Executive Team
Josiah Hernandez
Founder, Global CEO, Chairman, President
New York, USA
Josiah Hernandez is a FinTech entrepreneur as well as global thought leader and expert on central bank digital currency, bitcoin, and financial market structure; releasing research frequently reviewed by senior leaders at the International Monetary Fund (IMF), Bank for International Settlements (BIS), and numerous central banks. His work and expertise has been cited in mainstream publications such as Forbes, Wall Street Journal, Yahoo! Finance, International Business Times, and The Hill.
Josiah is a bitcoin early adopter with extensive experience building institutional & retail digital currency liquidity solutions starting in 2013. He currently serves as the global CEO at Satoshi Capital Advisors, an advisory firm that works with central banks, governments, and industry leading corporations on digital transformation, fintech, and growth initiatives. He was previous the business development lead at Coinsetter, an institutional Wall Street based, high frequency trading focused digital currency exchange acquired by Kraken in 2016, and subsequently strategy lead at a large retail bitcoin brokerage firm.
Yusuf Bashir
Africa Chairman
Kaduna, Nigeria
Yusuf Bashir is a career technologist with in-depth experience and proven expertise in engineering and product development going back to 2003. Yusuf built one of the first smart city and building automation networks in the world during his time at Johnson Controls in the USA and subsequently was recruited back to Nigeria to build a technology industry incubator in collaboration with the Kaduna state government. He has built private sector and public sector technology solutions bringing monumental change to millions of people across Africa and throughout the world.
Marina Spindler
Latin America Chairwoman
Hidalgo, Mexico | New York, USA
Marina Spindler is an experienced consultant for global firms and bitcoin sector ventures on business development & communications strategy - advancing their mission and leading their product and shareholder strategy. Previously, Marina spent 12 years as Executive Director for the Group of Fifty, a 501c6 organization where she managed relationships with 100+ CEOs from Fortune 500 companies while also forging 20+ international partnerships (WEF, The Carlyle Group, Goldman Sachs, etc.). She's also the lead author & researcher of the "Global Report on Women, Cryptocurrency and Financial Independence", published in The Defiant in May 2021.
Tamela Hedstrom
Europe & Middle East Chairwoman
Stockholm, Sweden | Dubai, UAE
Tamela Hedström is a Business Developer based in Stockholm, Sweden and with deep experience facilitating business deals and expansion in the Middle East, Latin America, and Europe. She’s worked as a Project Manager for Digital Content Solutions and Growth at numerous large multinational corporations, including McDonalds ($MCD), Subway, Avanza Holdings Bank, and Payer Financial Services AB.
Mohammed Sani Yusuf
Africa CEO
Abuja, Nigeria
Mohammed Sani Yusuf is a seasoned business professional with a proven ability to blend creative and analytical thinking to apply new ideas and resourcefulness in propelling industries to the next level. He brings decades of experience from management consulting, payments, information technology, and real estate industries in strategy planning and execution, business analysis & strategy consultation, team leadership, and client interaction and relations. He strongly believes that an individual or industry can thrive on strategic networking, partnering, and alliance building.
Ivan Velasquez
Latin America CEO
San Jose, Costa Rica
Ivan Velasquez is a Professional in International Relations specializing in international commerce, government collaborations, and multinational business structures, with more than 20 years experience centered in Latin America. He has deep expertise in leading expansion throughout the region, representing various technology companies, manufacturers, foreign entities, and investment funds throughout his extensive career.
John Kiff
Head of CBDC/DCM Advisory
Washington, D.C., Costa Rica
John Kiff was a Senior Financial Sector Expert at the International Monetary Fund (IMF) from 2005 to 2021. Prior to that, he was at the Bank of Canada for 25 years, where he spent most of his time managing the funding and investment of the government’s foreign exchange reserves, including running its interest rate and currency swap book. At the IMF he was part of the team that produces the semi-annual Global Financial Stability Report covering innovative financial products.
Daniel Truque
Head of Asset Management Advisory
San Jose, Costa Rica | New York, USA
Daniel Truque is a seasoned executive across research and operations departments with experience scaling large global teams. He is an expert in distributed ledger technology architecture and design, working with the world's largest financial institutions to implement DLT and blockchain technologies. Daniel was previous a portfolio specialist at AQR Capital and Bridgewater Associates, and a former consultant with McKinsey & Co.’s Risk Management Practice.
Virgilio Lizardo
Head of Bitcoin Exchange Advisory
Phuket, Thailand
Virgilio Lizardo is an experienced bitcoin exchange industry executive, leading large teams for leading global bitcoin sector companies since 2015. After starting his career in operations consulting for corporates in the Boston area, he moved to China in the late 2000s and spent the next 11 years working with leading Chinese companies on globalization initiatives.
In 2015 he started working with Bitbank Group, a top 4 bitcoin exchange operator in China and top 2 global bitcoin mining equipment manufacturer, leading their international expansion. After a successful tenure, he decided to exclusively focus on the bitcoin exchange industry subsequently joined Gate.io, leading their international expansion into becoming one of the largest bitcoin exchanges in the world with more than $1 billion in daily trading volume.
Adrian Garcia
Latin America Managing Director
San Jose, Costa Rica
Adrian Garcia is a Costa Rican entrepreneur, co-founder of Carao Ventures and Terraba, pioneering companies in the fields of venture capital and e-commerce. He has advised and invested in emerging companies for the past 15 years, and taught and mentored entrepreneurs at leading universities such as MIT, Stanford and INCAE. As a board member, he has supported various innovative companies and non-profits that work for social progress. He holds a BA in Economics with Honors from the University of Texas at Austin and and MBA from the MIT School of Management and is part of the Aspen Global Leadership Network.
Usman Aliyu
Africa Director
Lagos, Nigeria
Usman Aliyu is an established banker that spent two decades working his way up the corporate ladder at Bank of America and Wells Fargo in the USA. He has extensive expertise in various aspects of retail banking operations & management, in addition to deep experience in collateralization and securitization of mortgage-backed securities. Usman was subsequently recruited into a senior management role with a leading African conglomerate, where his focus areas include project management, process improvement, and strategy.