Speakers

About Michelle

Michelle Makori is an internationally acclaimed broadcast journalist, news anchor, reporter, and producer. She has anchored and reported news for Bloomberg, CNN Money, i24News and SABC, and is currently lead anchor and editor-in-chief at Kitco News.

Michelle has covered and analyzed the biggest global economic, financial and geopolitical events of the past two decades. She has interviewed heads of state, CEOs of Fortune 500 companies, and other political, business, and entertainment leaders. Michelle also serves as MC, host and moderator for conferences and events around the globe.

As lead anchor and editor-in-chief at Kitco News, Michelle manages the editorial team, covering global financial and business news across the spectrum of cryptocurrencies, commodities, equity markets, macro-economics and geopolitics. Michelle also hosts On the Spot with Michelle Makori.

Michelle was instrumental in establishing the U.S. division of i24News in New York City, where she served as lead anchor and editor-in-chief, hosting the nightly primetime flagship program ClearCut with Michelle Makori and the weekly magazine show IBW, which focused on start-ups and technology. Michelle was also a key member of the team that launched the U.S. operations of CGTN in 2011. She was the lead anchor and producer of Global Business America, CGTN’s flagship global economic and business news show.

During her five-year Bloomberg TV tenure, Michelle covered American and Asian markets as an anchor and reporter. She also reported on CNN at the NASDAQ. Prior to moving to NYC in 2005, Michelle was a senior anchor and producer for SABC Africa Television, based in Johannesburg and broadcasting across th African continent.

Michelle’s bona fides include FINRA Series 7 licensure and positions with The Beryl Consulting Group, GFI and Context Summits. She holds a post-graduate honors degree in Media Studies and Journalism and Bachelor of Arts degrees in Law and Psychology from South Africa’s University of Witwatersrand. In addition to graduating top of her class from Damelin Business School, Michelle earned the Harambee African Reporter of the Year Award for her work on micro-lending enterprises. Cosmopolitan magazine voted her one of the “30 Most Outstanding Women.”

Born in Israel, raised in South Africa and now a proud American citizen, Michelle speaks five languages and truly brings a global perspective to her work and life. She enjoys traveling, reading, improv comedy, theatre, biking, kayaking and ballroom dancing.

TOPIC: Get Off Zero

We’re all curious about crypto…but we’re hesitant to make moves. Crypto and blockchain and NFTs and Web 3.0 are new and a bit scary—and so we get immobilized to make a move. But we must all get started! That’s the key. Regardless of the size of your first step, you need to make a move. You need to “get off zero.” Bitcoin or other crypto assets should be a part of our investment mix. Mark Yusko, a veteran of traditional finance and venture capital was also skeptical about the crypto space when he first heard about it, but then he began a deep dive into what many believe will become the 12th sector of the economy. Now he’s all in and is here to encourage you to begin your journey or risk being left behind on one of the most important technological shifts in the modern era.

About the Speaker

Mark is the Founder, CEO and Chief Investment Officer of Morgan Creek Capital Management. He is also the Managing Partner of Morgan Creek Digital. Morgan Creek Capital Management was founded in 2004 and currently manages close to $2 billion in discretionary and non-discretionary assets. Prior to founding Morgan Creek, Mark was CIO and Founder of UNC Management Company (UNCMC), the Endowment investment office for the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Before that, he was Senior Investment Director for the University of Notre Dame Investment Office.

Mark has been at the forefront of institutional investing throughout his career. An early investor in alternative asset classes at Notre Dame, he brought the Endowment Model of investing to UNC, which contributed to significant performance gains for the Endowment. The Endowment Model is the cornerstone philosophy of Morgan Creek, as is the mandate to Invest in Innovation. Mark was at the forefront of institutional investing through Morgan Creek Digital Assets, which was formed in 2018. Morgan Creek Digital is an early-stage investor in blockchain technology, digital currency, and digital assets.

Mark earned a BA with Honors from the University of Notre Dame and a MBA in Accounting and Finance from the University of Chicago.

About the Speaker

Matthew Pinto has been at the forefront of multiple Catholic initiatives since the early 1990s. In 1998 he founded Ascension Press (Ascension), leading the Catholic publisher and media outlet to global prominence until 2021.

Matt is the founder of The Genesis Group, the creator of the Catholic Crypto Conference, and a co-founder of the Theology of the Body Institute, Envoy Magazine, The Maximus Group, and CatholicExchange.com. Matt has also authored or co-authored more than a dozen Catholic books and educational resources.

Matt is a founding member of the Catholic Marketing Network (CMN), a recipient of the Outstanding Catholic Leadership Award from the Catholic Leadership Institute, and has served on multiple boards. He and his wife Maryanne reside with their children in suburban Philadelphia.

TOPIC: TBD

About the Speaker

Robert Breedlove is a digitally fluent finance and operations executive (CEO/CFO/COO/CIO) with broad spectrum leadership experience across the enterprise tech, consumer tech, corporate finance, international M&A, tax strategy, wealth management, Bitcoin, and crypto-asset domains. Robert holds a Bachelor of Science in Accounting and Finance and a Master’s in Accounting from the University of Tennessee Haslam College of Business. His mission in life is to maximize freedom for humanity. Robert is a freedom maximalist, ex-hedge fund manager, and philosopher in the Bitcoin space. To him, bitcoin is fundamentally a humanitarian movement exposing the greatest con in human history: central banking. By learning about the connection between honest money, entrepreneurship, and civilization, we are renewing hope for the future of humanity. He hosts the podcast, What is Money?

TOPIC: The Sacred and the Profane: How Catholics View Technology

Should Catholic attitudes to technology be positive, negative, or indifferent insofar as technology is technology? Although some might view technology in an inherently negative way, like Tolkien’s account of Saruman industrializing the Shire, it is not difficult to find counterexamples, including many Catholic technological pioneers. Discernment is clearly needed, especially when even metaphors of the Kingdom of Heaven are not completely devoid of technology. This presentation explores the principles of discernment that may help us make better prudential judgments about technology and the sacred.

About the Speaker

Fr. Andrew is Research Director of the Ian Ramsey Centre for Science and Religion at the Faculty of Theology and Religion, University of Oxford. Formerly a particle physicist on the DELPHI experiment at CERN, he has a doctorate in physics, degrees in philosophy and theology, and a second doctorate in philosophy. A major theme of his research is second-person (I-Thou) relatedness in science, philosophy, and theology. His publications include work in virtue ethics, neurotheology, science and religion, the philosophy of the person, insight, divine action, and the nature of evil. At Oxford, he has been Principal Investigator for more than £6M of research grants for projects involving scholars in more than forty countries. He is a regular contributor to public engagement with science and faith issues.

TOPIC: Called…Cancelled…and Called Again!

Brantly Millegan has had a blessed life. First called to a deeper Christian faith at a young age, Brantly later heard the calling to the Catholic Church while at the evangelical school Wheaton College. An entrepreneur in spirit, he created ChurchPOP, an engaging online Christian culture media channel.

In 2015 Brantly’s life took an extraordinary turn: he entered into the cryptocurrency world. He led both the core team developing the successful protocol Ethereum Name Service (ENS) and the creation of the Sign-in with Ethereum standard. In early 2022, his journey was abruptly halted due to cancel culture. Brantly's highly respected career was crashed because of innocuous posts he made six-years earlier that supported Catholic teaching on the issues of abortion and same-sex marriage.

Brantly would not be held down. Believing that crypto/blockchain offer humanity a once-in-a-generation technology sea change, he again locked in and is now ready for the next chapter of his apostolic and business life. Come hear his inspiring story.

About the Speaker

Brantly Millegan (brantly.eth) has been a part of the crypto community since 2015. He led the core team developing the Ethereum Name Service (ENS) and is the creator of the Sign-in with Ethereum standard. He's also the founder and editor-in-chief of ChurchPOP, a property of EWTN. He studied philosophy at Wheaton College, has a master's degree in Systematic Theology from the University of St. Thomas, and did doctoral work in moral theology at the Catholic University of America. Raised as an evangelical Protestant, he joined the Catholic Church in 2010. He lives with his wife and seven children in Greenville, SC.

TOPIC: Blessed are the Blockchains??? What Catholics should make of blockchain technology, cryptocurrencies and Web 3.0

What Catholics should make of blockchain technology, cryptocurrencies and Web 3.0. The Church’s relationship with technology is … complicated. Historically, however, the Church has been an early adopter of technology, particularly in areas of social communication, using the tools of the secular world to teach and preach. Despite this, the Church arrived late to Web 1.0 and Web 2.0.

