Massimo Morini leads Digital Economy research at ADIA Lab. He was Chief Economist at Algorand blockchain from 2019 to 2023 and Head of Interest Rate and Credit Modelling team at Intesa Bank from 2008 to 2019. He has been Senior Advisor for the World Bank and the Monetary Authority of Singapore, and a Board member of the Blockchain consortium R3. Massimo is Professor of Finance at Bocconi University and of Blockchain and Cryptocurrencies at USI Lugano and Politecnico di Milano, and leads Education and Academic relations at Plan B foundation in Lugano. He authored several papers on quantitative finance and risk management, and seminal books on Model Risk and Credit Risk, collateral and funding, beside pioneering technical articles on decentralized derivatives cited by US Congress and regulators. He has a MSc in Economics and a PhD in Mathematics.

Arlen Moldabekov is a financial technology and digital assets professional at the National Bank of Kazakhstan, specializing in payment systems policy, digital finance, and regulatory innovation. He currently leads the Innovations and Digital Assets Division, where he contributes to initiatives advancing Kazakhstan’s digital financial infrastructure, including regulatory sandbox frameworks for digital assets, stablecoins, and tokenization platforms. With nearly a decade of experience at the central bank, his expertise spans payment systems supervision, fintech policy, and emerging digital asset ecosystems.

Bakyt Smekenov is an Innovation Expert & Economist at the National Bank of Kazakhstan. He focuses on financial innovation, digital transformation, and the development of modern payment systems. His work involves analyzing and supporting advancements in central banking and financial technologies. He contributes to shaping strategies for innovation within Kazakhstan’s financial sector.

Ruslan Konurbayev is a Product Owner and Senior Business Analyst at the National Payments Corporation of Kazakhstan, working on the development of the Digital Tenge and national digital financial infrastructure. He has a strong background in fintech, payments systems, and CBDC-related projects. He previously worked at the National Bank of Kazakhstan and Accenture, focusing on business analysis and financial technology systems. Ruslan is actively involved in programmable money, tokenization, and cross-border digital payment initiatives.

Talgat Dossanov is a Kazakhstan-based entrepreneur with over two decades of experience across mining, fintech, and spacetech industries. He is the co-founder and CEO of Intebix and a leading figure in building Kazakhstan’s regulated crypto and digital asset infrastructure. He pioneered initiatives such as crypto cards, fiat on/off-ramps, and a tenge-backed stablecoin, helping advance Web3 adoption in the region. Currently, he leads Superteam Kazakhstan, focusing on expanding the Solana ecosystem, blockchain education, and Web3 innovation in Central Asia.

Takeshi is a serial Fintech entrepreneur, and Co-founder & CEO of GFTN Japan, actively spearheading ecosystem building and international collaborations. Additionally, he sits on the committee for the Government of Japan's Regulatory Sandbox and is a member of the experts group, jointly organized by the Digital Agency and the Ministry of Economy, Trade, and Industry focusing on international data governance. Before starting his own startup in the Fintech industry, Takeshi worked as an investment banker at Merrill Lynch, gaining expertise in capital markets. Prior to joining Merrill Lynch, he worked at Boston Consulting Group. He formerly served as Vice-chair at Fintech Association of Japan, where he played a pivotal role in navigating international collaborations for 6 years.

Dr. Jianfeng (Jeff) Hu is Associate Professor of Finance and Area Coordinator (Department Head) at the Lee Kong Chian School of Business, Singapore Management University. He is also Chief Investment Officer of Heritage Capital Management, where he oversees investment strategies with a focus on hedge funds, derivatives, and quantitative trading. Jeff’s research spans investments, wealth management, derivatives, market microstructure, and FinTech. His work has been published in leading academic journals, including the Journal of Financial Economics, Review of Finance, Management Science, and the Journal of Financial and Quantitative Analysis. He has received multiple best paper awards and competitive research grants, including funding from the Ministry of Education and the Singapore Green Finance Centre. Alongside academia, Jeff has extensive industry experience. Before becoming the CIO of Heritage Capital Management, he was a Quantitative Investment Strategist at the firm and worked as a Fixed Income Derivatives Analyst at Credit Suisse Singapore. He also consults on fintech innovation, with projects spanning robo-advisory platforms, AI-powered portfolio engines, and regulatory engagement in Singapore’s capital markets. Jeff is a frequent speaker at global finance conferences, including the European Finance Association and the Financial Management Association, and his research has been featured by The Wall Street Journal, Bloomberg, CNBC, and The Straits Times. He holds a Ph.D. in Finance from Baruch College, City University of New York, a Master’s in Economics from the National University of Singapore, and a Graduate Diploma in World Economy from Fudan University.

Alberto Borri supports clients mainly on Blockchain, Crypto assets, Anti-Money Laundering, and Banking and Financial regulation. He has gained particular experience in the regulation of fintech matters, specifically in relation to projects concerning crypto assets, tokenization of financial instruments, and blockchain, having advised significant international projects in their expansion into Switzerland and Europe. He supports clients in all matters of compliance and risk management, is appointed as AML officer for several companies operating in the blockchain sector and beyond, and assists clients with regard to obligations of affiliation to self-regulatory bodies.

