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6 Questions for Annabelle Huang of Amber Group

We ask the buidlers in the blockchain and cryptocurrency sector for their thoughts on the industry… and throw in a few random zingers to keep them on their toes! This week, our 6 Questions go to Annabelle Huang, the managing partner at Amber Group, a global leading digital asset platform. Prior to Amber Group, I served as the Asia lead at AirSwap, a decentralized trading platform that enables peer-to-peer trading on the Ethereum blockchain. Before transitioning into digital assets, I advised private equity funds, U.S. corporates and hedge funds on structured solutions and risk management as an FX structurer at Deutsche Bank and Nomura in New York. My background in traditional financial markets, coupled with my experience in institutions and macro markets, has given me a unique vantage poin...

6 Questions for Alex Wilson of The Giving Block

We ask the buidlers in the blockchain and cryptocurrency sector for their thoughts on the industry… and throw in a few random zingers to keep them on their toes! This week, our 6 Questions go to Alex Wilson, co-founder of The Giving Block — a crypto donation solution that provides an ecosystem for nonprofits and charities to fundraise Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies.   Alex is a co-founder of The Giving Block, a Shift4 company. The Giving Block is a leading crypto philanthropy platform that makes accepting and fundraising cryptocurrencies easy for nonprofits and empowers donors to give crypto to their favorite causes. Alex oversees The Giving Block’s growth in several areas, including technological innovation, crypto and financial partnerships, and institutional giving.  Alex’...

6 Questions for Nikki Farb of Headline

We ask the buidlers in the blockchain and cryptocurrency sector for their thoughts on the industry… and throw in a few random zingers to keep them on their toes! This week, our 6 Questions go to Nikki Farb — an active investor and advisor to technology companies who is currently a venture partner at Headline, a venture capital firm.   I invest in consumer tech (with a real love for marketplaces) and Web3. I’ve invested in Consensys (MetaMask), AfterParty, Fractal, Aloft, Wander, MarketerHire, SudShare and a few others I can’t share just yet.  Before investing, I co-founded Darby — a video shopping app that connected creators and their fans. It was such a journey. We built Darby up to 50,000 creators making videos for 5 million viewers. Working with the team at Darby was one of my...

6 Questions for Andrew Levine of Koinos Group

We ask the buidlers in the blockchain and cryptocurrency sector for their thoughts on the industry… and throw in a few random zingers to keep them on their toes! This week, our 6 Questions go to Andrew Levine, CEO of Koinos Group, which is focused on accelerating the transition to a more decentralized future by helping entrepreneurial developers, entrepreneurs and enterprises build disruptive blockchain-based solutions.   Andrew leads a team of industry veterans accelerating decentralization through accessible blockchain technology. Their foundational product is Koinos, a feeless blockchain with infinite upgradeability and a proof-of-burn consensus. 1 — What kind of consolidation do you expect to see in the crypto industry in 2022? There are too many general-purpose blockchains that a...

Powers On… When will we learn from recent history to protect our crypto and ourselves?

Stablecoins provide a false sense of security. They give the impression to the uninitiated and/or uncaring that a particular coin is pegged to the U.S. dollar, or an equivalent of the dollar in terms of value and stability, and that if you want to convert your stablecoin to dollars, you can do so easily and instantaneously. Yet, they do no such thing, as demonstrated by the recent collapse of Terra and its TerraUSD stablecoin and LUNA token and also made clear in September 2008 by the collapse of the Reserve Primary Fund money market fund during the height of the global financial crisis. Powers On… is a monthly opinion column from Marc Powers, who spent much of his 40-year legal career working with complex securities-related cases in the United States after a stint with the SEC. He is now ...

6 Questions for Sonali Giovino of Defiyield

We ask the buidlers in the blockchain and cryptocurrency sector for their thoughts on the industry… and throw in a few random zingers to keep them on their toes! This week, our 6 Questions go to Sonali Giovino, head of communications at Defiyield, a cross-chain asset management protocol that empowers users to be a part of the DeFi ecosystem.   Sonali Giovino has been working in the crypto space since 2017 when she began holding weekly educational workshops, which lead to public speaking events on cryptocurrency and blockchain and her production of Vancouver’s first Blockchain Yacht Cruise Conference. She brings 20+ years of experience as a technical communicator to her position at Defiyield, previously holding roles in marketing, project management, business development and event coor...

