The COTI leadership team is comprised of individuals with extensive experience in the payments, cryptography and financial services domains and is supported by an internationally recognized group of advisers. The team and its advisers have gained senior experience at leading institutions including
Processing.com,
PAY.COM,
Investec Bank,
BlackRock,
HSBC,
UBS,
Bain Capital, Ripple Labs,
The Wharton School and the
U.S. Department of Treasury.
Dr. Matt McBrady
Former CIO & MD of BlackRockMatthew was the Chief Investment Officer for the Multi-Strategy Hedge Fund Platform at BlackRock. He has held senior roles at Silver Creek Capital and at Bain Capital, was a professor of finance at the Darden School and Wharton, and worked with Janet Yellen in President Clinton’s Council of Economic Advisors. Matthew holds a Ph.D in Business Economics from Harvard University.
Steven Heilbron
Former CEO of Investec Bank UKSteven is the Joint CEO of Cash Connect, an automated cash handling business that he acquired as part of a consortium in 2013. Steven has an extensive background in finance, having previously served as the Global Head of Private Banking and Joint CEO of Investec Bank in London. Steven is a Chartered Accountant (SA) and holds degrees in commerce and accounting from the University of Cape Town.
Greg Kidd
Former CRO, Ripple LabsGreg is the co-founder of Hard Yaka and an early investor in numerous startups in the exchange space including Ripple, where he served as CRO, Shift, Coinbase and 3taps, and previously Square and Twitter. Earlier in his career he served as a senior analyst for payments at The Board of Governor of the Federal Reserve. Greg holds an MBA from Yale University and MPA from Harvard University.
Avi Chesed
CEO and Co-Founder of Processing.comAvi is the Co-Founder & CEO of Processing.com, and the Chair of the Board of Directors of Transact Europe Holdings OOD. A payments industry veteran, before co-founding Processing.com, Avi founded several successful payments-related companies and has become a leading figure in the space. Avi holds a Business Administration Degree from the University of Southern California.
Sebastian Stupurac
Blockchain ExpertCo-Founder of WINGS, a successful community engagement and smart contract facilitation platform, one of the few working DAPPS on the Ethereum blockchain. Sebastian gained vast experience in decentralized solutions and blockchain technology since 2013.
Stas Oskin
Blockchain ExpertLeads the technology strategy and partnerships effort for WINGS Foundation, a Swiss non-profit focused on decentralized finance and governance systems. Stas has over 15 years of extensive experience in engineering, development and management of software, cloud services, healthcare, video streaming, blockchain and social.
Ophir Gertner
Blockchain ExpertAn entrepreneur at heart, Ophir has a strong track record of developing market-leading products, including Stox.com blockchain prediction, and invest.com which he co-founded. Chosen as one of the top Blockchain influencers in Israel, Ophir is renowned in the Blockchain industry and considered as one of the most sought after advisers for decentralized projects.
Jon Avganim
Co-Founder and President of Processing.comJon is the Co-Founder and President of Processing.com, and an Executive Director of Transact Europe Holdings OOD. Prior to co-founding Processing.com, Jon founded and led several successful ventures in the international distribution and finance domains.
Theofanis Alexoudas
Risk Management AdvisorRisk management expert with extensive experience in the areas of market risk, risk governance and regulatory risk management requirements. He started his career at J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. in London and most recently has served as the Chief Risk Officer of Safecap Investments. Theofanis holds a Ph.D. in Mathematics from the University of London.
Dr. Zvi Gabbay
Partner at Barnea & CoAn expert in financial regulation and securities law, Zvi is a partner and the Head of Capital Markets at Barnea & Co. Zvi previously served as the Head of Enforcement of the Israel Securities Authority and as a lawyer in the New York office of Skadden. Zvi holds JSD and LLM degrees from Columbia University, an LLM degree from Bar-Ilan University, and an LL.B degree from the Hebrew University, Jerusalem.
Prof. Martin Fochmann
Professor at University of CologneMartin is Professor for Behavioral Accounting, Taxation and Finance at the University of Cologne and CEO of the German Association for Experimental Economic Research. Martin taught business and finance courses at several universities — including University of Cologne, University of Hannover and EBS University. He holds a doctoral degree from the University of Würzburg and won several prizes for his research.
Sean Melnick
Chairman of Peregrine GroupSean is the founder and Non-Executive Chairman of Peregrine Group, an international financial services group listed on the JSE. Prior to co-founding Peregrine in 1996 and serving as the group CEO for a cumulative 11 years, Sean worked at Investec Bank and at Liberty Asset Management (Stanlib). Sean holds an Honors degree in Commerce from the University of Witwatersrand, Johannesburg.
Dr. Stephan Wessel
CEO of Arcana CapitalStephan is the founding partner of Arcana Capital, an independent multi-family office advising its clients with respect to private equity strategies. Stephan’s previous roles include leading the private equity efforts at two substantial European single family offices. Stephan began his career at UBS Investment Bank working in their M&A division. He holds a B.Sc., a LL.M. and Ph.D. in business (summa cum laude).
Dr. Stefan Hlawatsh
CEO at Skybridge InvestmentStefan is the CEO of Skybridge Investment and an Associate Professor at ISM International School of Management, Hamburg. Stefan previously worked in Specialist Asset Allocation for Berenberg Bank and Consilisto Berenberg Privat-Treuhand, and as a Client Advisor at UBS. He received his doctoral degree (magna cum laude) and a business administration degree (honors) from Otto-von-Guericke University.
