Christian is the founder of the MIT Cryptoeconomics Lab, and a Research Scientist at MIT. He is also the Co-Founder of Lightspark. Previously, he was a co-creator of Diem (formerly Libra), Chief Economist of the Diem Association, and Head Economist of Meta FinTech. While a Professor at MIT, Christian designed the MIT Digital Currency Research Study, which gave access to Bitcoin to all MIT undergraduate students. Throughout the Diem/Libra experience, Christian regularly interacted with regulators across the globe, including the Federal Reserve Board, U.S. Treasury, SEC, OCC, CFTC, ECB, Bank of England, FINMA, BaFin, MAS Singapore, and more. Since 2013, Christian is a member of the Technology Advisory Committee of the CFTC. Christian is an advisor to Coinbase, Algorand, and Delphia, and independent board member at Hivemind Capital. Christian’s academic research at MIT focused on blockchain technology and cryptocurrencies, and he previously worked on the economics of equity crowdfunding and startup growth, and the economics of scientific collaboration. He holds a PhD from the University of Toronto (Rotman School of Management), and MSc (summa cum laude) in Economics and Management of New Technologies from Bocconi University, Milan. In 2018, Christian was appointed as a Faculty Research Fellow in the Productivity, Innovation and Entrepreneurship Program at the National Bureau of Economic Research. Christian’s research has been featured in Nature, Science, the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, the Economist, WIRED, NPR, Forbes, Bloomberg, TechCrunch, the Chicago Tribune, the Boston Globe, VICE news and the Washington Post among others. Christian has presented his research at a variety of institutions including Harvard University, MIT, Yale University, London Business School, New York University, UC Berkeley, Stanford University, the Federal Reserve Bank, the US Treasury, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, the World Bank, the IMF, the White House OSTP, and a number of central banks and regulators.

Harsh is Chief Technology Officer and US President at Wise, and was acting CEO during Kristo Käärmann’s sabbatical in late 2023. Harsh is responsible for scaling the technology and product teams at Wise, and has strong expertise in international money flows, the future of the international money system, faster payments rails, and building and sustaining a successful tech company.

Prior to joining Wise, Harsh was Director of Product at PayPal where he led the product strategy and development of PayPal’s mobile apps and software development kits. Harsh also spent 12 years at eBay, starting as a Software Development Intern and rising to Head of Software Engineering. In Harsh’s role as Director of Software Engineering he spearheaded the development of eBay’s Click & Collect platform globally, including launching eBay’s Click & Collect integration with Argos in the UK. Harsh is also an advisor and an investor in early stage startups.

Kristy Duncan is the founder and CEO of Women in Payments, a global network offering career development opportunities through conferences, events, recognition programs, and leadership and mentorship programs. Before Women in Payments, Kristy was a leading payments consultant and held leadership positions at a tier-one Canadian bank. Kristy is a sought-after speaker, mentor, and often judges fintech contests and awards programs. She is an investor and advisor to several fintechs. She was named four times to the Women in Fintech Power List (UK), and twice to the Global 100 Power Women in Fintech List (Asia). She has spoken at global payments industry forums, including Money 2020 (Bangkok), SIBOS, Global Fintech Fest (Mumbai), Innovate Finance Global Summit (London), Payments Canada (Toronto), Payments New Zealand Summit (Auckland), Open Banking Expo (UK), AusPayNet (Sydney), and Women in Banking and Finance (Hanoi), among others. Kristy holds an engineering degree from the University of Toronto.

Lauren Langbridge is the Commercial Director, North America at Wise Platform, Wise’s global payments infrastructure for banks, financial institutions and enterprises around the world. She is an experienced fintech professional leading on scaling and shaping the partnerships and go to market strategy for Wise Platform’s solutions in North America. Prior to joining Wise, Lauren was at Currencycloud where she played a key role in transforming the company from a UK-centric startup into a global cross-border payments firm.

Nilan is Chief Product Officer at Wise, where he leads on growth across channels including product and platform.

Prior to Wise Nilan was VP Growth at HouseTrip, in charge of scaling the company’s growth in the European market. He’s also worked as Chief Marketing Technology Officer at Holiday Extras, where he was responsible for all areas of technology, marketing and customer acquisition. Nilan also advises a number of early stage startups on growth and getting to traction.

