between the Traditional World and Blockchain Technology and the Advantages and Capabilities of NFTs and DeFi Mohammed Carrim Ganey Online
16:15pm-17:00pm Panel: Art, Collectibles and the Future of NFTs Kristina Lucrezia Cornèr Serena Tabacchi María Paula Fernández Jillian Godsil Moderator: Kristina Lucrezia Corner

SPEAKERS

Our global speakers are well-known thought leaders and experts in the cryptocurrency and blockchain technology space.

Lavinia Osbourne (MC) Host and Founder of Women in Blockchain Talks

Lavinia is the award-winning host and founder of Women in Blockchain Talks,

Sam Bankman-Fried (Keynote) CEO and Founder at FTX

Before founding Alameda and then FTX, Sam was a trader on Jane

Aaron Tilton (Keynote) Chief Executive Officer and Co-Founder at SmartFi

Yele Bademosi

Yele Bademosi (Keynote) Founder of Bundle Africa

Yele Bademosi is the Founder of Bundle Africa. Bundle is an Africa-focused

Shazaib Jaffer (Keynote) Co-Founder of Dimo

Shazaib Jaffer is a fifth-generation Tanzanian entrepreneur with business interests in a

Joshua Scigala (Keynote) Co-Founder of TheStandard.io and CIO of Vaultoro

An award-winning entrepreneur who has co-founded several technology startups including Vaultoro, SwapStyle

Stephen Stonberg

Stephen Stonberg CEO of Bittrex Global

Stephen has spent his entire 25-year career working in financial markets in

Edan Yago Contributor of Sovryn

Edan Yago grew up in Apartheid South Africa to a family of

Bill Xing Head of Financial Products at Bybit

Bill is the head of financial products at Bybit, leading the effort

Mohammed Carrim Ganey CFO and Co-Founder at Curate

Mohammed is the CFO and Co-Founder at Curate. He has a proven

Kristina Lucrezia Cornèr Editor-in-Chief of Cointelegraph

Kristina Lucrezia is the Editor-in-Chief of Cointelegraph. M.A. in political science and classical

Luigi D’Onorio DeMeo Director of DeFi at Ava Labs

Luigi started his career in traditional finance, working as an institutional trader

Diego Gutiérrez-Zaldívar Co-founder of RSK

Diego Co-founded RSK Labs that made Bitcoin fully programmable by providing smart

Duke Vu CEO and Founder of Ulti Arena

Sergej Kunz Co-founder of 1inch Network

Sergej Kunz is the Co-founder of the 1inch Network, a distributed network

Ran Neu Ner Co-founder and CEO at Onchain Capital and Founder at Crypto Banter

Ran Neu Ner is the CEO of Onchain Capital, a Crypto Asset

Ajit Tripathi Head of Institutional Business at Aave

Ajit currently leads institutional growth and strategy for Aave, the world’s leading

Andreas Kohl Director of Institutional Relations at Mintlayer

Andreas is the Director of Institutional Relations at Mintlayer. Mintlayer is a

Jack Lu

Jack Lu Founder and CEO of Wanchain

Jack Lu is an early investor in Bitcoin and Ethereum. He is

Eric Anziani Chief Operating Officer at Crypto.com

Eric Anziani is the Chief Operating Officer (COO) at Crypto.com where he

Shane Ai Head of Research and Development at ByBit

Shane heads up R&D at Bybit, covering research and product innovation verticals

Alex Svanevik Co-founder and CEO at Nansen

Alex has over 10 years of experience in data science, management consulting,

Alex Melikhov Founder and CEO at Equilibrium

Alex is an engineer in applied mathematics by training. With over 14

Serena Tabacchi Director and Co-founder MoCDA, Museum of Contemporary Digital Art

Serena Tabacchi is the Director and Co-Founder of MoCDA, Museum of Contemporary

Deniz Omer Head of Ecosystem Growth at Kyber Network

Anish Mohammed Co-founder of Panther Protocol

Anish has 20+ years in security and cryptography, is an early advisor

Nick Martitsch Business Development Associate at Compound Labs

Nick leads various business development initiatives for Compound Labs, mainly focused on

John Patrick Mullin Co-Founder of MANTRA DAO & SOMA.finance

JP is the Co-Founder of MANTRA DAO & SOMA.finance. MANNTRA DAO is

Piers Ridyard CEO of Radix DLT

CEO of Radix DLT, Piers Ridyard is a YC Alumni and successful

María Paula Fernández Advisor at Golem Factory GmbH and Founder and Managing Director of ETHBerlin

María Paula Fernández is an advisor at Golem. She’s a communications strategy

Monica Singer South Africa Lead for ConsenSys

Monica Singer is a Chartered Accountant (SA) and Fellow of the Institute

Dylan Dewdney Chief Effort Officer at Kylin Network

A prescient and accurate analyst of market behavior, social psychology, and overall

Agata Ferreira Expert at the EU Blockchain Observatory and Forum and an Advisor for Blockchain for Europe

Agata is an experienced international lawyer, PHD, blockchain and fintech expert. She

Nerushka Bowan Director and Head of Technology and Innovation at Norton Rose Fulbright South Africa

Nerushka Bowan is a technology and privacy lawyer based in Johannesburg. She

Richard de Sousa

Richard de Sousa Founder and CEO of AltCoinTrader

AltCoinTrader was developed by experienced computer programmer Richard de Sousa in 2014.

Joshua Ellul Director of the Centre for DLT at the University of Malta and Chairperson of the Malta Digital Innovation Authority

Dr. Joshua Ellul is Director of the Centre for DLT at the

Jesus Rodriguez Co-founder and CEO at IntoTheBlock

Jesus Rodriguez is a technology expert, serial entrepreneur, angel investor, and internationally

Guy Maevsky Legal Advisor

Before starting own legal practice, Guy has held positions of Head of

Alexis Johnson President of Light Node Media

Alexis has over five years of experience in real estate development and

Daniel Ospina Head of Governance at Aragon

Daniel Ospina is an organisation and social system designer. He’s Head of

Toufic Adlouni Co-founder and Managing Director at Renno & Co

Toufic Adlouni is the Co-founder and Managing Director at Renno & Co.

Jillian Godsil Journalist, Broadcaster and Chair/Keynote

On international Women’s Day 2021, Jillian was nominated one of 100 global

Elliot Wainman Creator at EllioTrades and Co-Founder and CEO of SuperFarm

Elliot is a leading blockchain and crypto youtuber. Elliot is the Creator

Nelson Merchan Jr CEO of Light Node Media

Nelson Merchan Jr. has been investing in the cryptocurrency space since 2014.