Also, the Church has a particular view of finance and how it should serve the human person. In Caritas in Veritate, Pope Benedict XVI explained that “Finance … needs to go back to being an instrument directed towards improved wealth creation and development [and to] create suitable conditions for human development and for the development of peoples.”

In the Conference’s opening keynote presentation, Chris Tyrrell will address various ways in which Catholics can respond to and engage with new technologies for the common good. He will outline opportunities for human flourishing, and the potential for pitfalls, presented by blockchain, crypto, and Web 3.0.

About the Speaker

Chris Tyrrell has been a finance, fintech and crypto leader for over fifteen years. He currently serves as Senior Advisor to the CCO and CLO at Blockchain.com, advising on Americas compliance and global sanctions issues. He joined Blockchain.com from Goldman Sachs, where he was Head of Digital Assets Compliance, covering firmwide new business efforts in cryptocurrencies, digital assets and blockchain. Chris joined Goldman Sachs from Offerboard.com, an industry-leading platform for small business capital formation that was acquired by a boutique investment bank in 2017. While CEO of OfferBoard, Chris also served as chairman of the national trade association for securities crowdfunding, CFIRA. Chris started his finance career at the New York law firm Cadwalader, where he worked on billions of dollars in asset-based financing transactions, representing banks and other financial institutions. Chris serves on the Board of Trustees of Lumen Gentium Academy, a classical Catholic high school. He has a BA in Humanities from the University of Texas, a law degree from the University of Virginia School of Law, and is currently completing a Masters' degree in Practical Ethics at Pembroke College, Oxford University.  Chris and his wife Susanne are parents of nine children.

TOPIC: The Virtue Advantage: What Humans Possess that Technology Cannot

No doubt, machines can do a lot. Humans, however, possess a particular trait that machines will never possess: the ability to will the good of the other. Computers can provide efficiency but it cannot not choose virtue, so the human element will always be needed in our implementation of technology. In this intriguing and provocative talk, Dr. Abela unpacks St. Thomas Aquinas’ treatment of virtue as the timeless blueprint for character. He builds on concepts from Dr. Jay Richards’s book, The Human Advantage. Dr. Abela will address six common misunderstandings about virtue and offer evidence from modern science reveals about the benefits of virtue. He’ll close out with an introduction to the Busch School of Business’s virtue diagnostic tool, which leads users towards a path of virtue.

About the Speaker

Dr. Abela is the founding dean of the Busch School of Business at The Catholic University of America. He also served as the school’s Provost and Chief Academic Officer, where he was responsible for the university’s academic operations, including all twelve of its schools and the university’s libraries and publishing house. He is the co-author of the award-winning book A Catechism for Business, with Dr. Joseph Capizzi, and was the winner of the Acton Institute’s Novak Award for his “significant contributions to the study of the relationship between religion and economic liberty.” Dr. Abela has also served as a consultant to Fortunate 500 companies. Prior to his academic career, he served as a brand manager at Procter and Gamble and as a Managing Director with the Corporate Executive Board, which is now part of the Gartner Group. He holds a Bachelor of Science from the University of Toronto, an MBA from the Institute for Management Development (IMD) in Switzerland, and a Ph.D. in Marketing and Ethics from the Darden Business School at the University of Virginia. Dr. Abela is a native of the island of Malta. He and his wife Kathleen are the parents of six children.

TOPIC: Crypto Mining: A Curse or a Blessing? Energy Use, Social Impact, and Crypto Mining’s Adaptation to ESG

Much ink has been spilled on the question of the energy footprint of proof of work mining. Today, Bitcoin, the most widely adopted proof of work cryptocurrency, uses about 0.12%, or 1/10 of one percent of the world’s total energy consumption. We often see media headlines that Bitcoin uses “as much energy as a small country.” This is true, but it fails to put that into context or to consider how Bitcoin uses energy, the types of energy it is leveraging, and the potential it has to help stabilize the electric grid. Some contend that, if the proposition of Bitcoin pans out, such energy investment will be one of the greatest uses of economic energy in history. So, what is the real story, and how will governmental ESG (environmental, social and governance) requirements help or hinder the burgeoning crypto industry?

About the Speaker

Mark Artymko worked as an electrical engineer in the utility sector for more than 18 years, with lead responsibilities of maintaining the 24/7 transmission grid operations in Ontario, prior to moving into the cryptocurrency space in 2018.  Through the lens of blockchain technology, Mark focuses on maximizing approaches to mining efficiencies, including the integration of mining farms with utilities and generators.  Mark joined Dynamic Mining in 2021 as president, where he leads the company’s business development and technology efforts. Dynamic Mining is a blockchain infrastructure company that provides mining and staking solutions for individuals, investors, and organizations.  It offers full-stack “crypto-as-a-service” expertise ranging from small point to full-scale solutions, including developing mining projects for proof of work blockchains, and validator nodes for proof of stake networks.  They are an ecosystem partner of Inveniam Capital Partners, Inc, a global leader in blockchain technology and the seventh leading blockchain patent holder in the United States. Mark grew up in Toronto, Ontario and now lives in Brighton, Michigan with his family.

TOPIC: Sabbath Rest as a Key to Human Flourishing

Modern man and woman have a hard time resting. Our utilitarian and materialistic approach to life seems to have put us on a never-ending treadmill. Is this what God calls us to? Dr. Kelly Anderson examines why God created work, what exactly Sabbath rest is, how a Christian should view the pursuit of money, and why play and leisure are necessary. She will also consider how these things contribute to a strengthening of our relationship with God and others. Dr. Anderson will also explore the nature of work/production, goods/money, play/entertainment, and Sabbath rest, as found in Scripture, to articulate a vision for human flourishing and well-being.

About the Speaker

Dr. Kelly Anderson is an Associate Professor of Sacred Scripture and Department Chair for the Major Seminary at St. Charles Borromeo Seminary in Philadelphia. She received her M.A. from Saint Joseph Seminary, S.T.B. from the Pontifical Gregorian University, S.S.L. from the Pontifical Biblical Institute, and Ph.D. from The Catholic University of America. She is also a member of the Saint Paul Seminary Press and Sacra Testamentum Editorial Boards and has served on the Revision Team for the text of the Catholic Epistles and Letter to the Hebrews for the New American Bible Revised New Testament. Dr. Anderson has contributed to a series of scholarly published works and has conducted a variety of seminars on all aspects of the Catholic faith and biblical exegesis.

TOPIC: Sound Money and Society: Could Cryptocurrency Make a Difference?

History is replete with examples of how currency debasement damages economies, harms ordinary citizens, and leads to societal upheaval. This talk examines why a monetary system’s form and juridical structure matter, and surveys cryptocurrency’s potential impact on both ordinary commercial exchange and the broader global economy. Through the lens of Catholic social teaching, attendees will learn about the consequences of monetary disruptions, the importance of sound money for economic growth, and how cryptocurrencies could usher in the next stage in global monetary systems. Finally, this talk also examines how distributed ledger technology and a tokenized economy might benefit both Church and society.

About the Speaker

Stephen is the chief operating officer at the Acton Institute. Prior to his role at Acton, Barrows served as the Executive Vice President and Provost of Aquinas College (Grand Rapids, MI) where he was a tenured associate professor of economics. Dr. Barrows also served 21 years in the Air Force as an acquisition officer, an economics professor at the United States Air Force Academy and a faculty mentor at the National Military Academy of Afghanistan. He retired from the Air Force in 2013. A graduate with distinction of the Air Force Academy, he earned a B.S., M.A., (Penn State) and Ph.D. (Auburn) degrees in economics. He and his wife Kimberly, both converts to Catholicism, are the parents of three sons and two daughters.

TOPIC: Crypto Regulation: The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly

The growth of cryptocurrency from speculative investment to burgeoning new asset class has prompted governments around the world to apply existing regulations to it and explore new ways to regulate it. Whether through litigation or legislation, regulation or enforcement, regulatory change is so common in crypto that it is very hard to keep up.

Though difficult, regulatory change is not necessarily a bad thing. Well-crafted regulations can bring clarity, stability, and maturity to a growing industry. Crypto regulation is now one of the most vibrant and challenging parts of the whole crypto space.