Maxim Neshcheret is a financial market infrastructure expert specializing in RTGS, instant payments, and cross-border payment systems for central banks and national payment operators. He serves as Regional Director for APAC & Central Asia at CMA Small Systems AB and has worked across 30+ countries over two decades. Based in Abu Dhabi, he focuses on payment infrastructure modernization, monetary systems, and financial stability.

Solution Architect at Chainalysis with experience in digital asset custody and compliance

Gunay has nearly 30 years of experience in digital transformation, data, artificial intelligence, blockchain, and enterprise technology strategies, particularly across regulated sectors including finance, capital markets, energy, and technology. He has played a key role in the implementation of projects of various scales and domains, most notably the Public Disclosure Platform for Capital Markets in Turkey. He currently serves as Country Manager responsible for Chainalysis Türkiye and Central Asia.

Magnus Jones is a Nordic-based digital assets and Web3 policy expert focused on the intersection of traditional finance, crypto, and regulation. He holds senior roles at Taxbit and the Nordic Blockchain Association and advises on compliance, AML/CFT, and tokenized financial systems. His work centers on stablecoins, CBDCs, and the regulatory integration of blockchain into banking infrastructure. He frequently writes about how financial systems are evolving toward tokenized and AI-enabled payment networks.

Arman Tastanbekov is a senior official at the State Fund Alatau City Authority (ACA), Kazakhstan's flagship state-backed institution overseeing the development of Alatau — the country's most ambitious urban and digital infrastructure project to date. In his role at the ACA, Tastanbekov has been at the forefront of positioning Alatau as a hub for Kazakhstan's future growth, combining advanced infrastructure, an emerging IT cluster, and international investment.

Simona is Digital Innovation Lead at the Lugano Living Lab, the City of Lugano’s civic innovation unit where she leads MyLugano — a digital wallet, loyalty, and cashback platform integrating blockchain infrastructure to deliver real-world utility for citizens, visitors and merchants. She is also involved in Plan ₿ Lugano, a city-scale Bitcoin and distributed ledger initiative, and oversees SwissLedger, a public-permissioned blockchain for institutional use cases. With over 20 years of experience spanning digital strategy, service design, and operations, she brings together a background in economics and a specialization in design thinking from MIT to bridge complex technology with human-centered outcomes.

Gizzat Baitursynov is one of Kazakhstan's leading voices on artificial intelligence policy, serving as Chairman of the Committee on AI and Innovation Development at Kazakhstan's Ministry of Digital Development, Innovations and Aerospace Industry — recently rebranded as the Ministry of AI & Digital Development, reflecting the country's strategic pivot toward AI as a national priority. Baitursynov was appointed Chair when the Committee was established in mid-2024. The body is responsible for implementing state policy on AI, developing legal regulations for AI technologies, overseeing intersectoral coordination, and steering state planning documents for AI development. He holds degrees from Asia Pacific University of Technology and Innovation in Malaysia and the Kunayev Eurasian Law Academy. Under his leadership, Kazakhstan has been advancing a national AI legislative framework, with a draft AI law currently passing through Parliament, while simultaneously working on building a national supercomputer and developing domestic AI chips. He has also overseen the development of KazLLM — a Kazakh-language large language model trained on 148 billion tokens — and the launch of Kazakhstan's National AI Platform, which provides civil servants and public sector employees with access to data, computing resources, and ready-made AI models. The Ministry has set ambitious targets to 2029: training five million people in AI skills, producing 500,000 industry specialists, creating five Kazakh tech unicorns, growing IT exports to $5 billion, and deploying at least 25 AI products annually across economic sectors.

Seasoned Macroeconomist and Investment Strategist with 10+ years of experience in Macroeconomic Analysis in academia and 5 years in central banking at the Monetary Policy Department. Specialized in Central Bank Digital Currency design, bank sector liquidity management, and financial market infrastructure development.

Natalya Romenskaya is one of Central Asia's most experienced practitioners at the intersection of traditional banking and digital assets, with a career spanning major financial institutions and Kazakhstan's emerging crypto industry. She began her journey in digital transformation at VTB, where from 2017 to 2020 she led initiatives that modernised the bank's digital infrastructure and enhanced customer experience. She then moved to Eurasian Bank in April 2022, where she advised the Chairman of the Board on crypto initiatives, helping position the institution at the forefront of digital banking transformation in Kazakhstan. In that role, she was instrumental in launching Kazakhstan's first crypto card — a joint project between Eurasian Bank and the Intebix crypto exchange — enabling holders to store digital currency in a wallet with automatic conversion to tenge at the point of purchase. She has been a prominent voice in the dialogue between Kazakhstan's banking sector and its regulated crypto exchanges, notably praising the NBK's constructive regulatory stance: "The regulator here is in a very active and very friendly dialogue. It does not take a position to ban everything but takes a position on how to make sure that customers are safe and secure." She currently serves as Advisor to the CEO on Crypto and Chief Business Development Officer at Intebix, Kazakhstan's leading regulated crypto exchange, while also running Stratedy Plus LLC-FZ, her own fintech strategy consultancy founded in 2024. Her experience spans exchange-bank integration, crypto cards, CBDC-based payments, stablecoins, cross-border payment models, and tokenisation structures — giving her a practitioner's view of where regulatory frameworks exist only formally versus where they can support real business operations.