Connecting Web3 Hubs

Sean McHugh

Senior Director – Head of Market Assurance,
VARA

Sean McHugh brings a remarkable wealth of experience from his tenure as Global Chief Compliance Officer for Citadel Advisors, overseeing comprehensive compliance programs across various financial domains. With over 20 years at Goldman Sachs, including roles in New York, Tokyo and Hong Kong, Sean’s expertise in internal compliance and regulatory frameworks will be pivotal as we strive to enhance our market assurance capabilities. His global perspective and leadership are instrumental in advancing VARA’s mission towards establishing robust industry standards.

Henri Arslanian

Co-Founder,
ACX Compliance

Henri Arslanian is the co-founder and managing partner of Nine Blocks Capital Management, one of the largest institutional-grade crypto hedge funds globally and the first crypto hedge fund to be licensed by Dubai's VARA. 

Previously, Henri was a partner and global crypto leader at PwC. In this role, he advised many of the world's leading crypto exchanges, investors, financial institutions, and tech firms on their crypto initiatives. He also consulted numerous governments, regulators, and central banks on crypto regulatory and policy matters.

Henri is also the co-founder and Chairman of the Board of ACX International, the world's largest crypto compliance specialized services firm with over 250 staff dedicated exclusively to digital assets.

Henri serves on the board or advisory board of numerous private and public firms globally, including several regulatory and central bank advisory boards.

He is also an Adjunct Professor at the University of Hong Kong, where he has taught the first FinTech/crypto university course globally since 2015.

Henri co-hosts the Crypto Weekly show on CNBC Arabia, which reaches over 60 million households each week across the Middle East.

With over 500,000 LinkedIn followers, Henri is a global keynote speaker, a best-selling published author, and is regularly featured in global media outlets such as Bloomberg, CNBC, CNN, BBC, The Wall Street Journal, The Economist, and the Financial Times.

He was named by LinkedIn as one of the Global Top Voices in Finance and hosts the Crypto Capsules™ social media video series, as well as The Future of Money podcast and newsletter.

Henri is the author of three globally acclaimed crypto and fintech-related books:

• "The Book of Crypto" (Palgrave, 2022), a global top 10 best seller in financial services.
• "The Future of Finance" (Palgrave, 2019), a global top 10 best seller in financial services.
• "Decoding Crypto with Henri & Hodler" (Brown Books Kids, 2024), his recent children's book, which became the #1 new release and #1 best seller in children's books on money.

Onalytica recognized Henri as the #1 most influential individual in Finance globally on LinkedIn, out of over 50,000 individuals working at top professional services and management consulting firms worldwide.

Chambers Global named Henri the "highest profile FinTech consultant in Hong Kong." Blockchain Asset Review recognized him as the "Most Influential Crypto and Blockchain Thought Leader in Asia," and Asian Private Banker awarded him the "FinTech Changemaker of the Year" award. 

Henri was elected as the first Chairman of the FinTech Association of Hong Kong and appointed by the Hong Kong High Court as a court-appointed expert in FinTech litigation matters.

Henri began his career as a financial markets and funds lawyer in Canada and Hong Kong before joining UBS Investment Bank's prime brokerage capital consulting team.

Henri speaks five languages: English, French, Armenian, Spanish, and Mandarin Chinese.

He holds a Masters in Chinese Law from Tsinghua University; a joint Global Executive MBA from Columbia Business School, London Business School, and Hong Kong University; a Bachelor of Law from the University of Montreal (Dean's List of Excellence); and a Masters in Transnational Law from the University of Sherbrooke, where he was awarded the Governor General of Canada Gold Medal for Academic Excellence for graduating with the highest grades at the university.

Helen Liu

Group Partner & Co-CEO,
Bybit

Helen Liu serves as the Co-CEO and Group Partner at Bybit, where she oversees daily operations, sales & marketing, web3 development, technical operations, and product development for a diverse team of over 1,900 professionals spanning across more than 40 countries worldwide. Her visionary leadership has played a crucial role in propelling Bybit to a prominent position in the Web3, blockchain and cryptocurrency industry.

Beyond her impactful role at Bybit, Helen is the founder of non-profit Moledao and Blockchain for Good Alliance (BGA). Moledao is an entrepreneurial venture committed to constructing blockchain solutions and providing expert guidance in web3 and blockchain development. The Blockchain for Good Alliance (BGA) is a long-term collaborative, non-profit initiative with key partners with the main aim to contribute to societal good by using blockchain technology to solve real world problems.

With an in-depth understanding of the blockchain ecosystem, Helen is highly sought after as a speaker and thought leader in the industry. Her dedication to innovation and proficiency in operational strategy positions her as a driving force in shaping the future of decentralized technologies. Helen Liu's diverse contributions underscore her dynamic leadership, actively influencing the landscape of the blockchain and cryptocurrency space.