What is the proper amount of regulation, as the industry wants guidelines but not over-regulation? And what aspects of regulation should come first? Stablecoins have been high on the agenda since the colossal failure of the Luna/UST algorithmic stablecoin, which impacted the whole industry, but is that the right place to start?

Come hear what leading voices in crypto regulation have to say about the present state of affairs and likely changes coming to the industry from legislators, regulators, and elsewhere.

About the Speaker

Jason Brett consults for layer one distributed ledger technology protocols, digital asset technology companies, and financial institutions with a focus on the intersection of compliance, regulation, governance, and policy for digital assets offerings. As such, he guides third-party crypto service providers on working with U.S. banks. In addition, Jason serves as Chairman of the Board of the Value Technology Foundation, a 501(c)(3) he founded and led following an extensive career with the federal government. He also serves as the Director of Policy Innovation and Research, covering the cryptocurrency industry where regulation and policy intersects with digital assets and distributed ledger technology.

Jason entered the blockchain industry in 2016 as Director of Operations for the Chamber of Digital Commerce, supporting international, federal, and state arenas for emerging technology and policy issues for cryptocurrency and blockchain. In 2017 he was named the Policy Ambassador for ConsenSys and the Ethereum network.

As a former U.S. Regulator, Jason served with the FDIC during the Global Financial Crisis (GFC) and as a consultant and compliance examiner for the Making Home Affordable Program (HAMP), under the scrutiny of the U.S. Department of the Treasury.

While at the FDIC, Jason provided inputs on issues impacting the largest banks and systemic risks during the GFC, such as deposit run analysis, research on synthetic collateralized debt obligations and credit default swaps, compilation of the exposure of net notional derivatives in the financial system, and analysis of new programs created by the Federal Reserve Board to stabilize the economy. During this time, he became interested in the way the Government provides trust in the financial system and the various risks involved with social media's coverage of the IndyMac bank run, gaining insight into the potential outcome of individual banking conducted primarily online.

Jason earned his undergraduate degree is from Cornell University in Government and holds a MBA with a focus on accounting from the Kogod School of Business.

TOPIC: TBD

About the Speaker

Brian Brown is president of the International Organization for the Family (IOF), www.profam.org, which defends the natural family around the globe and hosts the World Congress of Families. This year's World Congress of Families took place in Mexico City, September 30 - October 2. Brian also serves as president of the National Organization for Marriage, www.nationformarriage.org, and president of the for-profit company, Innonde LLC, www.innonde.com which, among other tech-related activites, is involved in bitcoin mining in Eastern Europe. Brian is also a partner in a new business, AlternCloud, www.alterncloud.com, which provides hosting solutions to Catholic and conservative organizations which are at risk of being canceled by Big Tech.

Brian has been published regularly in The Washington Post, The New York Times, The Associated Press, The Los Angeles Times, The New York Post, and almost every other major newspaper in the United States. He has also regularly appeared on ABC, CBS, NBC, CNN, FOX News Channel, C-SPAN and MSNBC. The Washington Post profile of Brian, "Opposing Gay Unions with Sanity and a Smile," caused an uproar because of its fairness to Brian and his views defending marriage as the union of one man and one woman.  Brian has a C. Phil. at UCLA in American History, earned his B.A./M.A. in Modern History at Oxford University, and received his B.A. in History from Whittier College. Brian is a proud Catholic. He and his wife Susan have nine children.

TOPIC: Understanding Web 3.0

What is Web 3.0 and what are its advantages and disadvantages? What are its defining characteristics? How game-changing is it, or is Web 3.0 a modest evolution? And will it come fast, slow, or will it even be noticeable? Panel will probe these questions and many more with three unique panelists who are approaching the advent of Web 3.0 with the same vigor but with different projects. These projects will give us a sample of what we can expect today and in the immediate months and years to come.

About the Speaker

Erik Caputo is the co-founder of BeMetaVersed a Web3 consulting company and a former Deloitte consultant who has taken his talents into the Web3 digital asset space for over 2+ years. Since his entry into the digital asset space, Erik has founded and advised multiple projects ranging from sports handicapping, fine Art, jewelry & non-profit organizations. Erik has since spoken on numerous panels revolving around the emergence of digital assets and their applications to businesses, including Philadelphia's very own Defi Philly conference as a panelist and workshop leader.

Currently, Erik is drafting his first NFT-related paper titled "The Dichotomy of NFTs: A JPEG Fallacy" highlighting the misunderstanding of NFTs and how they will change our future, founding multiple innovative and industry-disrupting companies and advising a handful more. Currently, Erik is drafting his first NFT-related paper titled "The Dichotomy of NFTs: A JPEG Fallacy," highlighting the misunderstanding of NFTs and how they will change our future. He is launching multiple innovative and industry-disrupting companies and advising a handful more.

Erik is a current MBA candidate at Villanova University and is a budding SME on digital assets and the future of business.

TOPIC: An Introduction to Web 3.0

Just as Web 1.0 changed the world during the mid to late 1990’s, many believe the newest evolution – Web 3.0 – will cause dramatic changes in how we interact with each other, with business, and with social institutions. So what might these changes also mean for the Church? Darren Chiu is one of the many young visionaries immersed in the burgeoning new communications, commerce, and social platform and protocol. Darren will tour us through the differentiators between Web 1.0, 2.0, and 3.0, showing us examples and current use cases, and share his experience in building this new internet evolution.

About the Speaker

Darren Chiu graduated from the University of Southern California with a degree in industrial engineering. He then spent five years as a consultant and advisory manager for Ernst and Young in Chicago. A crypto enthusiast beginning in 2020, Darren saw trajectories the crypto/blockchain world was about to take, and in that same year, he left the security of corporate America to join young start-ups in the crypto space, ultimately focusing on the area of internet and data privacy. Most recently, he served as the Lead of Education at the Secret Network, which was the first blockchain with customizable privacy with a particular focus on Web 3.0. He then moved to the Lead of Operations at ALTER, an offshoot of the Secret Network. ALTER utilizes smart contracts and cryptography to allow users to own their encryption keys.

TOPIC: What the Business Community Can Learn from the Catholic Church…and Vice Versa

The Church and the business community are not meant to live in opposition to each other but should work together. In fact, the Church needs the business community, and the business community needs the Church. In this presentation, Tom looks at key lessons and insights both leaders and laity in our churches can learn from the business world, but also what business leaders can learn from the Church. Participants will also walk away with some practical steps they can apply to both their work life and faith life.

About the Presenter

Tom, along with Father Michael White, conceived and led the parish renewal movement called “Rebuilt” for the past 15 years. Tom co-authored five books with combined sales exceeding 150,000 copies: Rebuilt; Tools for Rebuilding; Rebuilding Your Message; and Churchmoney – Rebuilding the Way We Fund Our Mission. Many say Rebuilt has changed the conversation about parish mission and culture in the American Catholic Church. His fifth and most recent book, Seriously, God? Making Sense of Life Not Making Sense, is enjoying broad popularity.

A graduate of both Loyola University, MD (B.A.) and Franciscan University of Steubenville (M.A.), Tom has 25 years of experience working in parish ministry. He has served in a variety of roles that have given him a unique perspective on ministry and leadership. Church of the Nativity recently completed construction of a brand new church that seats 1,500 people, thanks in part to Tom’s leadership and vision. Along with his service at Nativity, Tom serves as president of Rebuilt Parish, Inc. Rebuilt is dedicated to helping parishes make disciples and establishing parishes in every diocese that will appeal to the unchurched and de-churched.

When he is not working, Tom enjoys cooking, working out, playing golf, and attempting to learn guitar. Tom has been married to his wife, Mia, for 24 years, and they have eight children.

TOPIC: Decentralized Truth: Applying the Catholic Principles of Solidarity and Subsidiarity to Blockchain Technology.

Blockchain technology and its most well-recognized progeny, cryptocurrencies, have proliferated within a subculture that champions decentralization as a source of freedom. Anonymity and unfettered individual activity are proffered as goods in themselves and juxtaposed against the evils of centralization and regulation. The resulting subculture gets it only half-right. The timeless teachings of the Church on the true purpose and fulfillment of human freedom are manifested societally in the concepts of solidarity and subsidiarity. While the latter implies the sort of decentralization proposed by the crypto community, it is the proper understanding of solidarity—its laser-focus on the inherent, God-given dignity of the individual human being as the object of our societal obligations—that informs decentralization in a way that does not lead inevitably to selfish mischief, crime, and exploitation. In this discussion, we will explore this proper balance, prescribed by the Church for the right-ordering of society, in its application to the new society developing around blockchain and other technologies.

