Keynote Speakers & Lead Panelists

Keynote Speakers

Demelza Hays is Portfolio Manager of Europe's largest Bitcoin-only actively managed certificate for Zeltner&Co, Chief Economist at Cointelegraph, as well as author and editor of the Crypto Research Report (CryptoResearch.report). Dr. Hays earned her PhD in Business Economics at the University of Liechtenstein. She has managed two regulated digital asset investment funds, including a physical gold and digital asset fund in Liechtenstein and a blockchain venture capital fund in the Cayman Islands. She is a former U.S. Department of State Fulbright Scholar and Forbes 30 Under 30.

Patrick O'Meara is the Chairman and CEO of Inveniam Capital Partners (ICP).  ICP’s flagship project is Inveniam.io , a private market data management solution for decentralized data environments. This decentralized data solution allows automation functions to retrieve data with proof of origin and state of data, as well as proof of process of data.  Using proprietary blockchain technology, these tools provide attribution to automation tools such as AI, ML, RPA, and Smart Contracts.   This allows automation of price discovery,  providing accurate and transparent real-world asset data on demand. Inveniam.io has over $70 billion of assets using its tools.

With over 25 years of experience in finance and technology, O'Meara is at the forefront of innovation in capital markets and decentralized finance. He has been instrumental in developing solutions that enhance price discovery and increase liquidity for alternative investments. Before founding Inveniam, O'Meara held positions at Raymond James and Bear Stearns & Co., later launching a financial advisory firm, which he sold after 14 years.  A thought leader in finance, blockchain technology, and decentralized finance, Mr O’Meara lives with his wife and children in Ann Arbor, MI.

 Guangzhi Shang is Jim Moran Associate Professor of Operations Management in the Department of Business Analytics, Information Systems, and Supply Chain at Florida State University. His research has been published in Manufacturing & Service Operations Management (MSOM), Production and Operations Management (POM), Journal of Operations Management (JOM), MIS Quarterly (MISQ), and Decision Sciences (DS), among others, and recognized by best paper awards at POM, JOM, and POM Society’s College of Operational Excellence. He serves as the Department Editor for the Empirical Research Methods Department at JOM and for the Retail Operations Department at DS. His review service is recognized by the 2019 Outstanding Reviewer Award of DS and the 2018 Best Reviewer Award of JOM. He was also nominated for the best reviewer for POM and best associate editor for JOM. He co-produces a column together with Mike Galbreth and Mark Ferguson in the Reverse Logistics Magazine named “View from Academia,” aimed at disseminating fresh-off-the-press academic knowledge among industry professionals dealing with consumer returns. He currently co-edits a special issue for JOM: “Operational Perspectives on Blockchain Applications”.

 William E. Quigley is a cryptocurrency and blockchain investor. He has incubated and invested in more than 30 bitcoin, blockchain, and cryptocurrency-related investments and co-developed the first crypto derivative used to trade pre-release Ethereum. He co-founded Tether, the first fiat-backed stablecoin and most traded cryptocurrency to date, GoCoin, a pioneering crypto payments processor, and co-founded WAX, a leading NFT blockchain platform. In 2013, Mr. Quigley co-founded Crypto Currency Partners, a blockchain equity investment fund with early notable investments in Coinbase, Kraken, Bitfury, Authy, ChangeTip, and Circle. 

Before his involvement in blockchain, Mr. Quigley was a venture capitalist, co-founding Clearstone Venture Partners, a $700M early-stage focused venture capital firm where he concentrated on communications and consumer technology companies. Before Clearstone, Quigley was a managing director at idealab! Capital Partners (ICP), is the world’s first consumer Internet venture capital firm.ICP was an early investor in some of the leading Web 1.0 era companies including Paypal, Netzero, MP3.com, and Goto.com, one of the first companies to rank search results based on a bidding process. 

Lead Panelists

 Youngjin Yoo is the Elizabeth M. and William C. Treuhaft Professor in Entrepreneurship, Associate Dean of Research and Faculty, and Professor of Information Systems at the Department of Design & Innovation at the Weatherhead School of Management, Case Western Reserve University. An Association of Information Systems Fellow, he is also a WBS Distinguished Research Environment Professor at Warwick Business School, UK. He is the founding faculty director of xLab at Case Western Reserve University. He has worked as an Innovation Architect at the University Hospitals in Cleveland, overseeing the digital transformation efforts at one of the largest teaching hospital systems in the country.

 Kyle Sonlin is an entrepreneur, investor, and bestselling author specializing in blockchain technology since 2015. Recognized as a thought leader in the venture capital sector, he has been invited to speak at universities, Fortune 500 companies, and international conferences. Kyle is the CEO of Global Settlement Network, where he collaborates closely with financial services companies innovating on the cutting edge of capital markets. Previously, Kyle built a private market securities index exceeding $25 billion in assets.  

Across his career, Kyle has raised over $5M in funding for his portfolio companies, with participants ranging from institutional investors to enthusiasts. His network of family offices and high net-worth individuals has been instrumental in fundraising and syndicating private equity deals. He is also a General Partner of two venture capital funds, Outliers Fund and Aurum Fund, both of which focus on the crypto industry.

Kyle has achieved critical acclaim as the #1 bestselling coauthor of "Blockchain Explained: Your Ultimate Guide to the Tokenization of Finance." This seminal work serves as a key academic resource and is widely adopted by universities nationwide to educate both students and financial professionals on the transformative applications of blockchain in business and banking. Blockchain Explained is used as course material at the University of Miami and UCLA. He has lectured at universities including Stanford University, the University of Miami, and Florida International University’s Graduate Law School.

Outside of his professional endeavors, Kyle is a board member at Camillus House, Miami’s leading charity tackling challenges such as homelessness, hunger, poverty, and substance abuse and he supports a range of other charitable organizations including Children’s Hospital and Philly Startup Leaders through the Sonlin Foundation.