Blockchain Ireland Week Speakers 2023

Introducing the Speakers supporting Blockchain Ireland Week 2023.

Blockchain Ireland Week Speaker

Minister Michael McGrath TD

Department of Finance Ireland

Minister McGrath is a TD for Cork South Central and is currently the Minister for Finance in the Government of Ireland. He previously served as Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform from 2020 to 2022.

In his time in Dáil Éireann, Michael has served on a number of Oireachtas committees including the Finance Committee, the Oireachtas Banking Inquiry, the European Affairs Committee and the Public Accounts Committee.

As Minister for Finance, Michael is responsible for leading the Department in the achievement of the government’s economic, fiscal and financial policy goals, having regard to the Programme for Government.

Blockchain Ireland Week Speaker

Brian McGleenon

Yahoo! Finance 

Brian is the host of Yahoo Finance’s web3 and tech show ‘The Crypto Mile’ and works as a Digital Assets and Cryptocurrency Correspondent for Yahoo! Finance.

He also writes long-read articles for The Independent on geopolitics and global finance, and is an editor of The Humanoid News (www.thehumanoid.net), a developing independent news outlet.

Blockchain Ireland Week Speaker

David Cunningham

Citi

David Cunningham is Global Head of Strategy and Partnerships for Digital Assets at Treasury and Trade Solutions (TTS) in Citi’s Institutional Clients Group (ICG). This multi-billion-dollar business, which includes Payment, Receivable, Commercial Cards, and Trade and Cash Management is one of the largest global businesses within Citi’s ICG, encompassing integrated working capital solutions serving public sector clients, corporate and financial institutions.

Blockchain Ireland Week Speaker

Mai Santamaria

Department of Finance Ireland

Mai is the Head of Financial Advisory in the Shareholding and Financial Advisory Division at the Department of Finance Ireland.

She is also a:

  • Bureau Member of OECD’s Committee on Financial Markets
  • Member of OECD’s Ad Hoc Experts Group on Digitalisation and Finance
  • Member of Department of Finance Virtual Asset and Blockchain Working group
  • Member of Blockchain Ireland
Blockchain Ireland Week Speaker

Paul C Dwyer

Cyber Risk International

Paul C Dwyer is an internationally recognized leader in cybersecurity, risk, and compliance, with over 30 years of diverse experience working with military, law enforcement, and the commercial sector.

He is the CEO of Cyber Risk International, where he specializes in developing cyber defense programs and protecting business operations for CRI clients.

He is also the founder and President of the ICTTF International Cyber Threat Task Force, which advocates for diversity in the industry and leads a community of over 30,000 with a common goal to defeat cyber evil.

Blockchain Ireland Week Speaker

Pamela Clegg

CipherTrace by MasterCard

Pamela is the Vice President of Crypto Investigations and Risk and the Vice President of Financial Investigations at CipherTrace.

At a glance, she is a US-based cryptocurrency intelligence investigator and analyst, a financial crimes investigator, and a Certified Anti-Money Laundering Specialist (CAMS). She is also a former BSA Officer and Information Security Officer for a large community bank and has 10+ years of international experience with investigations, due diligence and operations mostly in Latin America with USG.

Blockchain Ireland Week Speaker

Richard Teng

Binance

Richard Teng is an experienced executive with over three decades of financial services and regulatory experience. As the Regional Head of MENA at Binance, he leads the team to secure strategic partnerships, foster an ecosystem of innovation, and expand the regional cryptocurrency ecosystem.

By working closely with policymakers, regulators, and industry players, Richard is furthering the business growth in a compliant and sustainable manner. Prior to joining Binance, Richard was the CEO of the Financial Services Regulatory Authority at Abu Dhabi Global Market where he showcased his capabilities as one of the world’s foremost innovative regulators. Richard’s vast experience also includes being the Chief Regulatory Officer of the Singapore Exchange (SGX) and the Director of Corporate Finance in the Monetary Authority of Singapore.

Blockchain Ireland Week Speaker

Paul Astengo

Gibraltar Finance

Paul is the Senior Executive at HM Government of Gibraltar, Gibraltar Finance, leading new business creation in the private client space and innovation initiatives including those covering the new technologies sector.

He is an experienced and effective senior manager who can operate in both relationship and operational business lines. He develops people and teams to meet challenging targets and grow a successful business, and has gained experience in three countries: Gibraltar, Spain, and the U.K.

Blockchain Ireland Week Speaker

Paul Hearns

PJH Consulting

Paul is an experienced technology content strategist, presenter, facilitator, journalist and commentator.

He is currently providing content strategy and services to the technology industry at PJH Consulting,

Blockchain Ireland Week Speaker

Charlie Taylor

Business Post

Charlie is the technology and innovation editor at the Business Post. Prior to this, he was at The Irish Times. He has also freelanced for a number of leading tech publications and previously co-founded a content creation agency.

Blockchain Ireland Week Speaker

Brian Ruane

BNY Mellon

Brian Ruane is the Chief Executive Officer of BNY Mellon’s Clearance & Collateral Management
business and a member of BNY Mellon’s Executive Committee.

