As an entrepreneur and founder of various tech companies, Stefan Rust is a multilingual mover and shaker turning cutting-edge technology into commercial success.

Navigating regulations competing against the national telecom operator, Stefan helped change the mobile landscape in China. He then moved on to Sun Microsystems where he worked to create an ecosystem that brought content and apps to mobile with Java. He has also advised tech giants like Qualcomm, Red Hat, Sony, Siemens, Limelight Studios, and many others.

Stefan was formerly the CEO of Bitcoin.com. After having bought his first Bitcoin in April 2012 and using it to pay developers directly, he realized the staggering potential of this global decentralized censorship-resistant currency. Today, he’s focused on helping the rest of the world realize the potential of Bitcoin.

Sean is the CEO and Founder of Revix. He is a CFA Charter holder and all-round finance nerd with a passion for fintech. Sean comes from an investment banking background having worked at JSE listed specialist investment firm Sabvest as a fixed income and equity analyst, who became the first Angel investors in Revix.

He also worked at venture capital firm Knife Capital as an early-stage venture analyst, at General Pacific Management Services as an equity portfolio manager and at Draper-Gain Holdings – a family office based in London – as an investment analyst.

Before starting Revix, he founded 3 start-ups including Sataya, an event-driven proprietary trading firm, Blocktree Capital, a digital asset advisory firm, and Application Portal, a multi-purpose online university application system. He graduated Magna Cum Laude when completing his Bachelor of Business Science (Honours) in Finance at the University of Cape Town.

Paul Schulte is the founder and editor of Schulte Research, a company does research on banks, financial technology, bank algorithms and credit algorithms. He has had a career in equity research which spans 27 years on both the buy and sell sides covering the Asian and emerging markets. He also has 5 years of government policy experience in emerging markets. He has been frequently ranked in top-five positions in Euromoney, Asiamoney and Institutional Investor. In Institutional Investor’s 2010 poll, he received top rankings in All-Asia Banks Team, Asia Equity Strategy Team and Asia Economics Team.

In conjunction with Singapore University of Social Sciences (SUSS), he co-authored “Handbook of Blockchain, Digital Finance, And Inclusion” (AI, the IOT & Insurtech in China). Aside from being the founder & editor of Schulte Research, he has taught for 18 years in MBA programs: Tufts, HKUST, HKU, LMU Hilton School in LA & SUSS in Singapore.

Mohammad Sear is Associate Partner, Digital Government & Public Sector Advisory, Africa, India and Middle East at EY

Mohammad is focused on bringing purpose to digital in government. He is a thought-leader in the areas of citizen centricity, experience and digital government & service delivery, and an advisor to senior leaders in government and public sector.

After a successful 10+ years career in the UK government, he shifted to the private sector and has now for 20+ years been advising and helping government organizations in the UK, Middle East, Australasia and South Asia on strategic and digital transformational challenges.

He, in particular, has helped government organizations become more citizen-centric and achieve operational excellence by harnessing conventional and digital capabilities, and the power of design thinking, and in particular has helped governments improve customer experiences by digitizing service.

Prof. Michael Sung is a technology venture builder and investor, having founded various companies over the years in diverse high-tech industries ranging from AI, blockchain, semiconductor, and new materials industries. Prof. Sung is Chairman of CarbonBlue Innovations, a cross-border tech-transfer and venture building platform that is focused on rapidly commercialising and scaling internationally-sourced blockchain, fintech, and digital finance innovation to developing countries. Prof. Michael Sung is also the founding co-director of the Fudan Fanhai Fintech Research Center at the Fanhai International School of Finance at Fudan University. In addition, Prof. Sung is also faculty at the Chinese Institute of Economics and Finance, a national-level think tank focused on thought leadership for finance innovation and fintech policy and best practices. His expertise includes digital finance, blockchain innovation, digital asset securitization, tokenomics, digital economy business model innovation, green finance, and cryptoeconomics. Prof. Sung has served in numerous advisory roles over the years for the HK, Taiwan, and China governments on international tech transfer, innovation ecosystem building, AI, blockchain, and fintech policy for various top city and minister-level officials. Prof. Sung serves on the organizing committee for the CBDC Forum from the World Digital Economy Council, China Digital Finance Advisory Group for the United Nations Task Force on Digital Financing of the Sustainable Development Goals, Global Blockchain Business Council, and is also working with the UN Economic and Social Commission for Asia Pacific on various digital finance and digital economy initiatives. Prof. Sung has received various awards for technology entrepreneurship, including MIT Enterprise Forum’s Most Visionary Technology Award and Google’s Solve for X Prize. Prof. Sung received his Ph.D. in EECS at the MIT Media Lab/Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory as well as a graduate financial engineering degree from MIT Sloan Business School.

Frankie is an international technology lawyer qualified in Hong Kong, New York, and England & Wales. Her practice covers a wide array of commercial and tech-related matters, including significant technology outsourcing transactions, Fintech, Regtech and blockchain services agreements and data privacy matters.

Frankie is a member of the Vetting Committee of Hong Kong Innovation and Technology Commission’s General Support Programme, where she advises the Government on merits of technology projects. She is on the advisory board of the Stanford University’s Responsible Digital Leadership project. She teaches Regtech and Fintech programmes at postgraduate degrees, and has extensive experience sharing at professional bodies’ CPD programmes and industry conferences. Frankie has mentored distributed ledger technology companies at accelerator programmes.

Brian W Tang is a corporate finance and capital markets lawyer with nearly 20 years of experience in Hong Kong, New York, Silicon Valley and Australia.

As an award-winning investment banking counsel at Credit Suisse in Hong Kong until 2013, Brian has worked on some of the largest and most cutting-edge equity, debt and M&A transactions across the Asia-Pacific region (including landmark Chinese and foreign Hong Kong IPOs CCB, ICBC, Rusal, Glencore, Prudential and PICC as well as Alibaba.com’s privatization). He has also led inter-disciplinary teams on strategic transactions such as the establishment and operation of the bank’s Chinese investment banking joint venture. Brian served on the Executive Committee of Hong Kong Corporate Counsel Association (2011-2014).

Brian is an internationally frequently invited speaker who has taught MBA classes at Yale SOM and HKUST and has published articles on the capital markets and corporate governance. Brian is an honorary fellow of HKU’s Asian Institute of International Financial Law and sits on industry boards such as the Editorial Board of the Practical Law Company Capital Markets Handbook.

Rico Tang is Senior Manager, Blockchain and RegTech Lead, FinTech Cluster. Rico Tang is in charge of developing Cyberport Blockchain and RegTech Eco-system among different stakeholders including start-up, mid-sized and established players by driving strategic initiatives, collaboration and community building.

Mr. Tang has over 20 years of experience in financial technology, exchange business, global market data, regional business management and pension fund. Prior to joining Cyberport, he was the founder of a HK based blockchain technology company; and had also held various senior positions in global financial technology company and financial institutions, including Thomson Reuters and Reuters Hong Kong Fund Management.

Mr. Tang holds a BA. (Hon) degree in Accounting and Financial Management from University of Essex, and a Master degree in Business Administration from City University of Hong Kong.