Rebecca advises financial services, fintechs and digital assets firms  and investors navigating the political and policy regulatory agenda as it impacts commercial decisions. She regularly speaks at conferences and events on the impact of politics and policy on the crypto sector. Rebecca is a Managing Director at Global Counsel, and is a senior adviser to the financial services practice. Rebecca has worked in both law and public policy for over two decades advising businesses and investors on global financial policy and regulation. She was previously Managing Director for the financial services association UK Finance, helping to establish the association and lead is public policy advocacy. She also served as a member of the Executive Committee for the European Banking Federation. Prior to this, Rebecca worked as a solicitor advising investors and asset managers on real asset funds, joint ventures, and investments.

Rita Martins is a results-oriented executive specialised in leveraging the latest technologies and solutions in FinTech and Web3 to transform Financial Services. Rita is the author of "Web3 in Financial Services" Book. She also serves on the Advisory Board of a range of startups in the fields of DeFi, blockchain, digital assets and crypto at the intersection with finance.Previously, Rita held the pivotal role of Global Head of FinTech Partnerships at HSBC, where she played a key role in incubating and accelerating disruptive technologies, carving significant advancements in the FinTech landscape. Her extensive background also includes strategy and digital transformation roles at Accenture and Ernst & Young, where she led large-scale digital transformation projects, helping clients achieve strategic milestones.Rita speaks about how blockchain is transforming traditional finance via new forms of money (stablecoins, CBDCs, tokenised deposits), new infrastructure (via leveraging blockchain technology to drive cost efficiency) and tokenising any asset. You can find out more about rita here: https://www.ritamartins.co.uk/

Rita Riera, Marketing Director at Neverless, brings her unique blend of innovation and strategic creativity to the fintech world. Rita's background is highlighted by award-winning campaigns from her tenures at advertising agencies Ogilvy and R/GA London, where she's given talks about how to blend creativity, technology & strategy.Her diverse educational background in journalism, physics, and digital marketing has helped forge a unique approach to audience engagement.Beyond her professional expertise, Rita is dedicated to writing sitcoms, philosophy and even a launching music career. This eclectic mix not only underscores Rita's professional achievements but also enriches her creative pursuits.

Sabrina boasts 15+ years in top management consulting with PwC, KPMG, Bayer, and AlixPartners across Germany, Switzerland, Sydney, and Singapore. She's led projects for Credit Suisse, Sky/Comcast, and various industries.Now, as Founder of "Unconventional Leaders," Sabrina shares her expertise in Crypto, Web3, and AI. Her mission is to equip founders with insights to avoid traditional finance pitfalls. Known for her prowess in process setup and team leadership, Sabrina is a sought-after speaker in the Crypto/Web3 circuit.Sabrina has spoken at numerous panels on leadership.

Sadie Raney is the co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer of quant digital asset hedge fund Strix Leviathan and the Chief Executive Officer of Eve Wealth, a female-founded financial services network that provides women with the resources and opportunities to grow their financial well-being. Sadie also helped found Makara, one of the first SEC-registered automated investment advisors in crypto, which spun out of Strix Leviathan in 2021 and was acquired by Betterment in 2022. Prior to founding Strix Leviathan in 2018, Sadie served as Financial Controller for Blue Box, a cloud computing startup, where she helped lead the finance and administration team through the company’s acquisition by IBM. She has also served in financial controller roles at MTR Western and Aramark and as a Senior Financial Analyst at Grand Bank Yachts. She began her career at Deloitte. Sadie serves as an advisor to Franklin Payroll and Jetson, and is an advisory board member for Veriledger. She is also a mentor for the Barcelona Technology Transfer Group at IESE Business School and a member of the Female Founders Alliance.Sadie was listed as one of Hedge Fund Journal’s 50 Leading Women in Hedge Funds in 2023 and was featured in 100 Women in Finance’s 100WFinTech Changemaker series. She has also been featured on CNBC’s Crypto World show and Bloomberg’s What Goes Up podcast, as well as in CNBC, Bloomberg, Forbes, Barron’s, and Financial News, among others. She has spoken at universities and conferences including the University of Washington, IESE, Cyberport Academy, Avalanche Summit, CoinAlts and the IIA Seattle Fraud Conference.Sadie holds a B.A. from Pepperdine University and an M.B.A. from the Foster School of Business at the University of Washington, during which she attended the IE Business School in Madrid for an International MBA exchange.

Samantha brings 25+ years of experience in financial services as an attorney, regulator, central banker, policy maker and advocate, chief compliance officer, and consultant. She is acknowledged as an international authority on AML and sanctions compliance, payments, and blockchain technology.

