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HLS BFI PRESENTS: THE 2025 FOURTH ANNUAL CONFERENCE Chartering the Future of Blockchain and FinTech April 25, 2025

We are thrilled to present the Harvard Law School Blockchain and FinTech Initiative's Fourth Annual Conference on April 25, here at Harvard Law School.

PLEASE JOIN US FOR A DAY FILLED WITH INSIGHTFUL PANELS ON THE FUTURE OF FINTECH AND CRYPTO REGULATION, AND INVALUABLE NETWORKING OPPORTUNITIES WITH INDUSTRY LEADERS AND PROFESSIONALS, AND STUDENTS FROM HARVARD LAW SCHOOL, HARVARD BUSINESS SCHOOL, HARVARD KENNEDY SCHOOL, AND HARVARD COLLEGE. WE INVITE ALL REGISTERED ATTENDEES TO JOIN US FOR A COCKTAIL RECEPTION sponsored by DLA Piper FOLLOWING THE CONFERENCE.

Featuring our keynote speaker

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Ammon Simon Chief Counsel, Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs

additional speakers from

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*All panels will be conducted pursuant to Chatham House rules. 

AGENDA

8:30 AM -

9:00 AM

REGISTRATION

9:00 AM -

9:15 AM

WELCOME & OPENING REMARKS

with Amy Aixi Zhang (HLS BFI Founding Member; Lead Product Counsel, Ramp)

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9:15 AM -

10:00 AM

PANEL: REGULATING BLOCKCHAIN AND MARKET STRUCTURE

  • David Hirsch (Partner, McGuireWoods; ex-Chief of SEC's Crypto and Cyber Unit; ex-Counsel to SEC Commissioner)​

  • Khurram Dara (Regulatory and Policy Principal, Bain Capital Crypto)

  • Laura Sanders (Senior Counsel, Blockchain Association)​

  • Dr. Martin Hanzl (Partner, Attorney at Law, Head of NewTech, EY)​

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Moderated by: Kim Prior (Partner, Winston & Strawn)

10:15 AM -

11:00 AM

IN CONVERSATION: FILING FOR GODOT: CRYPTO TAXATION 

  • Jason Schwartz (Partner, Fried Frank)

  • Jamison Sites (Digital Asset Principal, KPMG US)

  • Prof. Thomas Brennan (Stanley S. Surrey Professor of Law, Harvard Law School)​

11:15 AM -

12:00 PM

IN CONVERSATION: NAVIGATING UNCERTAIN WATERS WITH IN-HOUSE COUNSEL

  • Dan Cohen (VP, Policy and Regulatory Affairs, Crypto.com)

  • Daniel Stabile (Partner, Winston & Strawn)

  • Laura Brookover (Deputy General Counsel, OpenSea)

  • Ben Prager (Associate General Counsel, Binance.US)

12:15 PM -

1:00 PM

LUNCH & NETWORKING HOUR

Lunch will be provided to all registered attendees.

1:15 PM -

2:00 PM

PANEL: DECENTRALIZATION, DEFI, AND THE FUTURE OF "CONTROL"

  • Rebecca Rettig (Chief Legal Officer, Jito Labs)

  • Lee Schneider (General Counsel, Ava Labs)

  • Marc Piano (Consultant and Director, Horizons Global)

  • Jolie Yang (Assistant General Counsel, Uniswap Labs)

  • Douglas Pepe (Partner, Zaiger Linden Roberti & Pepe LLC; Professorial Lecturer in Law, George Washington University Law School) 

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Moderated by: MacKinzie Neal (Associate, Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP

2:15 PM - 

3:00 PM

PANEL: THE UNSTABLE LANDSCAPE OF STABLECOIN REGULATION

  • Kristin Boggiano (Partner, DLA Piper; Founder, Digital Asset Regulatory Legal Alliance)

  • Sarah Wilson (General Counsel, Circle)

  • Lesley (Young) Chavkin (Global Head of Public Policy, Paxos)

  • Timothy Massad (Research Fellow at the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University, Former Chairman of the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission)

 

Moderated by: Prof. Allen Ferrell (Harvey Greenfield Professor of Securities Law, Harvard Law School)

3:00 PM - 

3:30 PM

COFFEE & NETWORKING BREAK

PANEL: BANKING AND PAYMENT INNOVATIONS AND REGULATIONS

  • Jai Massari (Co-Founder and CLO, Lightspark)

  • Leila Perkins (Head of North America Regulatory, Stripe)

  • Conor O'Hanlon (Bitcoin Regulatory Lead, Block)

  • Dan Ongaro (Senior Associate, Global Regulatory, Hogan Lovells)

 

Moderated by:  Prof. Howell Jackson (James S. Reid, Jr. Professor of Law, Harvard Law School)

3:45 PM - 

4:30 PM

4:45 PM - 

5:30 PM

PANEL: INVESTORS AND BUILDERS: MARKET OPPORTUNITIES

  • Drew Henderson (Partner, Delphi Ventures)

  • Patrick Murck (Chief Executive Officer, Surus)

  • Sharif Nesheiwat (Chief Legal and Compliance Officer, retired.com; ex-Head of RippleX Legal)​

  • Pyrs Carvolth (Partner, Business Development, a16z)

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Moderated by: VJ Vesnaver (Co-Founder, Epoch)

5:45 PM - 

6:15 PM

CLOSING KEYNOTE

with Ammon Simon (Chief Counsel, Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs)

6:15 PM - 

7:00 PM

COCKTAIL & NETWORKING RECEPTION

SPONSORED BY DLA PIPER

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All panels and networking events will take place at Austin Hall at:

 

1515 Massachusetts Ave, Cambridge, MA 02138.

 

Registration will open at 8:30 AM.

 

Parking Information

Directions

 

If you have any questions, or need to make any changes to your reservation, please reach out to us at hlsbfi@mail.law.harvard.edu.

THANK YOU TO OUR PREMIUM SPONSORS, WITHOUT WHOM THIS EVENT WOULD NOT BE POSSIBLE.

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MEET our conference co-chairs:

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MichaelleYeo
Michaelle Yeo, Class of 2026
Eileen Jeong, Class of 2025

questions? comments? Contact us at hlsbfi@mail.law.harvard.edu

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