TOPIC: CBDC: Convenience at a Cost

The sudden, explosive, and captivating rise of cryptocurrencies has spurred a sort of governmental “counter-reformation” (if one can forgive the irreverent analogy) of furious and somewhat internationally coordinated efforts to offer “government crypto” to the public in the form of central bank digital currencies (CBDC). In its basic form, CBDC promises greater efficiency, broader access to banking rails, and real-time settlements. Blockchain rails enable even more powerful features, summed up in the expression “programmable money.” While the benefits of money that does what a central authority tells it to do (and, conversely, cannot be used for what is forbidden) can help with auditability, earmarking of benefits, preventing illicit activity, and many other societal goods, it can also be an insidious tool for government overreach. The Catechism of the Catholic Church unequivocally warns of these dangers when She says, “excessive intervention by the state can threaten personal freedom and initiative.” We will discuss different proposed forms of CBDC, their pros and cons, and possible alternatives, all with a focus on how digital currencies can be used to promote Catholic societal virtues while preserving human liberty.

About the Speaker

Patrick Campos resides in Dubai, UAE, and has been in the blockchain space for over five years, serving as Chief Strategy Officer for Securrency, a blockchain-based, institutional-grade financial markets infrastructure and products company that stands at the intersection of institutional finance and decentralized finance. Securrency’s technology, which features a powerful, universal, and interoperable compliance core, is used by large financial institutions, asset managers, exchanges, and other financial services providers to build, issue, manage, and trade digital assets. In his role, Patrick oversees matters ranging from corporate development, capital strategy, and business development to government relations, marketing, and communications. Over the course of his professional career, Patrick has been a serial entrepreneur, a big-firm lawyer, and an officer in the United States Marine Corps. He teamed up with his wife and a friend to build a tackle football league in the UAE, and he has coached youth and adult players for many years. Patrick is most proud of his role as a husband and a father of two, as well as his twelve years as a Catechist, preparing over 500 young men and women in the Parish of St. Francis Jebel Ali, United Arab Emirates, to receive the Holy Spirit in the Sacrament of Confirmation.

TOPIC: An Introduction to DAOs

A decentralized autonomous organization (DAO) is a community owned entity governed by a blockchain where the members of the DAO work together towards a common mission. Many believe they could be a revolutionary form of community government, as there is no CEO or CFO to guide it. Decisions get made from the bottom-up, governed by a community organized around a specific set of rules enforced on a blockchain. The blockchain-based rules baked into the code define how the organization works and how funds are spent, and decisions are governed by proposals and voting to ensure everyone in the organization has a voice, and everything happens transparently on-chain. In this presentation, our presenters will share a vision as to what might be possible with a DAO, from a Catholic perspective.

About the Speaker

Eddie Cullen is a technology entrepreneur, devout Catholic, and a former New York Times leading candidate for New York City Mayor. He has more than 15 years’ experience of innovation and enterprise-level research and development working with; Fortune 500 companies, non-profits, start-ups, institutions, and infrastructure organizations. Eddie’s experience with public-private partnerships and technology leadership equips him with the hands-on experience and forward-thinking vision to lead Crescite.

He was first employee at Company.co, which has included over 200+ startups with 3,000+ jobs created, 260+ founders, 1,000+ events, and over $1 billion+ in fundraised venture capital. He also the founder of the Harlem Tech Summit, which has featured leading organizations such The Vatican, Google, The Association of Jesuit Colleges and Universities, Stanford, MIT, Cadre, Union Square Ventures, Forbes, The Washington Post, America Media, and many more.

Eddie attended and received his master’s in International Business and Policy from Georgetown University, after receiving a full scholarship. He is currently pursuing a master’s in education in Jesuit Education in a Global World at Boston College. This expansive educational training, combined with his founding and leadership of various technology companies and public sector experience, drives the ambitious vision for Crescite Innovation Corporation.

TOPIC: Introduction to Cryptocurrency

Cryptocurrency is a digital payment system that doesn't rely on banks to verify transactions. It’s a peer-to-peer system that can enable anyone anywhere to send and receive payments. Instead of being physical money carried around and exchanged in the real world, cryptocurrency payments exist purely as digital entries to an online database describing specific transactions. In this introductory talk, you’ll learn an overview of topics such as blockchain, distributed ledgers, digital wallets, exchanges, private keys, and many other concepts to help you begin or deeper your understanding of this brave new world.

TOPIC: Introduction to Smart Contracts

A smart contract is a self-executing contract with the terms of the agreement between buyer and seller being directly written into lines of computer code and stored on the blockchain. The code itself is replicated across multiple nodes of a blockchain and, therefore, benefits from the security, permanence, and immutability that a blockchain offers. But, there are both pros and cons to this new approach to agreements. Come learn about their advent, strengths, limitations, and likely future developments.

TOPIC: Introduction to “DeFi” (decentralized finance)

DeFi — short for decentralized finance — is a new vision of banking and financial services that is based on peer-to-peer payments through blockchain technology. Via blockchain, DeFi allows “trust-less” banking, sidestepping traditional financial middlemen such as banks or brokers. DeFi use-cases include money transfers, loans, insurance, crowdfunding, NFTs, initial coin offerings (ICOs), decentralized exchanges, stablecoins, prediction markets, and more. As with all things, this new industry also has shortcomings. You’ll get an overview of how DeFi works, some of the leading platforms, and a discussion of the pros and cons of this new industry.

About the Speaker

Xavier Decuyper is a widely followed YouTube creator on technology. A native of Belgium, his channel, “Simply Explained”, has more than 430,000 followers and his videos have more than 27 million views, making him one of the most recognized technology commentators in the world. Both his work and hobby are technology, focused mostly on blockchain, machine learning, serverless applications, the Internet of Things, and more. His Simply Explained/YouTube channel focuses on making the complex simple—putting technology topics in plain, simple terms that all can understand. Xavier received his bachelor’s degree in Computer Science from Hogeschool Gent. He works full-time as a full-stack developer at a large bank based in Belgium, which gives him a unique perspective as he lives daily in both traditional banking and the new world of internet finance.

TOPIC: The Ask Me Anything with Brantly Millegan

About the Speaker

Ben is a former Boeing aerospace engineer who founded his company, ScopeLift, as a native mobile development shop in 2013. Around the same time, Ben discovered Bitcoin, and fell deep down the crypto rabbit hole. Several years later, he would pivot his firm to focus on building software in the nascent crypto ecosystem.

An engineer first, Ben has centered ScopeLift’s culture on technical excellence. The company has written high stakes smart contracts which have collectively custodied or processed hundreds of millions of dollars. ScopeLift's clients include Uniswap, Optimism, Gitcoin, Cozy, Endaoment, Splinterlands, Obol, and others.

ScopeLift is also the creator and steward of the Umbra protocol, a privacy tool for Ethereum and other EVM networks. Umbra enables stealth payments, where the receiver of a transaction is unknown except to the sender. Since its launch in 2021, Umbra has processed $40 million in payments from more than 30,000 users.

Ben is a father to three young children. He and his wife were born and raised in the Philly suburbs, where they reside today.

TOPIC: An Introduction to NFTs

With the advent of the blockchain, we can now have more public and immutable records of property, specifically digital property. The NFT, or non-fungible token, is helping to pave the way for this new form of recorded ownership. New use cases of NFTs, beyond collectibles, are continuously popping up. So, what exactly is an NFT? How are NFTs related to crypto? Are NFTs here to stay or a massive bubble waiting to pop?

About the Speaker

DraxxTS co-founded and serves as CEO of the Famous Fox Federation, a blue chip NFT project on the Solana blockchain. While working in the energy industry, DraxxTS began investing in cryptocurrency in 2017 and became acquainted with DeFi and NFTs. Established in 2021, Famous Fox Federation is a collection of 7,777 randomly generated and stylistically generated NFTs. The Famous Fox Federation was the first project to implement on-chain staking, an aggregated project purchasing tool, a whitelist token marketplace, and twelve other NFT-specific tools that have set a standard for other projects in the ecosystem to follow. DraxxTS graduated from Drexel University with a B.A. in Electrical Engineering and Villanova University with an M.B.A. in Strategic Management, Finance, and Marketing.