As CEO of Clearance & Collateral Management, Brian’s focus is to provide clients with digitally-
enabled, resilient infrastructure to settle, safekeep, finance and manage their post-trade inventory
and collateral obligations.

In addition to those responsibilities, Brian is the CEO of BNY Mellon
Government Securities Services Corp, and oversees the firm’s credit services, real estate and leasing
portfolios.

Blockchain Ireland Week Speaker

Shalom Osiadi

Esca

Shalom is the Founder & CEO of Esca, with a mission of making the world a more equitable place by lowering the barriers to entry for financial independence. He is a data analyst and serial entrepreneur with a love of all things technology and innovation.

Blockchain Ireland Week Speaker

Eoin Fitzgerald

Enterprise Ireland

Eoin Fitzgerald is a Senior Development Advisor in FinTech at Enterprise Ireland; the Founder & Co-Host of the MoneyNeverSleeps Podcast; and a Web3 Mentor at TechStars.

He has a wide range of experience across all aspects of Banking, from Wealth to Corporate & Investment Banking, and has also gained valuable experience of how the other half lives from my time with one of the fastest growing fintech start-ups in Europe.

Blockchain Ireland Week Speaker

Tim Willoughby

An Garda Síochána

Tim is the Head of Digital Services and Innovation at An Garda Síochána.

He is an innovative technology solution-driven leader with a 20+ year track record of delivering creative customer-driven solutions for the Local Government Sector. He is also a lateral thinker who thrives and excels in creating energy, momentum and collaboration to plan, design and deliver open-source technology answers to practical issues and challenges faced by the public sector.

As a passionate, inspiring and motivating speaker with a breadth of knowledge, expertise and experience, Tim influences and persuades decision-makers to adopt a fresh perspective and implement technology solutions that create a significant and lasting impact on teams, organisations and communities. He is also an exceptional communicator who establishes engagement and creates consensus across a diverse network of key players.

Blockchain Ireland Week Speaker

Amor Sexton

Blockdaemon

Amor is the Vice President of Operations at Blockdaemon. She is an experienced global leader with extensive commercial, legal and operational experience, and a diverse background that includes operations, strategy and commercialisation, marketing and communications, regulatory and legal, and design and delivery of enterprise-grade products and solutions.

Blockchain Ireland Week Speaker

Lory Kehoe

Blockchain Ireland

Founder of Blockchain Ireland, and Director and Global Lead of NFT at Coinbase.

Lory is an adjunct assistant professor in technology trends with Trinity College Dublin’s Business School, and a PhD student researching blockchain and crypto entrepreneurial ecosystems.

He is a former managing director with ConsenSys where he founded, scaled and led the Irish office, was global co-lead of partnerships, and was a member of the global leadership team. Lory was also the founder, and ran Deloitte’s EMEA Blockchain Lab, based out of Dublin. He is a Qualified Financial Adviser, registered stockbroker, qualified product owner and scrum master.

Blockchain Ireland Week Speaker

Dave Feenan

Blockchain Ireland

2021 & 2022 Steering Group Chair at Blockchain Ireland.

Dave Feenan is the Managing Director of Digital Technology Skills Limited, a leading influence in the field of skills training, management development and the introduction of human performance improvement and impact measurement programmes. These include the flagship Technology Ireland ICT Skillnet, a unique industry-led workforce development programme which created the National MSc in Blockchain.

Dave is a highly experienced Senior Director who held the roles of MD and Country Manager for the subsidiaries of UK/US-based organisations. He successfully led an MBO, worked with a Swiss multinational and in the start-up SaaS/Cloud environment. He is passionate about innovation, co-collaboration, clusters, and building entrepreneurial ecosystems between SMEs and MNCs, coupled with the skills and competencies needed to assist organisations to scale.

Blockchain Ireland Week Speaker

Philip Lee

Philip Lee LLP

Philip Lee is ranked in the ‘Top Tier’ of European law firms for Environmental and Planning law & Project and PPP by Legal 500.

Philip Lee is a leading individual in the energy and natural resources practice area in the 2014 Legal 500 rankings.

Blockchain Ireland Week Speaker

Barry Lowry

Department of Public Expenditure and Reform Ireland 

Experienced Chief Information Officer with a demonstrated history of working in the government relations industry. Barry is a strong consulting professional skilled in Government, IT Service Management, IT Strategy, and Business Transformation.

Blockchain Ireland Week Speaker

Denise Delaney

Central Bank of Ireland

Denise is the Head of Function: Policy and Risk Horizontal Function at the Central Bank of Ireland, with experience in Fintech and Technological Innovation and Stakeholder Engagement – Central Bank of Ireland Industry Forum and Financial System Conference. She is also a Member of Central Bank of Ireland CSR Working Group.

Blockchain Ireland Week Speaker

Alejandro Gutierrez

Defactor

Co-founder of Defactor; CEO of Defactor Labs; and Mentor at Launchpool Web3 Techstars.