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Recently, Samantha has been advising clients on the development of robust compliance programs and leading the compliance function of digital assets startup companies. In addition to her roles at AWIC, she currently serves as the Founder & CEO of Unconventional Consulting and Senior Advisor to several management consulting firms. She has served as CCO at two crypto exchanges and a non-fungible tokens (NFTs) platform. At each company, Samantha established a comprehensive compliance program, oversaw day-to-day compliance activities such as customer onboarding and transaction monitoring, managed registration and licensing, interfaced with regulators, and secured strategic banking partners. Prior to these experiences, Samantha was a Senior Director in the risk and regulatory compliance consulting practice at Guidehouse.

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Samantha launched new strategies and initiatives in financial crime compliance, payments, and innovative technology at BAFT, the international banking subsidiary of the American Bankers Association.  Her efforts significantly increased the association's policy influence and industry visibility. She also produced industry tools that are globally recognized as best practice, including a playbook for obtaining and maintaining correspondent banking accounts, an indemnity agreement for securing the return of funds fraudulently transferred abroad, and a framework for auditing blockchain solutions used in banking.

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Samantha joined the Federal Reserve Board at height of the global financial crisis and FinCEN following the 9/11 terrorist attacks to write regulations implementing the laws which transformed the U.S. financial services industry:  the Dodd-Frank Act and USA PATRIOT Act. At the Fed, she drafted rules governing remittance transfers (Reg. E), mortgage lending and servicing (Reg. Z), check clearing and processing (Reg. CC), and debit card interchange and routing (Reg. II). Samantha also led the retail payments team’s analysis of mobile and cryptopayments, oversight of the Fed’s check, ACH, and payments security systems, and introduction of chip and PIN cards and faster payments in the U.S. In addition to writing regulations at FinCEN, Samantha brought high-profile enforcement actions against financial institutions for Bank Secrecy Act violations and negotiated agreements with foreign counterparts to share financial intelligence information.

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As the global head of regulations and compliance, Samantha built international money transmitter Ruesch’s compliance function from scratch in 15 months to prepare the company for sale. After Travelex acquired Ruesch, she integrated the compliance teams, programs, and technology systems world-wide. Samantha began her career as an attorney at top-tier global law firm of Morrison & Foerster.

As Lockton's Blockchain Advisory Leader, Sarah is focused on positioning Lockton as a trusted advisor, thought leader and solution developer for insuring blockchain and digital asset companies and the risks they face. Lockton has successfully placed coverage for a number of blockchain companies including trading platforms, lenders, decentralized finance companies, mining companies, wallet providers, market makers, liquidity providers, investment managers, asset managers, private equity/venture capital firms, custodians, payment platforms, blockchain technology incubators and others.

Sina Meier is a dynamic force at the helm of 21Shares AG, serving as the Managing Director and Head of Switzerland & Strategic Relations & Middle East. With an unwavering passion for innovation, she has orchestrated the explosive growth of 21Shares in the Swiss home market and, as of 2023, has extended her visionary leadership to the thriving landscape of the Middle East.An influential advocate for the widespread adoption of blockchain and crypto, Sina has emerged as a prominent voice in the financial arena. Her journey with 21Shares began in January 2020, where she joined the pioneering ETP issuer after a series of notable roles within Swiss Private Banks.As a Certified International Wealth Manager (CIWM), she brings a blend of expertise and vision to spearhead innovative investment processes.Drawing upon a rich tapestry of 30 years in the financial realm, Sina seamlessly integrates her wealth of experience with an infectious enthusiasm for the disruptive digital industry.

Smriti is a Blockchain Security Researcher. After having a successful career in consulting, having worked with Deloitte and Tata Consultancy Services, Smriti has been working with OpenZeppelin for last 3 years, focusing primarily on blockchain security, web3 threat-modelling, smart contract auditing and incidence response. With over 5 years of experience in building and security the web3 ecosystem, Smriti talks about DeFi, NFTs, Metaverse, Stablecoins, account abstraction and everything that is in the web3 world.

Sorcha Mulligan is a Web3 & Immersive Technology entrepreneur, advisor, mentor & diversity advocate drawing on a 15 year TradFi Corporate Treasury career in Tier 1 Financial Institutions. Founder of The SMEChain, a Consultancy for purpose driven founders applying emerging technology to solve real world problems addressing ESG challenges, she has been immersed in the world of Blockchain since 2016.

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Sorcha sits on numerous industry group committees or represents as Ambassador or Mentor for AWIC, Women in Immersive Tech Europe WiiT, BlockW, Blockchain Ireland, the Impact Innovation Foundation, Tech FoundHer, ECOTA, CHAISE & Global InvestHer. Sorcha has been voted Top 100 Women in VC & Startups in Ireland, Top Voice for Diversity & Inclusion, Top 100 Women in Blockchain & LinkedIn Top Voice.