TOPIC: Catholics and the Metaverse

When facing new technological frontiers, Catholics commonly retreat rather than engage, claiming withdrawal is a prudent approach. Conversely, there are examples throughout history of the Church boldly leading technological advancement. Recent Church documents provide clear guidance on how Christians should embrace new technology with confidence. The laity is consistently called to engage actively in this sphere, giving witness and representing God to the world. But is the metaverse an exception, considering its overt focus on disembodiment? Kailash Duraiswami gives us an emphatic “no” to this question. He contends that Catholic laity are particularly called and positioned to represent God in this and similar new frontiers. The metaverse is no exception. He supports his remarks with Scripture, official Church documents, and theological and philosophical reason.

About the Speaker

Kailash Duraiswami is a technology entrepreneur in the artificial intelligence space and the founder of Pantenix, an artificial intelligence platform that automates manual data entry for financial services companies through computer vision. Pantenix was acquired by financial services software provider Orion Advisor Solution in 2021. A convert to Catholicism as an adult, Kailash is also the co-founder of Fidei, a technology startup providing software for consumers with Catholic values, including an email solution. He is a graduate of Emory University with a degree in financial economics.

TOPIC: Crypto Security and Protecting Against Hacks and Scams

Cryptocurrency cyber security is one of the most important topics in the crypto space, yet not many people know how to buy, sell, and safely store their cryptocurrency. There’s also an array of crypto scams that people can easily fall for. You’ll learn how to stay secure online and offline, how to store passwords and use two-factor authentication, what exchanges are the most secure, the pros and cons of hardware wallets, and more. Protect yourself against these threats and vulnerabilities, including some of the best tools in the crypto security space today.

About the Speaker

Mike is a cybersecurity specialist based in Philadelphia. Since late 2016, his focus has been on blockchain and cryptocurrency networks and cybersecurity. He is an adjunct instructor at Saint Joseph’s University Haub School of Business, and University of Pennsylvania’s Financial Technology (FinTech) Bootcamp. Mike earned a B.S. in Computer Engineering from Pennsylvania State University and a M.S. in Strategic Analytics from Brandeis University. He was also a Cyber and Data Security Fellow at Drexel University. He is actively building smart contracts and other crypto asset and security solutions.

TOPIC: Crypto Mining: A Curse or a Blessing? Energy Use, Social Impact, and Crypto Mining’s Adaptation to ESG

Much ink has been spilled on the question of the energy footprint of proof of work mining. Today, Bitcoin, the most widely adopted proof of work cryptocurrency, uses about 0.12%, or 1/10 of one percent of the world’s total energy consumption. We often see media headlines that Bitcoin uses “as much energy as a small country.” This is true, but it fails to put that into context or to consider how Bitcoin uses energy, the types of energy it is leveraging, and the potential it has to help stabilize the electric grid. Some contend that, if the proposition of Bitcoin pans out, such energy investment will be one of the greatest uses of economic energy in history. So, what is the real story, and how will governmental ESG (environmental, social and governance) requirements help or hinder the burgeoning crypto industry?

About the Speaker

Kenyon Hayward is the Co-founder and Chief Executive Officer for Hashwatt, where he leads operational growth including strategy and all essential operations of the company. He has served as the founder and CEO in several other successful, large-scale enterprises in the data center and software-as-a-service (SAS) marketplace, with multiple exits. He has had more than eight years in bitcoin investment and blockchain training. He began as a self-miner in 2016. Previous leadership positions include as CEO, Chairman and Founder of VSPAN (now British Telecom Conferencing), a leading global cloud videoconferencing/web conference network services; CEO of vcpoious META (virtual environment software); an Account Executive for SAP Global and with SAP’s Cloud Platform; as CEO of Redlasso, a web digital media video search syndication platform; as Co-founder and Vice President of Sales for AVS (async), and other ventures. Kenyon has been published in the Wall Street Journal and Business Communication Review and has received multiple “Inc. 500 Company” awards. He has served on multiple boards including Habitat for Humanity and the National Foundation for Teaching Entrepreneurship. His expertise is in blockchain, cryptocurrency, crypto mining, financial/product development, cloud, and security.

TOPIC: Bitcoin Solves This…and That…and That…and That.

Most people today have heard of Bitcoin. And reactions to it are varied. Some think it’s a scam, while others believe it is the saving grace of the economic system for the world. Devotees connect dots and explain why it is the necessary equalizer to the hyper-inflated and dangerously weak fiat and petro-dollar system much of the world turns to and lives on. The F.U.D. (Fear, Uncertainty and Doubt) about Bitcoin is also all over the place—“it uses too much energy”, “it’s funny money that can evaporate”, “it’s too slow to build a commerce system on”, “it will enable governments to surveil us”, and much more. Bitcoin educator and evangelist Lisa Hough explains that the exact opposite is true to much of the FUD that exists. Among other things, Lisa explains how bitcoin elevates human rights, as it’s the only form of property that can be held by every person on earth regardless of their position, and bitcoin is actually one of the most effective uses of energy the world has every seen. Come discover the truth about bitcoin beyond the popular challenges often found in the media and from traditional financial service firms that, all too often, have spent little time studying these technological phenomena.

About the Speaker

Lisa Hough is Vice President, Head of Business Development at LevelField Financial. LevelField combines the advantages of the digital asset industry with the trusted benefits of the U.S. banking system. Previously Lisa was Director of Client Solutions at Unchained Capital, a bitcoin-native financial services firm supporting corporations and HNWI to secure generational wealth in bitcoin.

Lisa is an evangelizing force for the case for Bitcoin. Her expertise is relied upon by executive teams, leadership forums, and civic groups as they build their thesis on digital assets throughout the world. Recently, Lisa presented at Turnaround Management Association's (TMA) 2022 annual European conference in Madrid on "Blockchain, Bitcoin, and Cryptocurrency in Restructuring and Digital Wildcatters "Empower; Energizing Bitcoin," a bitcoin mining conference with a focus on energy.

Lisa's keen understanding of cross-market dynamics developed during a decade in natural gas trading and risk management at energy trading and marketing organizations, including Enron and PG&E Corp.

Lisa is a graduate of Miss Porter's School in Farmington, CT, and Southern Methodist University, where she earned a B.A. in Biology.

TOPIC: Tithing and Stewardship: Discovering God’s Divine Economy

The Hebrew Scriptures mention at least three different types of tithing. Should Christians practice some, none, or all of these? Journey back to the time of Moses to experience the ancient Israelite macro economy, setting the biblical foundations for all Catholic economic principles. These foundational principles provide insight into tithing’s role in Christianity and guide the discernment process for stewardship in the 21st century.

About the Speaker

Brian is an author and theologian who serves as Executive Director of St. Paul Inside the Walls and Director of Mission and Technology Integration for the Diocese of Paterson. He also acts as the Administrator of the Certificate in Catholic Evangelization, a master's-level program co-sponsored by the Immaculate Conception Seminary at Seton Hall University and St. Paul Inside the Walls. He teaches Biblical Studies, Theology, and Evangelization courses at the seminary, as well as non-credit courses at St. Paul Inside the Walls. His latest published work is The Divine Economy: A Catholic Explanation of Tithing and Stewardship, which includes a foreword by Bishop Arthur Serratelli.

TOPIC: An Introduction to NFTs

With the advent of the blockchain, we can now have more public and immutable records of property, specifically digital property. The NFT, or non-fungible token, is helping to pave the way for this new form of recorded ownership. New use cases of NFTs, beyond collectibles, are continuously popping up. So, what exactly is an NFT? How are NFTs related to crypto? Are NFTs a massive bubble or is digital property the wave of the future? Come to hear an overview of the NFT industry, including how it started, how it has evolved, and how things might look different in the future.

About the Speaker

John co-founded and serves as CIO of FirstWatch Crypto and the Windward Fund, a digital asset fund created to help investors gain exposure to cryptocurrencies. While working in finance and tech startups, John began mining Ethereum and investing in crypto in 2015. NFTs combine his passion for art and finance. He graduated from the University of Notre Dame with a B.B.A in Finance.

TOPIC: Crypto Regulation: The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly

The growth of cryptocurrency from speculative investment to burgeoning new asset class has prompted governments around the world to apply existing regulations to it and explore new ways to regulate it. Whether through litigation or legislation, regulation or enforcement, regulatory change is so common in crypto that it is very hard to keep up.

Though difficult, regulatory change is not necessarily a bad thing. Well-crafted regulations can bring clarity, stability, and maturity to a growing industry. Crypto regulation is now one of the most vibrant and challenging parts of the whole crypto space.