Alejandro is a professional currently offering over ten years’ worth of commercial industry and consulting experience and expertise in all facets of supply chain management, logistics, disruptive technologies (Blockchain, AI and IoT), innovation, change management, continuous improvement, procurement and project leadership working within high-profile corporations across The Americas, Asia, Australia and Europe in multiple industries including Technology, Retail, FMCG, Pharma and Beverage.

Blockchain Ireland Week Speaker

Antonio Senatore

Vechain Foundation

CTO of Vechain Foundation and General manager of the Irish Branch at Vechain Foundation.

Previously, Antonio was the former Global Blockchain CTO at Deloitte.

Blockchain Ireland Week Speaker

Patrick Walsh

Dogpatch Labs

Patrick is the founder and CEO of Dogpatch Labs, one of Ireland’s leading startup hubs and Crunchbase’s ‘top 10 incubators around the world you need to know’.

Patrick is also a member of Ireland’s National Competitiveness Council, a policy-focused roundtable of top Irish business leaders and government.

Previously, Patrick worked in a high growth Irish tech company (Ding.com), early stage startup (PayMins.com) and an international tech company setting up in Ireland (Hassle.com).

Patrick is a fully qualified A.C.A. Chartered Accountant having trained with KPMG for three years.

Blockchain Ireland Week Speaker

John Woods

Algorand Foundation

John is the CTO of the Algorand Foundation. He is a dynamic, highly motivated individual, highly focused on execution & product, leveraging strong interpersonal skills with meticulous attention to detail, with extensive experience across a range of technological and financial silos.

Blockchain Ireland Week Speaker

Damien Conroy

MasterCard

Director, Software Engineering at Blockchain at Mastercard.

Damien specialises in R&D and Software Development as a Certified Ethereum Blockchain Developer. He has a strong work interest in software engineering and the overlap between blockchain and legal concepts.

Blockchain Ireland Week Speaker

Karl Long

Binance

Executive Director at Binance.

Karl is a global operations leader managing support teams in Europe and the US. Extensive financial services product knowledge with a focus on digital processing. He has extensive experience in managing large teams as well as creating start-up operational infrastructure and controls for data-driven strategies. He has a keen focus on regulation, cryptocurrency, technology, and data.

Blockchain Ireland Week Speaker

Filippo Chisari

AgileGTM Web3 Accelerator

Managing Director, AgileGTM Web3 Accelerator.

Chief Commercial Officer In Residence at Techstars Web3, the second-largest accelerator in the world.

For the past 7 years, Chisari led GTM in B2B organizations and got first involved in Blockchain in 2019. He designed the Web3 Go-To-Market Canvas™, a strategic framework adopted by major enterprises who joined Web3 and taught it at the master’s program in Blockchain & Crypto by Binance, the largest cryptocurrency exchange in the world.

Blockchain Ireland Week Speaker

John Whelan

Santander

John Whelan is the Managing Director of Crypto & Digital Assets at Banco Santander’s Corporate and Investment Bank in Madrid. He has been involved in crypto and blockchain-related projects since 2014 and has led many initiatives using the technology since joining the bank in 2016 to lead its blockchain lab.

Prior to joining Santander, John was the founder of a Silicon Valley-funded blockchain startup focused on institutional credit ratings and has deep expertise across the many different flavours of blockchain technology (Bitcoin, Ripple, Ethereum, Corda, etc.). 

Before entering the blockchain space, John spent 10 years in the management consulting industry with a post-MBA stint in the trading pits at the Chicago Board Options Exchange.

Blockchain Ireland Week Speaker

Dr. Jennifer Carroll MacNeill TD

Department of Finance Ireland

Jennifer is the Minister of State with responsibility for Financial Services, Credit Unions and Insurance.

She is a TD for the Dún Laoghaire Constituency, elected in February 2020. She served as Vice Chair of the Fine Gael Parliamentary Party and Spokesperson for Equality. She was also Vice Chair of the Justice Committee as well as a member of the Public Accounts Committee and the Implementation of the Good Friday Agreement Committee. She was a member of the Special Dáil Committee on Covid prior to its disbandment into sectoral Committees.

Blockchain Ireland Week Speaker

Stephen Foley

Teneo

Managing Director at Teneo People Advisory.

Teneo is a global CEO advisory firm. Teneo partners with clients globally to do great things for a better future. Their full range of advisory services includes strategic communications, investor relations, financial transactions and restructuring, management consulting, physical and cyber risk, organizational design, board and executive search, geopolitics and government affairs, corporate governance, ESG and DE&I.

Stephen’s focus is on CEO, board and senior executive search in Ireland across a range of sectors.

Blockchain Ireland Week Speaker

Michael J. Flynn

Trinity College Dublin

Assistant Professor, Director of Executive Education, Trinity Business School, Trinity College Dublin.

Blockchain Ireland Week Speaker

Prof. David Shrier

Imperial College London

David Shrier is a futurist and innovation catalyst with expertise in artificial intelligence, data/analytics, fintech, digital identity, cybersecurity, and collaborative innovation. He leads venture studio Visionary Future LLC, helping Global 2000 companies create breakout growth as well as incubating new technology-enabled businesses.

