Karen Ottoni is the Senior Director of Ecosystem & Strategic Initiatives for Hyperledger Foundation and has been in the blockchain space since 2016. She plays an active role in building the diverse ecosystem of innovative organizations developing enterprise-grade blockchain implementations in various industries. Her areas of emphasis include open source, CBDCs, digital assets and interoperability, as well as diversity and inclusion and the social impact of emerging technologies. Prior to joining Hyperledger Foundation, she worked as a strategic business manager in the blockchain practice at Tata Consultancy Services. Karen speaks five languages and previously had a career in international development working in numerous overseas roles in sub-Saharan Africa and Asia with the U.S. Government and various social enterprises.

Kayla Izenman is a financial crime and national security expert specializing in cryptocurrency risk and regulation. Kayla currently works in compliance at Coinbase, where she conducts financial crime investigations and analysis into crypto assets being considered for trade and custody listings, focusing primarily on money-laundering, fraud, sanctions evasion, and consumer risks.Previously, Kayla worked at the Royal United Services Institute (RUSI) in London, where she led RUSI’s work on the use of crypto by illicit actors, and assisted the private and public sector in effectively working together to understand and mitigate the threat. Kayla’s written work has been cited in media outlets including the Wall Street Journal, The Economist, The Financial Times, and Wired, and speaking engagements include global conferences, webinars, and workshops.

Ms. Brown has nearly 15 years of experience as a lawyer working in U.S. sanctions, with six years of that experience coming from the time she spent at the United States Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (“OFAC”) as a Policy Analyst and Senior Enforcement Officer.

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During her time at OFAC, Ms. Brown worked extensively on the Iran sanctions program, including drafting interpretative guidance and the Statement of Licensing Policy on Internet Freedom in Iran, and investigating violations of the Iranian Transactions and Sanctions Regulations (“ITSR”) and other sanctions programs. Further, Ms. Brown drafted and published regulations underlying the Iran sanctions program, including those implementing the provisions of the Comprehensive Iran Sanctions Accountability, and Divestment Act of 2010 (“CISADA”). Ms. Brown also served as the government’s expert witness on sanctions in a criminal prosecution related to the illegal export of telecommunications services to Iran. For that testimony, Ms. Brown received a commendation from the former U.S. Attorney for the District of Maryland.

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Prior to her time at OFAC, Ms. Brown spent several years at the Department of Homeland Security (“DHS”), where she served as an Attorney-Advisor in both the Office of Chief Counsel, and the Office of International Trade. During her time at DHS, Ms. Brown advised importers on the proper classification of goods under the U.S. Harmonized Tariff Schedule, and issued administrative decisions in connection with imports or attempted imports in violation of customs and international trade laws.

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Since leaving government, Ms. Brown has remained in the sanctions and international trade compliance space working at both IBM, as well as Payward, Inc. (aka “Kraken”), a virtual currency exchange and infrastructure company. At IBM, Ms. Brown served as the OFAC and ITAR Lead, and in that role updated IBM’s compliance manual, conducted export compliance reviews, and reviewed service agreements to ensure compliance with OFAC, ITAR, and EAR regulations. At Kraken, Ms. Brown supervised a team conducting sanctions screening and blockchain transaction monitoring; led investigations of U.S., EU, UK, and UN sanctions issues; drafted and reviewed sanctions compliance policies and procedures; and conducted risk assessments and implemented controls to remediate compliance gaps.

Kristina Howard is a Principal at RXN Group. She has 15+ years of experience advising companies in highly regulated industries on overcoming barriers to scale. She specializes in helping disruptive start-ups develop proactive strategies to navigate the political landscape, mitigate regulatory risks, and capitalize on public sector partnership opportunities. One area of focus that Kristina specializes in is non-fungible tokens (NFTs), and she serves on the Advisory Board of NFT San Francisco. Before joining RXN, Kristina was an Executive Vice President at Tusk Strategies, where she led multi-state public affairs campaigns on a broad range of policy issues at the federal, state, and local levels. Before that, she was a member of the Public Policy and State Attorneys General Practices at Cozen O’Connor and Orrick Herrington & Sutcliffe. She began her career managing federal grassroots at the National Federation of Independent Business.

Kristy Lam is a Policy Coordinator for CCI. Kristy has expertise in studying digital currencies and sanctions enforcement.

Kyla Curley, a Partner with StoneTurn, has over 20 years of experience investigating and making sense of complex and sensitive issues involving financial fraud, misuse, and misappropriation, as well as analyzing the flow of funds and other transactional reviews for organizations, counsel, and other stakeholders.