What really goes on at a crypto OTC desk?

Over-the-counter, or OTC, trading refers to any trading that is not done via an automated exchange. What exactly is OTC trading? Who does it, and why? To learn more about what an OTC desk is and how these “under the radar” exchanges operate, Magazine spoke to a few insiders to get the scoop. The most popular conception of OTC trading revolves around massive off-market deals, like when companies such as MicroStrategy make multimillion-dollar purchases using OTC desks run by the likes of Coinbase or Kraken. OTC trading is, however, not the exclusive domain of the rich, as it can also refer to peer-to-peer platforms like LocalBitcoins, which has been helping individuals trade BTC both in-person and via bank transfer since 2013. Even some crypto ATMs can be categorized as OTC trading, as these...

6 Questions for Dominik Schiener of the Iota Foundation

We ask the buidlers in the blockchain and cryptocurrency sector for their thoughts on the industry… and throw in a few random zingers to keep them on their toes! This week, our 6 Questions go to Dominik Schiener, a co-founder of the Iota Foundation, a nonprofit organization, and the creator of the Tangle, a permissionless, multi-dimensional distributed ledger designed as a foundation of a global protocol for all things connected.    Dominik Schiener is a co-founder and the chairman of the Iota Foundation, one of the largest and greenest cryptocurrency ecosystems in the world. The Iota Foundation’s mission is to support the research and development of new distributed ledger technologies, including the Iota Tangle. Raised in Italy, Dominik oversees partnerships and the overall real...

6 Questions for Ming Duan of Umee

We ask the buidlers in the blockchain and cryptocurrency sector for their thoughts on the industry… and throw in a few random zingers to keep them on their toes! This week, our 6 Questions go to Ming Duan, the co-founder and chief operating officer of Umee, a cross-chain DeFi hub that allows decentralized interactions between different blockchains.   Ming Duan’s knowledge of the crypto and blockchain world goes back to 2014 when she initially learned about the emerging industry through the first-ever blockchain course taught at a business school. Since then, she has developed extensive crypto investment knowledge through hands-on practice. Duan brings unique insight to Umee, having experience as both a crypto investor and builder in the ecosystem. Her goal for Umee is to build a platf...

6 Questions for Dawn Newton of Netki

We ask the buidlers in the blockchain and cryptocurrency sector for their thoughts on the industry… and throw in a few random zingers to keep them on their toes! This week, our 6 Questions go to Dawn Newton, co-founder and chief operating officer of Netki — a remote digital identity verification technology provider intended to facilitate compliance with KYC/AML regulations.   Dawn Newton is the chief operating officer and co-founder of Netki, the Know Your Customer and Anti-Money Laundering technology provider purpose-built for blockchain. Dawn’s work is driven by her desire to increase global access to crypto assets in a sustainable, secure and equitable manner. At Netki, Dawn has contributed to the development of OnboardID, which facilitates identity verification and onboarding for ...

6 Questions for Lili Zhao of Neo

We ask the buidlers in the blockchain and cryptocurrency sector for their thoughts on the industry… and throw in a few random zingers to keep them on their toes! This week, our 6 Questions go to Lili Zhao, director of ecosystem growth at Neo — an open-source blockchain development platform. The A to Z of Lili Zhao: Authenticity — easier said than done Blockchain advocate Community — Neo has the best! DAO — fascinating! Economics — interests me much more now than when I was studying it at university Falling — never afraid of it because I always bounce back Game — life is a game, so let’s play Hot — N3 is hot Ideas — too many ideas, not enough focus Job — growing the ecosystem of the Neo blockchain by profession and passion Key — keep your private key safe Love — may everyone be blessed with...

6 Questions for Lynn Liss of Akoin

We ask the buidlers in the blockchain and cryptocurrency sector for their thoughts on the industry… and throw in a few random zingers to keep them on their toes! This week, our 6 Questions go to Lynn Liss, the chief operating officer and co-founder of Akoin, a cryptocurrency and blockchain ecosystem designed to empower entrepreneurship and fuel rising entrepreneurs in Africa. Lynn Liss serves as chief operating officer of blockchain company and cryptocurrency Akoin, co-founded with global leader Akon. She is an operations executive and social impact leader driving financial revolutions, building empowering technology and business models, and forging strategy, partnerships and teams for massive social change. Steering Akoin’s mission to empower entrepreneurship and financial inclusion acros...