David holds an appointment as Professor of Practice, at Imperial College Business School, Imperial College London. He previously was an Associate Fellow with Saïd Business School, University of Oxford, and a Lecturer & Futurist at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, where he also held positions as Managing Director, Connection Science and New Ventures Officer, at MIT Sloan.

Blockchain Ireland Week Speaker

Jillian Godsil

BlockLeaders

Award-winning journalist, broadcaster and author. Blockchain chair and keynote. Advocate for women in Web3. Co-Founder and journalist at Blockleaders.io.

Jillian has held senior positions with global PR companies in Sydney, Singapore, London and Dublin. She changed the law in Ireland in 2014 and is a former European Parliamentary candidate (as an independent). She freelances for Irish Tech News, Irish Central, The Irish Independent and The Irish Times. She has her own radio shows on DublinCityFM and EastCoastFM.

Her first job after graduating from Trinity College was as a systems analyst with JP Morgan. She is an advisor to a number of ICOs, has been named a Crypto Queen by In Zero Conferences as well as listed in the 50 most influential women in the global blockchain roll call. She is a board member of EOS Dublin. She keynotes and chairs blockchain events around the world – including Kiev, Austin, Muscat, Columbo, Dublin, Dubai, Amsterdam, Malta and London.

Blockchain Ireland Week Speaker

Pete Townsend

TechStars

Pete is an early-stage startup investor, advisor, non-executive director, and podcaster. He invests in and accelerates web3 startups as Managing Director of the Techstars Web3 Accelerator.

He has 28 years of global experience at the startup and enterprise level with companies such as Coinbase, BNP Paribas, Fidelity Investments and 30+ startups across Europe and the US.

Pete is also the co-host of MoneyNeverSleeps, an Ireland top 20 weekly podcast that looks inside the minds of entrepreneurs and at the crossover of startups, enterprise, finance, technology and life as we know it.

Blockchain Ireland Week Speaker

Barry Downes

Sure Valley Ventures

Managing Partner at Sure Valley Ventures.

Sure Valley Ventures (SVV) is a venture capital firm that invests in disruptive software start-ups that are building the future of the Metaverse using Augmented and Virtual Reality (AR/VR), Artificial Intelligence (AI), Internet of Things (IoT), Gaming, Security and Web 3 technologies. SVV is based in London, Cambridge, Manchester and Leeds in the UK and Dublin and Waterford in Ireland.

Blockchain Ireland Week Speaker

Connor Cantwell

Cosimo Ventures

Partner – Europe at Cosimo Ventures.

Connor is a proven business leader with a track record of growing businesses and delivering for stakeholders, in both national and multi-country environments.

Connor founded and subsequently sold 20-20 Insights, an award-winning software and analytics company with a clearly defined value proposition and tailored value chain. He then established Centauri Technologies with investment and operational activities across a portfolio of Irish technology companies in mobile, business intelligence and social media. His passion for new products, personnel development and his strong commercial experience enabled these companies go to market and launch in the US and Europe. He brings a high degree of strategic thinking and an understanding of what it takes to make a business successful.

Blockchain Ireland Week Speaker

Ciara O’Brien

The Irish Times

Ciara writes for both the digital and print publications of the Irish Times, mostly on tech, start-ups and gadgets; occasionally she branches out. She also talks tech on radio (RTE, Newstalk, Today FM).

Blockchain Ireland Week Speaker

Sorcha Mulligan

SMEChain

Sorcha supports FinTech, Blockchain, Metaverse & Web3 innovators who are seeking to achieve sustainable growth through Investment, Joint Venture Partnerships & direct Client Acquisition, globally.

Her expertise lies within driving Growth & Business Development Strategies from a blank canvas, profile-raising the brands she works for in new markets both directly & through developing reciprocal relationships with Key Business Introducers & Intermediaries, and building a global high-profile Corporate & Professional network of key connections.

Blockchain Ireland Week Speaker

Paula Guilfoyle

ABlockOfCrypto

Paula is a qualified CPA with over 20 years of experience in the fields of Accountancy, Business Management, Process Improvement, Internal Audit, Group accountant, Operations Management, and Training. All across a broad range of industries and sectors.

In addition to being a CPA and Excel Geek, Paula also has a keen interest in Blockchain and Web3 and has now moved full-time into this sector and out of Excel.

She is now a Web3 Educator and Advisor, helping people navigate the digital transformation at ABlockOfCrypto.

Blockchain Ireland Week Speaker

Jessalyn Dean

Legible Crypto Tax and Accounting 

Vice President of Tax Information Reporting at Legible Crypto Tax and Accounting.

Jessalyn’s expertise lies within digital payments & crypto customer tax reporting; product growth scalability; risk mitigation; governance; tax SME; and strategy consultant transforming CX disruptions caused by taxes.