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Kyla’s experience includes investigations into the flow and usage of funds, and transaction lifecycle reviews of institutional and private investments, acquisitions, and other significant activity. Kyla is also experienced with cryptocurrencies and blockchain technology and transactions. As a Certified Cryptocurrency Forensic Investigator (CCFI), Kyla conducts reviews into digital asset lifecycles to assist investors, law enforcement professionals, or other stakeholders to identify and isolate digital assets, and to assist with recovery, when applicable.

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As a forensic accountant and CPA, Kyla’s experience includes accounting investigations related to revenue recognition, bad debt and inventory reserves, financial statement, and public disclosures, and other issues related to the application of Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP).

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Kyla has also led engagements and consults with clients on complex business litigation matters, including lost profits and business interruption claims, purchase price disputes, construction claims, royalty audits, partnership equity allocations, and other special audits and investigations.

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Kyla is a Certified Public Accountant (CPA) and Certified in Financial Forensics (CFF) by the AICPA, a Certified Fraud Examiner (CFE), a Certified Anti-Money Laundering Specialist (CAMS), and a Certified Cryptocurrency Forensic Investigator (CCFI).

Laura has a background in International Political Economy and Journalism and Mass Media Science. She works in Strategic Communications, helping Web3 startups, established businesses and individuals craft their narrative and stand out from the crowd. She is a multilingual professional that bridges communicational gaps and deliver tailored strategies.

Laura is a Board Member and Co-Founder of the DigiByte Alliance. She holds a master's degree in mathematics and worked as a college-level math instructor in North Carolina for 15 years. Laura’s role with the DigiByte blockchain has focused on community outreach, education, team building, and volunteer coordination. She has spoken at universities and colleges on the DigiByte blockchain and Awareness Team as well as moderated discussions on blockchain topics including: demystifying Bitcoin, security, wallets and payment systems using cryptocurrencies.

Laurel Loomis Rimon is a former federal prosecutor with deep experience in the financial regulatory and enforcement sector. An unrelenting and pragmatic problem solver, Laurel offers clients practical advice when facing compliance or enforcement challenges involving anti-money laundering, consumer protection, federal or state oversight, fintech, and payments. Laurel is also a leading practitioner and thought leader in the emerging blockchain ecosystem. She serves as a Co-Chair of the firm’s Fintech and Crypto Assets Practice.

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Recognized as a Chambers-ranked Leading Individual in 2022 and 2023, Laurel’s "communication style is very direct and she is an excellent writer," clients say. And, "[i]n addition to her deep substantive knowledge, she is able to draw on her extensive government experience to provide nuanced risk assessments and, when necessary, to be a highly credible and effective advocate for us with regulators at both the leadership and staff levels."

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A veteran investigator and trial lawyer, Laurel brings an efficiency in gathering facts and delivering strong responses to government enforcement agencies, correcting the record where necessary, and obtaining favorable resolutions. Through years of front-line experience, she is uniquely positioned to provide clients with a realistic and common-sense approach to regulatory risks and to help them design compliance plans aimed at avoiding and reducing the risk of an enforcement action. Laurel is highly effective at navigating difficult conversations with the government, witnesses, and client teams when necessary.

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Prior to private practice, she served for more than 15 years as an Assistant United States Attorney and DOJ Trial Attorney, including as head of Litigation for DOJ’s Asset Forfeiture and Money Laundering Section, supervising and litigating cases involving criminal and civil money laundering and other financial crimes, domestically and internationally. Laurel also served as an Assistant Deputy Enforcement Director for the Office of Enforcement at the CFPB, leading complex and sensitive investigations and litigation involving bank and non-bank subjects. Through a senior executive service appointment, she served as General Counsel to the Inspector General for the Department of Homeland Security, where she oversaw sensitive investigations into program misconduct and department-wide whistleblower retaliations.

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Laurel leverages this deep regulatory and enforcement experience to represent clients in responding to DOJ, FinCEN, OFAC, OIG, NY DFS, CFPB, state AG inquiries and enforcement actions, and related compliance matters. Many of Laurel’s clients are forward-leaning fintech companies in the payment and cryptocurrency spaces, as she has been on the cutting edge of financial technology enforcement since leading DOJ’s first digital assets litigation more than 15 years ago.

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Prior to joining Jenner & Block, Laurel led the fintech practice at another AmLaw100 law firm.