What is the proper amount of regulation, as the industry wants guidelines but not over-regulation? And what aspects of regulation should come first? Stablecoins have been high on the agenda since the colossal failure of the Luna/UST algorithmic stablecoin, which impacted the whole industry, but is that the right place to start?

Come hear what leading voices in crypto regulation have to say about the present state of affairs and likely changes coming to the industry from legislators, regulators, and elsewhere.

About the Speaker

Whitney Kalmbach is a former US Naval Intelligence Officer with experience working in financial services, military contracting, business development, and consulting at JPMorgan Chase, Raytheon, and Deloitte. At Raytheon, she worked on the Corporate Strategy team that is responsible for developing the overarching strategies for the company, including the Five-Year Plan and Acquisition Strategy. At Deloitte, she was responsible for helping to plan and execute key US Navy systems consolidations. Her consulting work has helped clients pursue valuable business development opportunities. She can provide clients extensive business planning and financial modeling expertise. She has also been instrumental in launching and growing the operations of the Value Technology Foundation, a non-profit technology think tank. Whitney holds an Executive MBA from the Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania, and a Bachelor’s degree from Princeton University.

TOPIC: Understanding Web 3.0

What is Web 3.0 and what are its advantages and disadvantages? What are its defining characteristics? How game-changing is it, or is Web 3.0 a modest evolution? And will it come fast, slow, or will it even be noticeable? Panel host Karl Kilb will probe these questions and many more with three unique panelists who are approaching the advent of Web 3.0 with the same vigor but with different projects. These projects will give us a sample of what we can expect today and in the immediate months and years to come.

TOPIC: An Introduction to DAOs

A decentralized autonomous organization (DAO) is a community owned entity governed by a blockchain where the members of the DAO work together towards a common mission. Many believe they could be a revolutionary form of community government, as there is no CEO or CFO to guide it. Decisions get made from the bottom-up, governed by a community organized around a specific set of rules enforced on a blockchain. The blockchain-based rules baked into the code define how the organization works and how funds are spent, and decisions are governed by proposals and voting to ensure everyone in the organization has a voice, and everything happens transparently on-chain. In this presentation, our presenters will share a vision as to what might be possible with a DAO, from a Catholic perspective.

About the Speaker

Karl P. Kilb III is an entrepreneurial leader and corporate lawyer with more than 30 years of experience in building and monetizing intellectual property, including multimedia content and technology, with a lifetime dedication to Catholic causes. Karl is the co-Founder and Chairman of Crescite Innovation Corporation, leveraging years of experience developing technology to build Web 3.0 and other solutions for the Catholic community’s faith-based initiatives. He is also a leader in developing new cybersecurity solutions and strategies.

Karl spent 22 years at Bloomberg LP, including more than 15 years as the company’s first General Counsel. At Bloomberg, Karl built and managed a global Legal and Compliance Department that supported all aspects of Bloomberg's worldwide businesses, including data, news, software, telecom, multimedia, and electronic trading.

Karl regularly lectures on legal, business development and entrepreneurial issues, including at the Fordham University School of Law, where he is Chairman / Co-Founder of the Entrepreneurial Law Advisory Council and teaches Entrepreneurial Law, and at NYU, serving on the Lawyers Alumni Mentoring Program since its inception in 1997.

Prior to becoming a lawyer in 1995, Karl was a broadcast journalist with CNBC, Financial News Network, 1010 WINS Radio and Bloomberg, among others. A native New Yorker and resident of NYC with his wife, Alexis Christoforous of ABC News, and their three children, Karl graduated magna cum laude from NYU with a B.A. in broadcast journalism and from the Fordham University School of Law with a focus on intellectual property and securities regulations.  Karl was a member of Fordham’s Intellectual Property Law Journal. Karl has been involved with many charities and organizations, including the Boy Scouts of America (his two sons are each Eagle Scouts) and Yorkville Travel Baseball (as a Head Coach for ten years).

TOPIC: A Contrarian Position: Why the Internet and Social Media are Enemies of Human Flourishing

Bud Macfarlane will make the striking contrarian case that most of the internet itself (including many forms of social media in particular) are ontologically contrary to human flourishing, and thus impossible to use without the degradation of the persons who use them. He concludes, based upon his own extensive experience working within this multifaceted medium since the dawn of the internet, that no person can purposely draw others into the use (and the inevitable abuse) of the intrinsically harmful aspects of the medium without incurring moral responsibility for the harm caused. Bud will not make an argument against the use of technology in general (to the contrary, he will argue for it) but specifically against the internet and social media in particular.

About the Speaker

Beloved by over a million readers for his life-changing Catholic novels, Bud is a proud New Jersey native, received a degree in history from the University of Notre Dame, and is the father of four adult sons. A national marketing director in both the packaging and traffic control device industries, in 1991 Bud started the Mary Foundation, the world’s largest producer of Catholic “tools for evangelization”; its benefactors have distributed tens of millions of recordings, books, booklets, medals, and scapulars. Its website, begun in 1996, CatholiCity.com, has received over one hundred million visitors and includes CatholicYoungAdultGroups.org, Catholic Baby Names, the Mantle of Mary Project, the Catechism Simplified, and numerous other resources.  In 2022 and 2023, Bud is leading the daring spiritual warfare initiative, Operation True Cross, to help God save America.

TOPIC: Investing in Digital Assets

Some contend crypto is a dangerous brave new world that should be avoided when it comes to investing. Others see it destined to be a financial renaissance, where “smart money” is moving and cutting-edge products are being built. Who to believe? Explore the opportunities and risks associated with the new asset class of crypto. Understand where the crypto asset class is heading, and how to understand token investments to make smart decisions along the way. What role could crypto play in one’s financial portfolio? Where do most investors tend to make mistakes? Where do I start? Join us to hear about the basics of crypto investing.

About the Speaker

Dan co-founded and serves as COO of FirstWatch Crypto and the Windward Fund, a digital asset fund created to help investors gain exposure to cryptocurrencies. He has invested in and studied the digital asset space for three years, creating educational content targeting new entrants to the space. He graduated from the University of Notre Dame with a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering and a concentration in human-centered design.

TOPIC: Social and Technological Decentralization: Blockchain, Civil Society, and the Church

We live in a time of increasing centralization: Big State, Big Data, Big Tech, Big Education, Big Media, Big Healthcare, and Big Culture. Michael Miller contends that centralization of these cultural institutions is not good for the Church or for human flourishing, families, communities, or and political liberty. He argues for the need to build stronger decentralized, functional, and autonomous organizations and encourage subsidiarity and ordered liberty. Such infrastructure cannot be built on centralized technological platforms. This presentation examines how decentralized ledger technology can play a pivotal role in revitalizing communities and will protect the Church from de-platforming or denial of service.

TOPIC: Challenges and Opportunities in a Digital Age

The rise of transhumanism and hyper-digitalization presents severe social consequences, including but not limited to surveillance, propaganda, social credit scores and the denial of services, behavior modification, and mental health. Amplifying concepts from his book, Digital Contagion, Miller outlines the current trajectory and provides practical steps from a Catholic theological perspective to remedy existing damage and turn the tide to secure mankind’s future. You will gain a thorough understanding of how the Church can lead the effort to use decentralized ledger technology (DLT) for good.

About the Speaker

Michael Matheson Miller is a Senior Research Fellow at the Acton Institute. He is the director and producer of the award-winning documentary Poverty, Inc., as well as The PovertyCure DVD Series, The Good Society Series, and The Gospel of Work. He was founding director of PovertyCure, an initiative that promotes entrepreneurial solutions to poverty in the developing world. Michael is the host of The Moral Imagination Podcast, a co-founder of a biotech firm focusing on extending healthspan, and the author of Digital Contagion: 10 Steps to Protect your family and business from Intrusion, Cancel Culture and Surveillance Capitalism and the forthcoming Excluded: How the Poverty Industry Excludes the Poor from Justice and Prosperity. Miller earned his undergraduate degree from the University of Notre Dame and holds graduate degrees in Philosophy, International Development, and International Business. He is a distinguished fellow at the Ciocca Center at Catholic University’s School of Business and serves on the board of Sacred Heart Classical Academy. He and his wife, Rebecca have seven Children and live in Grand Rapids, Michigan.