 

Blockchain Ireland Week Speaker

Kelly Moffatt

Citi

Kelly Moffatt is the Global Partnerships and Innovation Compliance Lead for Citi’s Treasury and Trade Solutions (TTS) business. Her coverage area includes advisory and regulatory engagement on digital assets, distributed ledger technology and artificial intelligence, as well as strategic partnerships and investments. Prior to joining Citi in 2022, she held the role of Head of Anti-Money Laundering and Counter Terrorist Financing (AML/CTF) Compliance for several of J.P. Morgan’s Irish regulated legal entities.

Blockchain Ireland Week Speaker

Maria Flannery

KPMG Ireland

Partner at KPMG Ireland.

Maria is a Financial Services professional and Chartered Accountant with over 14 years of experience providing audit and advisory services to a variety of European and Global asset management clients, specialising in ETFs and digital assets.

Blockchain Ireland Week Speaker

Ian Keane

Digital Asset

Global Head of Sales Engineering at Digital Asset.

Ian is an accomplished Global Sales Engineering Leader offering 25 years of experience in solution selling and technology adoption for industry leaders including Oracle, Dell and HPE. His key skills are team building, leading continuous improvement to increase ARR and change management.

Blockchain Ireland Week Speaker

Aileen Carville

Asset Haus

Founder & CEO of Asset Haus and SKMMP.

Aileen’s areas of expertise and influence include:
Luxury Fashion, Fashion Weeks and Fashion Councils, Web3, AR, Holograms, Creative Economy, Digital Assets, Metaverse, Digital workflows, NPD, Fashion Supply Chain, Luxury Wholesale, Business Development, Voice AI, Data Analytics, ERP, PR, Digital Transformation and assimilation.

Blockchain Ireland Week Speaker

Paula Marie Kilgarriff

CyberByte media

Paula is the Head of Strategic Partnerships at CyberByte Media and the Global Lecturer of Web3, Metaverse, Fashion Digital Marketing, AI Applications & Retail Innovation at Technological University Dublin.

Her primary goal is to build innovative solutions with a circularity and social entrepreneurism focus in the Web3 luxury fashion retail and lifestyle industry.

With extensive experience in academia and industry, she is a dynamic and accomplished global professional with expertise in technology, strategic account management, business development, marketing, event production, communications, and branding.

Blockchain Ireland Week Speaker

Joe Farren

Web3 Media Labs

Joe is an Innovation Consultant at Web3 Media Labs. He has driven creative value creation at world-leading Media, Sports and Tech companies including BBC & Hawk-Eye Innovations.

For the last 2 years, Joe has been consulting and building Web3 projects including the Cannes Lions winning AO Artball NFT for Australian Open alongside developing Web3 IP for the USGA & World Table Tennis.

He created Web3 Media Labs to help Media & Sports brands in leverage emerging technology to create new IP to forge deeper connections with existing & Next Gen audiences.

Blockchain Ireland Week Speaker

Gavin Anderson

SYKY

Business Development & Legal Lead at SYKY.

SYKY is building a blockchain-enabled platform to serve as an incubator, marketplace & community for the next generation of fashion designers & consumers.

Blockchain Ireland Week Speaker

Ben Mayor White

FrensCo

Founder of Frensco and a bored ape that helped Adidas ape into the BAYC and one of the leads for the Adidas Originals ‘Into the Metaverse’ NFT Collection.

Ben is a creative strategist that specialises in Web3, the metaverse, and all the realities. He is an expert at creating narratives and producing content formats across mediums.

He excels at managing and growing online communities across digital/virtual media, producing digital content, and is an expert in online video, social content and influencer-led campaigns. Ben is also a creative thinker and digital native, where he combines a natural storytelling ability with expert knowledge of current and emerging digital and virtual mediums to create and implement innovative strategies.

Blockchain Ireland Week Speaker

Gerry Cross

Central Bank of Ireland 

Gerry Cross was appointed as Director of Financial Regulation Policy and Risk in May 2015. He leads the Central Bank’s work on prudential and market conduct regulatory policy and its supervisory risk framework (PRISM). A member of the Board of Supervisors of EBA, and alternate member of the EIOPA Board of Supervisors, Gerry co-chairs EBA’s Standing Committee on Regulation and Policy.

Gerry has had an extensive career in the area of financial services regulation. Before joining the Central Bank he has worked at the European Commission, the UK Financial Services Authority, Fortis Group, the Institute of International Finance, and the Association for Financial Markets in Europe.

Blockchain Ireland Week Speaker

James Tunnacliffe

Valentia Partners

James is a Financial Services Transformation Advisor and the Senior Manager at Valentia Partners.

With extensive experience in both Banking and Wealth & Asset Management, James has led large (200+ people) cross-functional teams to deliver complex business and technology transformation and post-merger integrations. A data specialist, much of his recent work has focused on data strategy in Banking and Fintech – advising organisations on building customer lifetime journeys, underpinned by deep analytics and data decisioning. Away from his desk, James enjoys white-collar boxing and has jumped into the ring in aid of Mind and Cancer Research UK.

Blockchain Ireland Week Speaker

Kealan Lennon

Clever Cards

Founder & CEO of CleverCards, a FinTech, enabling anyone, anywhere, anytime to pay and get paid instantly.