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Lauren Weymouth is a Director at Ripple, where she leads its University Blockchain Research Initiative (UBRI), a partnerships program that funds financial technology curriculum development, research, technical projects, entrepreneurship and student activities. Since the program's inception, she has activated more than 50 global university partnerships such that 1,000+ research projects have been engaged to tackle real-world issues in blockchain, cryptocurrency, cryptography and digital assets. Before joining Ripple, Lauren held leadership roles in education, private equity and at technology startups, pioneering ventures that grew record-setting profits.

Leah Dempsey, co-chair of the financial services practice, is a lawyer and advocate with a unique ability to lead efforts bridging policy, financial and telecommunications laws, regulations and politics. She advises several trade associations and helps a range of businesses in the financial services, housing, capital markets and fintech marketplaces navigate rulemaking and legislative processes.

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Leah advocates before the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, National Credit Union Administration, Federal Communications Commission, Federal Trade Commission, Small Business Administration Office of Advocacy, Department of Labor, the U.S. Treasury, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, the Federal Housing Finance Agency, the Department of Housing and Urban Development, as well as other regulators.  

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Leah also helps organizations understand their rights and options when facing regulatory supervision and enforcement activity. She has a deep understanding of the Administrative Procedure Act, the Small Business Regulatory Enforcement Fairness Act process and the Congressional oversight tools needed to ensure a fair and transparent process for businesses and industries. Leah has advocated for reforms to dozens of federal rulemakings and related legislation in Congress on her client's behalf. She also regularly works with colleagues to file amicus briefs in courts around the country including the U.S. Supreme Court.

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During her time in executive and leadership roles at financial trade associations in Washington, Leah fostered strong relationships on Capitol Hill and at federal agencies. She served as vice president and senior counsel for federal advocacy at ACA International, where she led efforts to develop and implement the industry agenda for third-party agencies, asset buyers, vendors, banks and other creditors. She also represented thousands of credit unions across the country as senior director of advocacy and counsel at Credit Union National Association (CUNA), leading its Consumer Protection Advocacy team. Prior, she worked on the legal team for several Republican candidates, including Sen. Mitt Romney’s (R-UT) presidential campaign.

Lee is a Special Counsel in Norton Rose Fulbright’s Melbourne Restructuring Group.  She has over 20 years experience in domestic and cross border insolvency and secured and unsecured recoveries having advised both insolvency professionals and financiers in relation to some of Australia’s largest corporate collapses across a diverse range of industries.  Lee has a particular interest in the impact of digital assets on the traditional banking sector and in the context of insolvency and restructuring. She is regularly invited to speak both locally and internationally on the legal issues associated with digital assets and insolvency including administration of digital currency exchanges and custodians in financial distress, asset tracing, realising and valuing crypto assets, the rights of customers of digital currency exchanges/custodians, cryptocurrency as security for lending and tokenisation for restructuring cryptocurrency businesses and creditors’ claims.  Lee is a Fellow of INSOL International and the founding officer of the ‘Virtual Assets’ section of the Insolvency Division of the International Bar Association.  She is also a participant at the World Bank Insolvency and Creditor/Debtor Regimes Taskforce and at UNCITRAL’s Working Group V meetings on International Insolvency where she has contributed to the asset tracing and recovery project.  Lee has also completed a Masters of Law thesis on “The Implementation of a Digital Euro into the European Union.’

Leila was an early enthusiast of Bitcoin and since then, has been exploring, advising and investing in systems built on blockchain technology. Day to day, she supports the onboarding of institutional platforms onto the use of blockchain and digital asset technologies to create new business models, access new communities and respond to the demand for digital-first identities and experiences. 

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She is a believer in the power of ‘blockchain for good’, working on developing programmes for blockchain-based Philanthropy with the UN and other organisations. 

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She is also an avid collector of art and artists deploying the technological tools that correspond to our time, in particular generative and AI tech. She supports a number of artists and platforms in the digital art space, and is a frequent speaker at art fairs highlighting on-chain art. 

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Leila is a graduate of Georgetown Law and sits on its European Advisory Board. She started her career at Willkie Farr & Gallagher in New York then moved in-house, at JPMorgan Asset Management in London, where she was appointed GC for Europe. She subsequently joined start-up Jabre Capital Partners as Partner & GC, supporting rapid growth of Swiss-based global investment platform. She is often consulted for advice on navigating uncertain and overlapping regulatory frameworks.

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Focus: International regulatory frameworks, digital assets and NFTs, Philanthropy in a digital world