Anina Ho

Founder,
FutureOne MENA

Dr. Anina Ho is a serial entrepreneur and executive leader with over two decades of experience across retail, technology, finance, and real estate, serving as Founder of FutureOneMENA (FOM), Managing Director of multiple cross-border investment vehicles, with core expertise in blockchain, artificial intelligence, digital transformation, complex supply chain management, and investment strategy; she holds a doctoral degree with dissertation focuses in Digital Transformation on AI and Blockchain from the University of Southern California alongside graduate Master degrees from Harvard University and Central Saint Martins and a bachelor’s degree in Economics from the University of Toronto, and has been widely recognized with honors such as the Greater Bay Area Young Entrepreneur Technology Innovation Award 2025, Golden Bauhinia Women Entrepreneurs Awards (Technology Innovation) 2024, Deloitte Technology Fast Outstanding Female Entrepreneur 2023, CEO of the Year (CEO Magazine, Hong Kong) 2022, and Top 100 Female Entrepreneurs of China 2020.

Sébastien Borget

Co-Founder of The Sandbox and Ambassador of SANDchain

Sébastien Borget is the Co-founder of The Sandbox, a virtual platform where players can create, play, own, govern and monetize their experiences using NFTs & SAND, the main utility token of the platform. He is also the Ambassador of SANDchain, a zk-powered blockchain built by the SANDchain Foundation to serve as a financial backbone of the creator economy.

Through his work with both The Sandbox and SANDchain, Sébastien champions the mission of empowering creators worldwide, helping them own their assets, monetize their creativity, and build communities on-chain.

Beyond these roles, Sébastien serves as the President of the Blockchain Game Alliance in 2020, a non-profit organization comprising 600 key members within the industry. His contributions to the crypto and blockchain space have garnered significant recognition, including being ranked #4 on CoinTelegraph's Top 100 Most Influential People in Crypto for 2022: https://cointelegraph.com/top-people-in-crypto-and-blockchain/sebastien-borget

The Sandbox extends beyond the gaming realm, earning recognition in TIME100's prestigious list of Top 100 Most Influential Companies in 2022: https://time.com/collection/time100-companies-2022/6159401/the-sandbox/

Furthermore, Sébastien has been acknowledged by Forbes, where he was honored as one of the OC Top 100 Creators for 2024 in the Gaming category: https://www.forbes.com/sites/digital-assets/2024/05/15/forbes-open-campus-animoca-brands-celebrate-success-of-oc100--web3-education/?sh=34f296a23b9b

Zaher El Orm

Manager - Crypto Centre,
DMCC Ecosystems

Scott Thiel

Co-founder and CEO,
Tokinvest

Scott is a futurist, multi-jurisdiction qualified and experienced lawyer, responsible officer for a regulated virtual assets business, fintech entrepreneur, value creator, passionate public speaker, and industry thought leader. Scott co-founded Tokinvest with Matt Blom to provide the gateway to the world's most desirable assets for all investors.

Scott has been a director of Hedera LLC for more than 5 years, having also been an observer for 2 years of the Hbar Foundation board and a Hedera governing council representative for several years.

Previously, Scott was the Founder and Managing Director of TOKO - enterprise grade tokenisation and digital assets management platform which secured the first full market Broker-Dealer and Exchange Services VASP Licenses and was responsible for helping TOKO to structure the world's first debt tokenisation transaction.

Scott has been the recipient of multiple industry awards and recognition, including:

• One of the Top 20 Performing CEOs in Digital Assets by Unlock Media, 2024
• Recognised as “Most Innovative Lawyers”, Financial Times, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022
• Scott Thiel ranked leading individual by Chambers & Partners Fintech Guide 2022
• Scott Thiel ranked by Chambers & Partners, TMT, Greater China Region 2022
• Scott Thiel recognised as a “Leading Individual for TMT”, The Legal 500, Hong Kong 2022

Queenie Le

Regional Expansion Lead - APAC,
Tether

Queenie is a passionate advocate for financial inclusion and innovation, dedicated to expanding Tether's presence across emerging markets, especially in APAC region. She is committed to fostering partnerships, driving growth, and empowering communities through stablecoin adoption. 

Belal Jassoma

Senior Director, Tech Ecosystems,
DMCC

Belal Jassoma is the Senior Director of Tech Ecosystems at DMCC, the world’s leading business district and authority on international commodities trade and enterprise.

Belal joined DMCC in 2011 and has been instrumental in scaling up DMCC’s ecosystems and commercial offering, including new products, services and member engagement programmes. In his current capacity as Director for Ecosystems, Belal is responsible for developing key strategic relationships, partnerships and product functions as well as overseeing ecosystem development across several of DMCC’s industry verticals such as crypto, gaming, AI, energy and financial services.

Belal holds a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration from the American University of Sharjah and brings over 18 years of experience in real estate, investment, and government administration.