Kealan has extensive International experience in eCommerce, FinTech, publishing and media sectors, and he has performed numerous executive, non-executive and investor roles in start-up businesses, acquisitions and at board level on large corporates (global NYSE listed group) serving a wide variety of customers, consumers and markets.

Blockchain Ireland Week Speaker

Ronit Ghose

Citi

Ronit runs Citi’s Future of Finance team, a think tank focused on the future of tech, money and finance and its interactions. Ronit’s reports on FinTech and Web3 are among the most read reports Citi has ever published.

He is an Advisory Board member at several tech and VC firms, and one leading University, based in Dubai, London and Cape Town. Many years ago, Ronit worked in the policy world, including being a bag carrier for a former UK Prime Minister.

Blockchain Ireland Week Speaker

Dáire Lawlor

Interwoven Ltd

Dáire joins the dots between business and emerging technologies. He sits on the Irish Funds Sustainability, Skills and Technology Steering Group, Blockchain Ireland Steering Group & ICT SkillNet Innovation Panel. With a strong background in IT, Operations and Business, Dáire has had a long and varied career in Senior Management roles across a variety of sectors successfully servicing blue chip clients, most recently as Managing Director and Head of State Street Ireland’s Consulting Services Group.

Blockchain Ireland Week Speaker

Teana Baker-Taylor

Circle

Vice President, Policy & Regulatory Strategy, EMEA at Circle.

Influential and commercially driven Board level C-suite leader with deep expertise in fintech and financial services, who builds and transforms businesses. Teana creates and evolves strategic vision and leads high-performing teams, promoting agile and entrepreneurial working environments. Known for developing and nurturing relationships, championing change, and a considered and steadied approach in highly demanding and complex situations. She is also experienced in implementing go-to-market strategy with clarity.

Named the Regulatory & Governance Leader of the Year within the Women in Finance Awards 2020, recognised as one of the Standout 35 of the most influential women in Fintech globally three times within the Innovate Finance Women in Fintech Powerlists and won the Blockchain Leaders category in the Women In Tech Awards 2019.

Blockchain Ireland Week Speaker

Mark O’Byrne

Tara Coins

Founder of Tara Coins and Health Wealth Gold.

Mark is a consultant, mentor and adviser to business owners, executives and companies on how to navigate the uncertain world of today and how to protect and grow wealth in the coming years.

He informs people and companies about our monetary and financial system and how owning precious metals will be one of the vital ways to protect and grow wealth in the 2020s and beyond.

His expertise lies in helping people to protect and grow their wealth with the provision of the safest forms of precious metals ownership – fully segregated and allocated physical gold, silver, platinum and palladium bullion coins and bars.

Blockchain Ireland Week Speaker

Prof. Brian Lucey

Trinity College Dublin

Professor of International Finance & Commodities and Trinity College Dublin.

Prof. Brian has 20 years of experience as an academic, with previous experience as a central bank economist, civil servant, and entrepreneur.

His specialities lie in financial analysis, economic analysis, pedagogy, teaching and education.

Blockchain Ireland Week Speaker

Jamie McCormick

Bitcoin Marketing Team

Having founded the Bitcoin Marketing Team in 2014, Jamie transitioned from a fulfilling career in the Irish video games industry.

He has honed a unique speciality in marketing tracking and attribution of digital marketing campaigns, a skill initially cultivated in the gaming industry and now sharpened in the blockchain sector.

Jamie is an active mentor with Enterprise Ireland and serves as a long-term volunteer administrator of the https://GameDevelopers.ie community website.

Blockchain Ireland Week Speaker

Owen O’Donoghue

InfiniGods

Co-Founder & CRO of InfiniGods.

Owen is an experienced business leader with 15+ years of experience in Sales, Business Development & Building High-Performance teams.

Blockchain Ireland Week Speaker

Rob O’Shaughnessy

Switch Dimension

Serial Entrepreneur, product developer and Director/Owner at Switch Dimensions.

Having grown and sold two successful businesses, Rob’s skill set is a mixture of entrepreneurship, product management, XR development, Blockchain development, software design and development coupled with management and leadership experience.

Blockchain Ireland Week Speaker

Jason Waters

Meta

Jason is the Blockchain, NFT & Web3 Gaming Lead (North America) at Meta. He works closely with some of Meta’s largest mobile and blockchain-based gaming clients where he owns the executive relationships, aligns on strategic priorities and figures out ways to grow their business.

To date, Jason has an extremely strong track record when it comes to performance and is always hungry to push himself to the next level.

He has a strong passion for the footwear and fashion industry and anything to do with mobile, blockchain / NFT gaming and VR.

Blockchain Ireland Week Speaker

Seán Keyes

The Currency

Best-selling Author, editor and speaker with eight years of experience in the publishing industry. Seán specialises in explanatory journalism, equity research, email newsletters, and digital publishing.

M.A. in Economics from University College Dublin and a B.A. in Economics and Political Science from Trinity College Dublin. FCA regulated and an associate member of the CISI.