Prasangi Unantenne is the Global Head of Delivery at Wise Platform, Wise’s global payments infrastructure for banks, financial institutions and enterprises around the world. Sangi leads the Presales and Delivery teams working closely with partners ensuring a strong product fit and quality implementation of our products. She has 15 years of international experience in financial services across a range of Product Management, Business Development, Project Management/Delivery and Operations roles in both Issuing and Acquiring businesses.

Renata Vilanova Lobo is the Head of Cross-Border Payments Solutioning and Commercialization at J.P. Morgan, responsible for strategically solutioning and commercializing services related to cross-border payments provided globally. Renata leads the product go-to-market strategy and client messaging for Cross-Border Payments solutions offered to Financial Institutions and Corporate clients worldwide. In this role, Renata provides strategic direction, leadership, and oversight for the global correspondent banking and FX business, working with J.P. Morgan stakeholders to deliver safe, efficient, and innovative cross- border payments solutions to clients. Renata joined J.P. Morgan in 2011 and, for almost a decade, focused on building core cash management capabilities and growing the Payments business in Latam (Brazil, Mexico, Argentina, Chile, and Colombia). Renata has over 25 years of experience in the financial market, holding various positions leading local and international cash management and liquidity services from a Product, Risk Management, and Sales perspective. Renata is a senior sponsor and active contributor to the J.P. Morgan Payments Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Council (DEIC). She is also a sponsor and part of the leadership team for two diversity groups at J.P. Morgan: WOTM – Women on The Move and NextGen. Additionally, she leads the Hire workstream at the J.P. Morgan DE&I council. She is a former board member at Fitbank, J.P. Morgan’s first FinTech investee in Latin America, where she led the strategic agenda to develop innovative and digital solutions for J.P. Morgan Payments clients in Brazil and Latam. Renata holds a Bachelor’s degree in Economics from FEA USP – University of Sao Paulo and has completed postgraduate work in Financial Risk Management at FIA USP Brazil, where she also taught postgraduate students from 2010 to 2015.

Sanjay Saraf is the Head of Product for Fiserv Merchant Services, where he leads global strategy and product innovation across Clover (SMB), Mid-Market solutions, ISV partnerships, and Enterprise merchant services. In this role, he oversees the end-to-end product portfolio that powers payments, commerce, and financial services for millions of businesses worldwide—from local small merchants to the largest global enterprises. With deep expertise in payments, embedded payments & finance, and digital platforms, Sanjay is responsible for shaping Fiserv’s product vision, driving market expansion, and building integrated solutions that serve diverse client segments. Prior to joining Fiserv, Sanjay held senior leadership product and technology roles at J.P. Morgan, Western Union, fintech startup Yapstone, and other leading companies, where he drove innovation across payments, compliance, and technology on a global scale. Sanjay has also served on several private and public company boards.

Steve Naudé is the Global Managing Director of Wise Platform, Wise’s global payments infrastructure for banks, financial institutions and enterprises around the world. Wise Platform provides these organisations with the capabilities, technology and network to enable fast, secure and cost-effective international payments for their customers. Previously, Steve has worked on payments international expansion, as well as direct connections to payment schemes such as UK Faster Payments and Swift.

Will is the Head of Banking as a Service within the Payments business at Citi. In this role, he is responsible for driving the global product strategy for Virtual Account products, eCommerce clients across all Services’ product verticals, as well as the digital assets strategy for the Payments organization within Services. Before this, Will was the Global Co-head of Cross Border Payments at Citi where he co-led strategy for Citi’s cross-border payments products, including WorldLink®, Cross Border Funds Transfer, Cross Border Receivables, and the industry-leading FX JV within Citi’s former Institutional Clients Group. 

Previously, he was based in San Francisco as an Emerging Payments and Business Development Director. His work focused on the future design of payments products and delivery of Citi’s global ‘network of the future’ for the firm’s West Coast clients. Before joining the Payments team, he was the Head of Treasury and Trade Solutions (TTS) for South Africa, responsible for Citi’s Cash Management and Trade Products in the country. There he held several leadership roles in the country, including Responsible Senior Officer with the Payments Association of South Africa (PASA), a Director of the holding company in the local clearinghouse, Bankserv, a member of the local Citi country committee, as well as served on numerous industry advisory boards around modernisation of payments infrastructure in Southern Africa.

Will started his career at Citi as a Global Transaction Services analyst and has held prior roles in Liquidity Management Services and Client Sales management. He started his career in the engineering field, working in construction, project management and mining. He holds an MBA from the University of Wales, a Bcom Law Degree from the University of South Africa (UNISA) and a Diploma in project management. He is based in New York.