TOPIC: An Introduction to Blockchain

NFTs. Bitcoin. Etherium. Web 3.0. These are all big ideas but it is the blockchain that undergirds them all. More than a few experts have even suggested that the blockchain has the potential of swallowing up the whole internet.  So, what is the blockchain? You’ll learn in this introductory session what it is and why it’s different than all other technologies of the past 40 years, and you’ll learn of its many potential use cases. This presentation is foundational to understanding many other topics at this year’s conference.

TOPIC: The Dynamic Digital Transformation Taking Place

Seven digital technologies are converging right now, and the ramifications of them can be transformative for every business and organization, including our Catholic parishes, dioceses, and ministries. These seven—artificial intelligence (AI), blockchain/crypto/NFTs, augmented and virtual reality (AR/VR), API Economy, 3D printing, data analytics, and the Internet of Things (IoT)—will cause us to rethink what our businesses and ministries offer, how we engage our patrons, and the mechanics of how we deliver services. Discover more about these seven transformative techs and how they could impact your organization.

About the Speaker

Deacon Rich has been in the software business for over 40 years and recently retired as the CEO of Relevantz, Inc, a 1,200-person software engineering firm that builds digital products for Fortune 500 firms and software companies. Since joining Relevantz in 2010, Rich helped the company grow over 1300% and earned it a spot on Inc. Magazine’s list of the fastest growing companies in America for three consecutive years. In 2014, he won CEO of the Year awards from SmartCEO magazine and from the New Jersey Technology Council.

Prior to joining Relevantz, Deacon Rich held executive positions for five different software companies, including two that he grew and sold to Oracle and State Street. He has served on a variety of Boards in the past, including the Philadelphia chapter of Legatus and Holy Spirit Radio, where he also hosted a radio show. He is currently serving on the boards of the Health Standards Organization (HSO) in Canada and the Busch School of Business at The Catholic University of America.

Deacon Rich has a B.S. in Computer Science from Stony Brook University and an MBA in Finance from New York University. He is a regular speaker on the practical use of advanced technologies, and for three years, cohosted a weekly radio show on Blockchain Radio. He has been married for 41 years to his wife Janet and the couple has three children and six grandchildren. Rich was ordained in 2011 in the Archdiocese of Philadelphia and is currently on assignment in his new home in the Diocese of Arlington.

TOPIC: Crypto Mining: A Curse or a Blessing? Energy Use, Social Impact, and Crypto Mining’s Adaptation to ESG

Much ink has been spilled on the question of the energy footprint of proof of work mining. Today, Bitcoin, the most widely adopted proof of work cryptocurrency, uses about 0.12%, or 1/10 of one percent of the world’s total energy consumption. We often see media headlines that Bitcoin uses “as much energy as a small country.” This is true, but it fails to put that into context or to consider how Bitcoin uses energy, the types of energy it is leveraging, and the potential it has to help stabilize the electric grid. Some contend that, if the proposition of Bitcoin pans out, such energy investment will be one of the greatest uses of economic energy in history. So, what is the real story, and how will governmental ESG (environmental, social and governance) requirements help or hinder the burgeoning crypto industry?

About the Speaker

Vinny Pardi began his career as an electrical engineer upon graduation from Purdue University in 2011. During the following decade, while designing commercial office, healthcare, and mission critical facilities, Vinny became a licensed professional engineer (PE) and certified Project Management Professional (PMP).

In 2017, Vinny began investing, studying, and attending meetups centered around bitcoin and cryptocurrencies. After building a rig and self-mining from home, he decided to leave his engineering career in early 2021 to launch Hyrule Ventures, a white-glove service providing retail miners with education and access to mining cryptocurrencies at scale.

By the end of 2021, Vinny was hired to be the Mining Operations Manager at River Financial, working out of their new Columbus, Ohio office. He helped bring online River Financial’s first miners, and he continues to expand the fleet of thousands of miners across several sites in the United States. River Financial started in 2019 as a bitcoin-only brokerage based out of San Francisco and has evolved to become the premier provider of the private client experience, pushing the boundaries of adoption around the bitcoin ecosystem.

Beyond crypto, Vinny devotes his time and talent to his Catholic parish, where he helped initiate the That Man is You ministry, leads confirmation preparation for young men, mentors couples in pre-Cana classes, and participates in Nos Lumine for Catholic Professionals. Vinny and his wife Elizabeth (a writer for the Columbus Catholic Times, Aleteia.org, and other Catholic publications) met on Catholic Match and are expecting their fifth child later this year.

TOPIC: Crypto Tax 101: What You Need to Know

The focus for financial gain from cryptocurrency could make it easy to forget about the taxman, but pay taxes we must! It is part of the game. Failure to understand and abide by tax laws associated with cryptocurrency could be perilous.

How does Uncle Sam view cryptocurrency gains and losses? Is cryptocurrency taxed in the same manner as stocks and other asset classes? Are cryptocurrencies securities or commodities? What is the best way to track multiple trades and their associated tax consequences?

Join Kirk Phillips as he provides an overview of the basics of taxation and crypto, and learn how to avoid costly mistakes.

About the Speaker

Kirk Phillips, CPA, CMA, CFE, CBP is founder of CryptoBullseye.club™ the ultimate crypto resource and crypto coaching.  He’s also involved with numerous other startups and is author of the Ultimate Bitcoin Business Guide™, the AICPA Blockchain Fundamentals course, Lukka Library white papers, Coindesk articles and numerous other publications. He’s a member of the AICPA Virtual Currency Task Force and regularly speaks and educates CPAs and attorneys about the crypto and blockchain space. He is also a BitAngels Philadelphia City Leader and self-proclaimed DeFi degen.

TOPIC: Making Your First Crypto Purchase

There are a variety of reasons why people want to learn about cryptocurrency. Some see it as a valuable part of one’s financial portfolio. Some see its technological power and realize we are likely looking at a sea change in how the world’s financial systems operate. Others see it as a means of personal autonomy—either financially or in areas of privacy, against encroaching governments and Big Tech. Cryptocurrency offers all these things, and more. In this beginner-level introduction to cryptocurrency, which includes a brief explanation of blockchain, Lisa will demonstrate in laymen’s terms the tsunami-type change that crypto is bringing to the world and to families and individuals pursuing sovereignty. She will close out her seminar by showing you a step-by-step method for getting started on an exchange with your own crypto wallet.

About the Speaker

Lisa Phillips is a bestselling author, speaker, and real estate investor who focuses her time expanding and coaching black professionals on finances. With a degree in Electrical Engineering from the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, and having worked for three of the Big Four consulting firms (IBM, Deloitte, and Accenture), Lisa redirected her success in real estate development, focusing primarily on investing in affordable housing in low-income minority neighborhoods. She was first introduced to cryptocurrency in 2014 and became fully immersed in the space by 2017. Starting with modest investments of just $200 per month and using the dollar-cost average method, she reached above six figures in just three years.

With a burden on her heart for her own black community, Lisa made it her mission to educate as many persons-of-color in her “modest investment, slow-growth” method to investing in cryptocurrency and real estate. As most of her inner-city clients’ financial situations required this “modest investment, slow-growth” approach, she contends that her approach is ideally suited for all crypto newcomers.

Lisa has reached many thousands of people with her in-person and virtual workshops, masterclasses, conferences, and one-on-one coaching sessions. Her work has been highlighted on CNBC Money, Black Enterprise, and on the Morgan Stanley Equity and Inclusion podcast. Her books include Investing in Rental Properties for Beginners, Crypto Alchemy, and Which Crypto Should I Buy?, the latter two debuted at the Bitcoin 2022 Conference.

TOPIC: Crypto Regulation: The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly

The growth of cryptocurrency from speculative investment to burgeoning new asset class has prompted governments around the world to apply existing regulations to it and explore new ways to regulate it. Whether through litigation or legislation, regulation or enforcement, regulatory change is so common in crypto that it is very hard to keep up.

Though difficult, regulatory change is not necessarily a bad thing. Well-crafted regulations can bring clarity, stability, and maturity to a growing industry. Crypto regulation is now one of the most vibrant and challenging parts of the whole crypto space.

What is the proper amount of regulation, as the industry wants guidelines but not over-regulation? And what aspects of regulation should come first? Stablecoins have been high on the agenda since the colossal failure of the Luna/UST algorithmic stablecoin, which impacted the whole industry, but is that the right place to start?

Come hear what leading voices in crypto regulation have to say about the present state of affairs and likely changes coming to the industry from legislators, regulators, and elsewhere.