Blockchain Ireland Week Speaker

Anthony Scaramucci

SkyBridge Capital

Anthony Scaramucci is the founder and managing partner of SkyBridge, a global alternative investment firm, and founder and chairman of SALT, a global thought leadership forum and venture studio.

Prior to founding SkyBridge in 2005, Scaramucci co-founded investment partnership Oscar Capital Management, which was sold to Neuberger Berman in 2001. Earlier, he worked in Private Wealth Management at Goldman Sachs & Co.

Scaramucci served on President Donald J. Trump’s 16-person Presidential Transition Team Executive Committee, and in 2017 briefly served as Chief Strategy Officer of the Export-Import (EXIM) Bank and White House Communications Director.

Blockchain Ireland Week Speaker

Elise Reiter

Sia Partners

Manager at Sia Partners.

Blockchain Ireland Week Speaker

Adele Whelan

Economic and Social Research Institute

Adele Whelan is a Senior Research Officer at the Economic and Social Research Institute and Adjunct Associate Professor, the Department of Economics, Trinity College Dublin. Her research interests are in the areas of labour economics, the economics of education, social inclusion and industrial organisation. She obtained her PhD in Economics from Maynooth University in 2014 and has previously held roles at Maynooth University and University College Dublin. She contributed to a major study of the Irish Further Education and Training sectors and a European-funded project in youth education and skills mismatch for the Strategic Transitions for Youth Labour in Europe (STYLE).

Blockchain Ireland Week Speaker

Dr. Trevor Clohessy

Atlantic Technological University

Blockchain Ireland Education, Skills and Innovation Working Group Chair and Lecturer at Atlantic Technological University.

Dr. Trevor Clohessy has over 20 years of lecturing experience working in the public sector for the University of Galway and Atlantic Technological University and private institutes.

He also has over 15 years of research experience working with SFI institutions as well working with private large and SME institutions.

He is currently working as an Information Technology at the engineering department of the Atlantic Technological University (ATU), lecturing on topics including cloud computing, Microsoft Azure, blockchain, Tableau, Power BI, decision theory and data visualization.

Blockchain Ireland Week Speaker

Prof. Donal O’Mahony

Trinity College Dublin

Professor in Computer Science at Trinity College Dublin.

Over the years, Prof. O’Mahony has been active in cryptography, network protocols, security applications, mobility, ad-hoc networking and the software engineering of networked systems. His recent topics of interest include:

  • The Cloud Computing model, network protocols and architectures to support this.
  • Management of Energy Flows in the face of  renewably generated  and unpredictable supply and demand;
    This includes an interest in Auction Algorithms, Game Theory, Internet-of-things, the Nanogrid abstraction & DC Residential Networks.
  • Digital Currencies including Blockchain-based systems derived from Bitcoin.
Blockchain Ireland Week Speaker

Dr. Irina Tal

Dublin City University 

Irina is an Assistant Professor, School of Computing, Dublin City University(DCU), and Academic Lead MSc in Blockchain – Distributed Ledger Technologies (partly funded by ICT Skillnet). She is teaching mainly in the Cyber Security area. Prior to joining DCU as an Assistant Professor, Irina was a Lecturer with National College of Ireland and Programme Director MSc Cybersecurity (part-time) and BSc in Computing and Business Information Systems (3rd and 4th years).

She was also a Postdoctoral Researcher at DCU working on a H2020 EU project in the area of technology-enhanced learning.  Her research interests are in the following areas:  technology-enhanced learning, cyber security, especially usable security, applications of blockchain,  adaptive systems, vehicular communications and smart cities.

Blockchain Ireland Week Speaker

Fiona Delaney

Origin Chain Networks

CEO and creator of tech start-up Origin Chain Network.

Co-author of numerous papers on blockchain, DLT and sustainable food, Delaney has contributed to numerous standards in the field of distributed technologies and was recently appointed Co-Chair of EUOS Standards Observatory Blockchain WG where her strong commitment to developing open source resources including open data, open standards and open software prevails.

Blockchain Ireland Week Speaker

Conor Ryder

Kaiko

Crypto Research Analyst with a traditional finance background and CFA Charterholder.

Appeared on CNBC talking about crypto markets in June 2022. Featured and quoted in Bloomberg, Financial Times, Fortune and others.

Blockchain Ireland Week Speaker

Antoine Le Calvez

Coin Metrics

Data Engineer at Coin Metrics.

Blockchain Ireland Week Speaker

Adrian Weckler

The Irish And Sunday Independent 

* Technology Editor of both The Irish Independent and The Sunday Independent.
* MC and moderator
* Host of Ireland’s most listened-to technology podcast, The Big Tech Show.
* Multi award-winner
* National and international television and radio shows (RTE, BBC, Sky News) to interpret new trends.

Blockchain Ireland Week Speaker

Hester Peirce

U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission

Hester M. Peirce was appointed by President Donald J. Trump to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and was sworn in on January 11, 2018.