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Sorcha has featured as a speaker, moderator, panelist, podcast guest at over 50 events & conferences in-person, online & hybrid all over the world & is open to speak passionately about technology for positive change. Her core objective is to join the dots across networks of networks to elevate & empower women & diverse thinkers.

Steffi is a highly skilled and experienced business development professional with a passion for driving growth and innovation. As the Marketing Head at Metaco APAC and MEA, her primary focus is to advance the institutional adoption of digital assets by providing institutions with a robust and secure digital asset infrastructure.

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Steffi is passionate about fintech, and her expertise in the field has helped her to develop a deep understanding of the industry. She is also a strong advocate for advancing more women in fintech and is actively involved in initiatives that promote gender diversity in the industry.

Tamara Weber is currently a Senior Principal Investigator on the Crypto Asset Investigations Team at the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA), where she conducts advanced crypto-related reviews and special investigations involving FINRA member firms and registered representatives.Prior to joining FINRA, Tamara served as a Special Agent for over 20 years with the FDIC-OIG, SIGTARP, and the U.S. Secret Service, where she specialized in financial crimes investigations involving bank fraud and securities fraud. Tamara also possesses expertise in investigating illicit crypto-related activities in violation of the Bank Secrecy Act and anti-money laundering laws, which is bolstered by her CAMS certification and several certifications in cryptocurrency tracing, compliance, and investigations.Tamara holds a Juris Doctorate Degree and is a former federal and state prosecutor. Tamara served as a Special Assistant United States Attorney at the U.S. Attorney’s Office in the Northern District of California. Prior to her career with the federal government, Tamara prosecuted felony criminal cases as an Assistant State’s Attorney at the Cook County State’s Attorney’s Office in Chicago, Illinois.

Teresa Anaya is founder and director of AML Audit and Advisory.  Ms. Anaya has over 25 years of experience in accounting and information technology with most recent 15 years in governance, risk and compliance. She provided investigation services for the FDIC during the financial crisis of 2008, investigating reason for failure of the financial institutions with continuous work in financial crime and compliance for global banks, money services businesses and cryptocurrency native companies.   She has worked on over 1500  fraud, money laundering and terrorist financing related investigations over her career.Ms. Anaya's background covers traditional financial crime but she specializes in digital asset financial crime and compliance, having worked her first bitcoin case in 2016. After working on projects for Standard Chartered Bank, Bank of America and MoneyGram, she joined Blockchain Intelligence Group where she helped develop tools to track and trace the illicit activity associated with the movement of digital assets. She’s provided training sessions to global regulators in Hong Kong, Singapore, Canada and partnered with law firms to aid in the writing of securities policy for digital assets.Teresa co-developed the Certified Cryptocurrency Training Certification program with Robert Whitaker, who is a former Supervisory Special Agent, Illicit Finance and Proceeds of Crime Unit, U.S. Homeland Security, a course designed and approved for law enforcement continuing education credits and adapted for compliance professionals. She has worked numerous cryptocurrency investigations, partnering with law enforcement to provide education and assistance in an effort to recover stolen funds.She has experience building and managing a Bank Secrecy Act Compliance program for a top 5 stablecoin, a decentralized lending marketplace, as well as advisory for digital asset related investment funds in the Cayman Islands and British Virgin Islands. She was engaged to be the key-note speaker for the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners, including speaking for the ACFE in Abu Dhabi and most recently invited to the CAII – Peru’s leading Anti-Corruption Conference, provided training sessions for the FBI and is a regular guest lecturer for Texas Christian University.Ms. Anaya maintains the following certifications:Certified Cryptocurrency InvestigatorCertified Fraud ExaminerCertified Anti-Money Laundering SpecialistITIL 3 CertifiedCertified Bitcoin Professional

Tiana Whitehouse is based in Berlin, Germany. She is a seasoned professional with a diverse background in international law, financial services regulation, risk management advisory, policy development and business consulting. As the Founder and Managing Director of SWOT Team Consulting GmbH, Tiana provides governance, risk, and compliance expertise to a global client base of financial services and technology businesses.  She is also currently serving as the Board Chair for a European blockchain impact investment platform.  Prior to founding SWOT Team Consulting GmbH, Tiana held significant roles such as Global Head of Compliance for a crypto services provider in hypergrowth stage, various roles with the Financial Markets Authority in Auckland, New Zealand, and a Manager in the Risk Advisory section at KPMG.Tiana frequently contributes to working groups in the EU and UK on blockchain policy topics and speaks about regulatory change management, FinTech compliance, cross-border risk management, and corporate governance.  Tiana’s next speaking engagement is in April at the ThinkBlockTank MiCA Roundtable event in Berlin, Germany, where she will discuss the policy implications for crypto-assets businesses under ESMA’s latest Reverse Solicitation Guidelines. Tiana holds a J.D. from Loyola New Orleans College of Law and a B.A. in Political Economy from Tulane University.