Speaker Bios

Anthony Apollo was appointed as the inaugural executive director of the Wyoming Stable Token Commission in September 2023. Director Apollo brings his prior experience in both traditional finance (KPMG, EY) and digital assets (ConsenSys, Rensa) to the development of the first fiat-backed and fully reserved stable token issued by a public entity in the United States. Prior to his tenure, Apollo launched blockchain-native projects around intellectual property, debt securities, multimedia licenses, and real-time payments.

For 20 years, Austin Campbell has been managing very weird financial instruments. As chief risk officer & head of portfolio management at Paxos, Campbell spearheaded $22B+ stablecoins including risk, reserve & regulatory strategy under 2018 NYDFS. No depegs. No disasters. As co-head of Digital Assets Rates Trading at CITI, Austin structured some of the earliest institutional crypto products and risk management frameworks. And as portfolio manager at Stone Ridge, Austin pioneered some of the earliest Bitcoin lending trades in the U.S. financial system, running sophisticated cash management and bond strategies.

Benjamin M. Cole, Ph.D. holds the William J. Loschert Endowed Professorship in Technology Entrepreneurship at Fordham University’s Gabelli School of Business. In “recognition of exceptional achievement and contribution to Blockchain and allied disciplines,” Cole was inducted as a Fellow to the British Blockchain Association, a global organization of scholars and practitioners who bring academic rigor and professionalism to an oft-misunderstood space full of both geniuses trying to change the world and con artists / carnival barkers trying to bilk the uninitiated and eager. Cole has published research on how the security mechanism of Bitcoin wallets (and other UTXO cryptocurrencies such as Litecoin (LTC) and Dogecoin (DOGE)) inflates apparent transaction volumes by 8 times, reduces the apparent cost of Bitcoin transactions by 3–7 times and inflates wallet counts; this skews the perceptions of increasing adoption as Bitcoin’s price rises. Cole served as a subject matter advisor to the Operations Subcommittee of the Wyoming Stable Token initiative, which launched as Frontier token (FRNT) in August 2025 as the first stabletoken issued by a ‘sovereign’ in the United States (rather than by a for-profit firm). He serves as a member of the CNBC Disruptor 50 Academic Advisory Council, which helps CNBC construct its ranking methodology to identify the most game-changing private companies in the world. Cole also serves the managing director of the Family Stewardship Council at Fordham Gabelli, which was founded to provide a safe space for members of Family Firms, Funds or Offices (FFFOs), or those considering establishing one or more, to engage in honest conversations regarding the unique challenges of such firms.

John James Divine is a crypto author, speaker, market maker, and financial markets professional focused on structured products, derivatives, lending, borrowing, and spot market execution for digital assets. With 20,000+ hours of professional trading and market-making experience John has dealt $10+ billion of notional contract value as a statistical arbitrage trader at the CME and ICE, plus OTC as a direct access market maker. Divine began his career as a market maker for the Chicago Mercantile Exchange and the Intercontinental Exchange-listed derivatives, specializing in precious metals, interest rates, energies, and forward volatility curves. John has also operated within Environmental products, listed and OTC, for compliance and voluntary participants. Divine moved into the digital asset arena trading as an execution specialist for an industry-leading hedge fund before joining BlockFills. He currently engages with institutional participants in digital asset markets on crypto strategy development and execution. Divine earned his Bachelor of Science in Renewable Energy Technology from Illinois State University and has a Master’s Degree in Energy Systems and Fuels management from Southern Illinois University. He holds a Series 3 license from the National Futures Association. Divine has published three books: “Bitcoin Options: Energy Storage, Risk Management, Real Yield”; “Statistical Arbitrage Trading: Gold, Bitcoin, Silver”; and “Introduction to Futures Markets: Understanding Fundamentals of Futures Contracts”.

Michael Hiles is a seasoned technology executive and founder with over 35 years of experience in innovation leadership, business development, and large-scale technology implementation. He is a co-founder of Conduit Network, a next generation decentralized physical infrastructure network (DePIN) and Conduit OS, an advanced decentralized protocol operating system for global digital commerce. He is chief commercial officer of Conduit Labs.

Previously, as the founder, chairman, and CEO of 10XTS, Hiles spearheaded the creation of Web3-powered capital markets infrastructure, focusing on digital securities and tokenized asset management. His leadership at 10XTS emphasizes connecting issuers, investors, and decentralized capital markets to automate tokenized securities issuance and trading. Recognized for blending visionary direction with practical execution, he has assembled top-tier talent and secured capital for growth. He also has led teams that achieved recognition for industry firsts in their innovation categories.

In addition to his role at 10XTS, Hiles has held leadership positions in fintech and blockchain-focused organizations. He was the co-founder of Commercium Bank, one of the four Wyoming SPDI digital bank charters. He is a general partner of the Cincinnati Crypto Fund and has served as chair of the Global Records Management Working Committee for the Government Blockchain Association. His experience spans industries including opportunity zone investments, economic development, and digital strategy consulting. His ability to align strategic vision with technology solutions has made him a key figure in fintech, regtech, and govtech.

Natalia Karayaneva is the founder and CEO of Propy, WEF pioneer, and a Silicon Valley company revolutionizing home purchasing via smart contracts and AI. She is an award-winning real estate developer, software engineer, and a serial entrepreneur with extensive knowledge in real estate and cryptography. Karayaneva is a frequent speaker at web3 and proptech events globally. She is a contributor to Forbes. Karayaneva has a degree in Computer Engineering, and a degree in Sustainable Urban Development from the University of Oxford.

Prior to Proof Group, Matturri was on the team that launched CME Group’s digital asset product line and led growth at Validation Cloud, a blockchain infrastructure company.  Matturri holds a bachelor’s from Lafayette College and earned his MBA at Georgetown’s McDonough School of Business, where he served as the first Fintech Fellow of the Psaros Center for Financial Markets and Policy. 

Obukhova’s background spans roles at the United Nations Capital Development Fund (UNCDF), Venture Capital, and FAS | Fintech Advisory Services. She has lived and worked in 9 countries, currently residing in NYC, and speaks English, Mandarin, and Russian. Obukhova specializes in business strategy, go-to-market, fundraising, and partnerships, working with startups and larger companies globally.

Veith has led client services for a variety of multinational digital asset companies such as cryptocurrency exchanges, trading desks, digital asset custodians, wallet companies and payment processors. He leads audit and advisory engagements for a number of digital asset clients of the firm. As Digital Assets Practice Leader, Veith has authored and developed Grant Thornton’s audit methodology and helped build the firm’s Blockchain technology center of excellence. Additionally, Veith leads audits of both public and private financial services organizations ranging from large multinational financial institutions to broker dealers and fintechs. He also leads internal audit and other risk management engagements as well as consulting projects on loan reviews, operational process reviews, post-merger integration, due diligence and asset securitization. Other areas of expertise include capital raises and IPOs. He also works and assists other offices with IFRS audits, reviews and conversions. Veith works with a variety of digital asset companies, securities and commodities broker dealers, banks, REITs, BDCs, private equity groups, finance and investment companies. His clients include companies with multistate and multinational operations.

Ye has received numerous industry accolades and awards since entering the financial services industry in 2008. She holds a B.S. in Applied Mathematics from Peking University and a Master’s degree in Operations Research from MIT. She is a CFA® charterholder, has served on the Board of CFA New York, and co-chaired the Women in ETF Speakers’ Bureau committee.