Prior to joining the SEC, Commissioner Peirce conducted research on the regulation of financial markets at the Mercatus Center at George Mason University. She was a Senior Counsel on the U.S. Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs, where she advised Ranking Member Richard Shelby and other members of the Committee on securities issues. Commissioner Peirce served as counsel to SEC Commissioner Paul S. Atkins. She also worked as a Staff Attorney in the SEC’s Division of Investment Management. Commissioner Peirce was an associate at Wilmer, Cutler & Pickering (now WilmerHale) and clerked for Judge Roger Andewelt on the Court of Federal Claims.

Blockchain Ireland Week Speaker

Paul Mortby

Block

Head of EMEA Policy at Block.

Financial regulation, with strong experience in regulatory change. Paul focuses on fintech, payments and electronic money, with a particular interest in digital ID and emerging payment services.

He is an energetic, enthusiastic and creative individual with a background in financial markets, banking and international trade law.

Blockchain Ireland Week Speaker

Alex De Lorainne

Archblock

COO & CFO of Archblock.

Alex is also a Managing Director – TrustLabs Compliance Solutions Ltd. the former CEO at TrustToken. Previously, he has worked as the Regional Financial Controller at Sime Darby, the Head of North America Payroll and Other Bets – Business Controller & Head of Shared Services at Google.

Blockchain Ireland Week Speaker

Rajiv Sainani

MakerDAO

* Global experience in Financial markets with TradFi (JPMorgan & Refinitiv), high growth CeFi FinTechs (Wirex and Luno) and the crypto DeFi sector (MakerDAO) with a track record of driving innovation, growth and market share.
* Financial Services & FinTech Leader, with a focus on Business Development, Product Strategy & Partner Management.
* Extensive experience with Data & Analytics, Trading Systems, RegTech, Digital Strategy, Digital Payments, Digital Assets & DeFi protocols.
* Very strong network of senior-level connections across leading CeFi and DeFi projects in the crypto sector as well as TradFi Digital Asset teams.

Blockchain Ireland Week Speaker

Ross O’Leary

Beachhut

Ross is a Senior Account Manager at Beachhut PR, working exclusively with tech clients.

Prior to this, he was a consultant at Wachsman, a global communications consultancy, specialising in public relations, crisis communications, strategic advisory services, branding, and event management.

He served as a member of the U.S. Embassy in Ireland’s prestigious ‘Young Leaders Council’ for three years, where he advised two U.S. Ambassadors to Ireland, the U.S. Embassy and the State Department on issues facing Irish youth, working together with stakeholders in furtherance of the U.S.-Irish relationship.

Ross is also an Incoming Curator of the Dublin Hub of the World Economic Forum Global Shapers Community, a platform to support young leaders to improve the state of the world.

Blockchain Ireland Week Speaker

Opeyemi Olomo

Citi

Ope recently joined the Citi’s Treasury and Trade Solutions (TTS) team focused on Strategic Partnerships and Innovation for Core Trade and working capital
solutions. He is responsible for identifying, engaging, and forming strategic partnerships with vendors,
FinTech companies, clients, peer banks and regulators. He is also responsible for enhancing existing
products and/or creating new solutions to address the changing business and operating models of Citi’s
clients and ecosystem participants.

Ope was a member of the Adam Smith award winning team that implemented an
innovative Smart Collection solution for Total Plc. Ope also headed the technical committee that
designed and developed the Automatic Fingerprint Identification System (AFIS) for the Nigerian Pension
industry.

Prior to joining Citi, Ope spent 6 years with the Equity Sales Trading Group at Renaissance Capital in
Johannesburg and Lagos, where he held various roles from Sub Saharan Africa (SSA) Information
Technology head to Business Manager of the Electronic Trading group.

Ope started out as an IT Helpdesk Engineer with Shell Petroleum and later joined the Private equity
team at Ocean & Oil Holdings managing TMT portfolios before heading the IT department at ARM
Investment Managers.

Blockchain Ireland Week Speaker

Michael Burke

Fireblocks

Michael is an experienced professional with a strong track record of developing and identifying new business and client opportunities, revenue generation, and customer satisfaction through leveraging blockchain and other emerging technologies.

He is currently working with Fireblocks to help clients securely launch store and scale their crypto, NFT and web3 operations.

At R3, Michael drove digital transformation leveraging R3’s suite of DLT and privacy-enhancing products. He has extensive experience in client retention, business development, partnerships, and client engagement for the customer base across the EMEA region.

Previously, he worked as a Senior Blockchain Consultant in Deloitte’s EMEA Blockchain Lab focused on business development, GTM, and delivery of production-level blockchain solutions for clients across the EMEA region.

Blockchain Ireland Week Speaker

Eva Wong

Parity Technologies

Eva is a tech lawyer with over 20 years experience, across City law firms, not-for profits, NASDAQ listed-corporates and tech-start-ups. This journey has always been driven by her interests in emerging technologies, disruption, innovation and public interest, which has now led her to Web3 and Parity Technologies, the engineers of the Polkadot platform, founded by blockchain pioneers. Eva is Head of Legal for Parity Technologies.

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