About the Speaker

CJ brings more than 30 years of regulatory compliance, CCO and leadership experience to the future of finance. He is responsible for building out Blockchain.com’s established global compliance frameworks, maintaining a durable compliance program that mitigates compliance risk, supervising client lifecycle management, and growing an already robust compliance team.

A former regulator and big bank compliance chief, CJ cut his teeth on financial regulation by serving as Senior Counsel in the Enforcement Division of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

That experience propelled him to Global Head of Client Infrastructure at UBS Investment Bank, and as Manager of Counterparty Relations at Bridgewater Associates. Most recently, CJ was the Chief Compliance Office for Deutsche Bank’s US broker dealer and its Head of Business Line Anti-Financial Crimes Compliance for the Investment Bank, overseeing a global team who ensured millions of transactions both protected their customers and kept criminals and bad actors at bay.

TOPIC: The State of the Institutional Market in Digital Assets

Cryptocurrency has historically been a retail driven market but, in recent years, institutions have started getting educated on the fast-growing space and, slowly but surely, are adding crypto exposure to their portfolios. What is the current state of the institutional market in crypto? Who are the key players: which types of institutions are allocating to crypto, how are they doing so, and who are their typical service providers? What are the traditional banks doing in the space? What is still holding back widespread institutional adoption of crypto? Why the market drop in Q2 and why does it matter? What is the outlook for institutional interest/investment in both the near and long term and how are firms like Cowen positioning themselves to take advantage of this opportunity set? With her varying vantage points over the past eight packed years, Jackie will answer these questions and more in this introductory session for financial professionals and others interested in knowing the state of institutional markets and cryptocurrency.

About the Speaker

Jackie Rose serves as director of sales for Cowen Digital. She previously spent several years in traditional finance, starting her career as an investment banking analyst at J.P. Morgan, then transitioning to the buyside where she spent time investing at The Carlyle Group and subsequently in a fundraising role at a private credit fund. After discovering the promise and power of cryptocurrency and blockchain during the pandemic, Jackie joined Blockchain.com as Head of Institutional Sales. Earlier this year, she pivoted to a unique opportunity that jointly leverages her ‘TradFi’ and crypto skillsets, joining Cowen Digital, the only digital asset trading platform affiliated with a traditional investment bank, to help build out sales. Jackie graduated from the University of Notre Dame in 2014 with a BBA in Finance and Psychology.

TOPIC: Understanding Web 3.0

What is Web 3.0 and what are its advantages and disadvantages? What are its defining characteristics? How game-changing is it, or is Web 3.0 a modest evolution? And will it come fast, slow, or will it even be noticeable?

About the Speaker

Matt Rosen began learning computer programming at 10 years old in an effort to create his own video games. Little did he know what it would blossom into. Today, he is the co-founder and Chief Product Officer at his company, Splinterlands, which is one of the largest and most successful Web 3.0 technology powered gaming companies. Rosen is a 2005 graduate of Brandeis University, with a B.S. in Computer Science and Mathematics. He has also served as the Director of Digital Product Development at OTG Management, was Lead Developer of Rewards Based Gaming at RockYou, and has held other software engineering positions in the region.

Splinterlands was founded in 2018 by blockchain innovators who shared a frustration with mainstream digital trading card games. Splinterlands is powered by the Hive blockchain and each card in the game is an NFT owed by the players. Unlike traditional digital gaming companies, Splinterlands offers decentralized digital asset ownership, provable scarcity, provably fair results, and censorship resistance which blockchain technology made possible. Today, the game is beloved by one of the largest and most loyal followings in the play-to-earn industry. It is translated into nearly a dozen languages and played in over 100 countries worldwide. Each day, thousands of cards are traded for thousands of dollars on the peer-to-peer market. The company is based in the Philadelphia region.

TOPIC: Crypto Tax 101: What You Need to Know

The focus for financial gain from cryptocurrency could make it easy to forget about the taxman, but pay taxes we must! It is part of the game. Failure to understand and abide by tax laws associated with cryptocurrency could be perilous.

How does Uncle Sam view cryptocurrency gains and losses? Is cryptocurrency taxed in the same manner as stocks and other asset classes? Are cryptocurrencies securities or commodities? What is the best way to track multiple trades and their associated tax consequences?

Join David Spencer as he provides an overview of the basics of taxation and crypto, and learn how to avoid costly mistakes.

About the Speaker

David Spencer, C.P.A. is a Graduate of the University of Oregon’s Charles H. Lundquist College of Business. A founding member of the Oregon Business Consulting Group Management Team, David was a recipient of the coveted NuHaudu School of Business International Exchange Internship. The opportunity landed him in Beijing, China where he worked for Globebill, a cross-border payment provider in the Asian market. David began his work as a CPA in Portland, OR, focusing on high net-worth clients and closely held entities, as well as succession planning. In 2018, he joined an accounting firm in Florida before establishing DKS, the firm he leads today. David discovered cryptocurrency in 2015 and recognized its potential as easy-to-use cutting-edge technology. As an early adopter of the technology, David made cryptocurrency one of his practice’s specialties.

TOPIC: Understanding Web 3.0

What is Web 3.0 and what are its advantages and disadvantages? What are its defining characteristics? How game-changing is it, or is Web 3.0 a modest evolution? And will it come fast, slow, or will it even be noticeable? Panel will probe these questions and many more with three unique panelists who are approaching the advent of Web 3.0 with the same vigor but with different projects. These projects will give us a sample of what we can expect today and in the immediate months and years to come.

About Fr. Ian

Fr. Ian VanHeusen is a diocesan priest in Greenville, NC. His primary ministry is working as a campus minister at East Carolina University. He started the Art of Living Well apostolate to create content to help people live as authentic disciples by drawing on the spiritual masters such as St John of the Cross and St Thomas Aquinas. In 2022, he established MetaCatholic to adapt content creation for the emerging fields of Virtual Reality, Augmented Reality, and Web 3.0/ Metaverse.

TOPIC: Artificial Intelligence and Blockchain: A Match Made in Heaven?

Is blockchain technology truly the perfect vehicle for distributing AI? One of the biggest issues for AI is a lack of trust due to the potential lack of human control over the output. Blockchain’s advanced security features provides individuals the ability to decide what data they will share. AI models can be embedded in smart contracts to suggest product recalls, healthcare options, sustainable shipping methods, and can even resolve disputes. Applications that combine AI and Blockchain are already appearing in NFTs and the Metaverse. NASA is also combining the two to solve the problem of piloting space craft in deep space. Given the recent hacking of smart contracts in the NFT space, however, is it possible that the AI-blockchain combo presents another opportunity for hackers to steal vast amounts of data and hold organizations hostage? Jump to the bleeding edge in this discussion of obstacles and opportunities surrounding the creation of hybrid AI and Blockchain applications.

About the Speaker

Dr. Wagner (known as “Dr. Bill” to his students) has been a professor of Management Information Systems (MIS) at Villanova University since 1991. After 30 years at Villanova, he was promoted to Full Professor this past spring. While at Villanova he has co-authored four books and over 35 journal articles in various IT-related fields. In 2019, he co-authored the first college textbook on Blockchain which is currently being used by over 25 schools and universities around the world. He has developed and taught over 30 MIS classes at both the undergraduate and graduate levels in areas such as Enterprise Systems, Big Data, Mobile Application Development, Applied AI and Blockchain. In 2004 he was identified as an “industry thought leader” by SAP.  More recently (2018), he was the recipient of the Daniel J. O’Mara award for Graduate Teaching Excellence, the Meyer award (2015) for Innovation, Creativity, and Entrepreneurship and was a co-winner of the 2011 Global Consortium of Entrepreneurship Centers’ award for Excellence. He is also a founding member of the Center for Business Analytics and the Masters of Church Management program. In 2019, he helped found the Tomorrow Fund, one of the first investment funds to focus on Web 3.0 startups.

TOPIC: Bitcoin Solves This…and That and That…and That

About the Speaker

Paul Zahner is a local Bitcoin entrepreneur and educator. Through in-person meetups and weekly webinars, Paul teaches the basics of sound money, how the current banking system works, and how Bitcoin can solve many of the economic issues that we face today. He spent the early years of his adult career in fulltime youth ministry before transitioning into an IT career. Paul currently works for one of the largest Catholic healthcare systems in the country. He resides in Chester County, married to his high school sweetheart of 25 years and their eight beautiful children. Paul has an unwavering and passionate belief that bitcoin has the power to change the world, and truly levels the economic playing field, especially for those who need it the most.