Participants in the future of Crypto Benzinga: photo

[ad_1]

Photo: DeSean McClinton-Holland

Valentina Hartmann (pictured above)Head of Investor Relations, London

What brings you here? I represent a company called Bitzero, we mine zero carbon bitcoins. One of our investors is Shark Tanks Kevin OLeary, and he’s the speaker today. In light of the whole FTX crash, many of our investors have come to us and asked: are you involved? And were not. Only Kevin himself was. So we also felt it was a good opportunity to show face and clarify that.

Why didn’t you get involved in FTX? We have yet to find a reason to trust the exchanges. We only store our bitcoins in a wallet, which is hosted in the offices of our lawyers in Switzerland. Obviously, we feel bad for the people who took the hit, but again, we weren’t associated with any of this.

Luc Backus

Developer Liaison Officer, Durham, Connecticut

Allison Samol

Biz-dev Representative, Erie, PA

Orrin Campbell

Software Engineer, Flatbush

Alicia McCauley

Public Relations Professional, Ridgewood

Anbal Suriel

Crypto Lawyer, Miami

Why did you come today?

I’m starting my own crypto-focused law firm. I need to have clients, so I attend as many conventions as possible. But space is dead right now, which is a shame. I probably could have picked a better time to venture out on my own.

Adam Levinstein

Visual Production Specialist, Laguna Beach, CA

Alex Taaffe

Crypto Exchange Director, Hoboken, New Jersey

Memorable signs?

Anthony Scaramucci is a great talker. Same thing with Kevin OLeary. But it is difficult to know their motivations at this stage. They are still recovering from their FTX investments like everyone else. I don’t know if they will still be in crypto five years from now.

Rosie Mattio

Communications Manager, Closter, New Jersey

Agha Khan

Councillor, Williamsburg

Felix Slavutsky

Commercial Development Framework, Sheepshead Bay

Charlie Winterhalter

Account Manager, Laguna Beach, CA

Sean Kelly

Contractor, Las Vegas

What do you do for fun?

I organize meetings for wealthy individuals. You have to make a million or more a year, so these are really quality people. I find them through conferences and my Instagram. I have 8 million followers so I have to be careful what I post about crypto and only use the exact wording my lawyer tells me.

Art Malkov

Crypto CMO, Williamsburg

Shahid Hill

Investor, Baltimore

Shekinah Shazaam

Multimedia Artist, Detroit

Megan Nilsson

Crypto and NFT Consultant, Los Angeles

Kurt Wuckert Jr.

Bitcoin Historian, Miami

Do you own bitcoins?

Yes. I’m actually a bitcoin historian for a living. But I’m not a fancy guy, I drive a van. The best thing for me was to just use the 2017 bull run to pay for my house.

Derek Woods

Chief of Staff, Chelsea

Photographs by DeSean McClinton-Holland

Thank you for subscribing and supporting our journalism. If you prefer to read in print, you can also find this article in the December 19, 2022 issue of New YorkMagazine.

Want more stories like this? Subscribe now to support our journalism and get unlimited access to our coverage. If you prefer to read in print, you can also find this article in the December 19, 2022 issue of New York Magazine.

See everything

[ad_2]