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Penn Blockchain Conference 2025

The highest-signal conference of the year, hosted by University of Pennsylvania's student-led Blockchain Club

Theme of 2025: Congregation of the Contrarians

February 20-21

Welcome to the 6th Penn Blockchain Conference

Our conference is the largest of its kind, seeking to bridge the gap between academia and industry in the pursuit of building and using decentralized systems.

We bring together the brightest minds and talents around the world and provide them with the infrastructure to grow and develop.

SPEAKERS

We are thrilled to have a world-class group of global thought leaders coming in person this year.
(More to be added based on rolling invitations)

Cathie Wood

CEO | Ark Invest

Dave McCormick

Senator of Pennsylvania | United States Senate

Tomasz Tunguz

General Partner | Theory Ventures

William Nuelle

General Partner | Galaxy Ventures

Jason Yano

Co-founder | Blockworks

John D'Agostino

Head of Strategy | Coinbase Institutional

Christopher Jensen

Director of Research | Franklin Templeton

Catrina Wang

General Partner | Portal Ventures

Chris Pizzo

Ark Innovation Fund

Tom Schmidt

Partner | Dragonfly

Vikramaditya Singh

Penn Blockchain | Co-president

Sunny Parikh

General Partner | Reflexive

Mitchell Amador

CEO | Immunefi

Chris Yin

Founder & CEO | Plume Network

Colton Dillion

Co-founder & CEO | Quip Protocol

Chunda McCain

Founder & CEO | Nucleus

Jonah Burian

Investor | Blockchain Capital

Caleb Shack

Arch Network

Shuyao Kong

Co-founder | MegaETH

Zon

CEO | Initia

Sami Ahmed

Lecturer | Wharton

Alex Dolesky

Founder & CEO | Uranium Digital

Matt Mudano

CEO | Arch Network

Maxime Bucaille

Investor | Draper Associates

Rushi Manche

Cofounder | Movement Labs

James Sinka

Chief Scientific Officer | Bio

Andrew Verbinnen

CEO | HairDAO

Willem Schroé

Founder & CEO | Botanix

Andrej

Co-founder | Grass

Sam Battenally

Co-founder | Rise Labs

Dr. Hoansoo Lee

Co-founder | ExaBITS

Niraj Pant

Co-founder | Ritual

Alex Zozos

General Counsel | Superstate

Jason Zhao

Founder | Story Protocol

Orkun

Co-founder | Citrea

Brian Trunzo

Chief Growth Officer | Mantle

Panruo Wu

CTO | ZetaChain

Luca Curran

DePIN & AI Lead | Base

Shumo

Co-founder | Nebra

Avi Zurlo

CEO | Nil Foundation

Chandler De Kock

Co-founder | Silhouette

Lyron Co Ting Keh

Founder | Seismic

Laura Sanders

Senior Counsel | Blockchain Association

Dan Spuller

Senior Director of Industry Affairs | Blockchain Association

Brian Crain

CEO | Chorus One

Farooq

Co-founder | Rain Card

Satvik Sethi

CEO | Offline Protocol

Vishwa Naik

Co-founder | Anera Labs

Winnie Wang

Co-President | Penn Blockchain

Ahmed Abdellah

Director of Investments | Penn Blockchain & Co-founder | Quok.it

Joseph Picozzi

PA State Senator | Pennsylvania State Senate

Ellis Osborn

Head of Invesments | Penn Blockchain

Brian Magierski

Founding Steward | Cerebrum DAO

Geoff Anders

CEO | Quantum Biology DAO

Nirav Murthy

Co-founder | Camp Network

Michael Kong

CEO | Sonic

Neil Bhuta

Galaxy Ventures

Eli Mohamad

CEO | CryoDAO

Justin Wang

Founder & CEO | ZEUS Network

Ren

Partner | Electric Capital

Kai Micah Mills

CEO | Cryopets

AGENDA

The conference and hackathon is being hosted in the grand and historic Penn Museum.

Day 1
Thursay, Feb 20
10:00 am
-
10:15 am
//

Welcome & Keynote

Moderator
Panelists
Winnie Wang
Penn Blockchain President
Vikramaditya Singh
Penn Blockchain President
10:15 am
-
10:35 am
//

Address from Dave McCormick

Moderator
Panelists
Dave McCormick
Senator of Pennsylvania
10:35 am
-
11:20 am
//

The Boldest Predictions on Web3 & AI with Tomasz Tunguz

Moderator
Catrina Wang
General Partner | Portal Ventures
Panelists
Tomasz Tunguz
General Partner | Theory Ventures
11:20 am
-
12:05 pm
//

What's the Best Way to Scale Bitcoin?

Moderator
Maxime Bucaille
Investor | Draper Associates
Panelists
Justin Wang
Founder & CEO | ZEUS Network
Matt Mudano
CEO | Arch Network
Willem Schroé
Founder & CEO | Botanix
Orkun
Co-founder | Citrea
1:30 pm
-
2:15 pm
//

A New Generation of Real World Assets

Moderator
Ellis Osborn
Head of Invesments | Penn Blockchain
Panelists
Alex Dolesky
Founder & CEO | Uranium Digital
Chris Yin
Founder & CEO | Plume Network
Satvik Sethi
CEO | Offline Protocol
2:15 pm
-
3:00 pm
//

Do We Really Need New L1/L2s?

Moderator
Ren
Partner | Electric Capital
Panelists
Rushi Manche
Cofounder | Movement Labs
Shuyao Kong
Co-founder | MegaETH
Sam Battenally
Co-founder | Rise Labs
Panruo Wu
CTO | ZetaChain
3:00 pm
-
3:45 pm
//

Evolution of Cryptography in Crypto

Moderator
Vikramaditya Singh
Penn Blockchain President
Panelists
Lyron Co Ting Keh
Founder | Seismic
Colton Dillion
Co-founder & CEO | Quip Protocol
Chandler De Kock
Co-founder | Silhouette
Avi Zurlo
CEO | Nil Foundation
3:45 pm
-
4:30 pm
//

DeFi Panel

Moderator
Panelists
Chunda McCain
Founder & CEO | Nucleus
Jonah Burian
Investor | Blockchain Capital
Vishwa Naik
Co-founder | Anera Labs
Day 2
Friday, Feb 21
10:00 am
-
10:45 am
//

U.S. Securities Law Under New SEC Leadership

Moderator
Sami Ahmed
Lecturer | Wharton
Panelists
Alex Zozos General Counsel | Superstate Laura Sanders Senior Counsel | Blockchain Association Dan Spuller Senior Director of Industry Affairs | Blockchain Association
10:45 am
-
11:30 am
//

General Purpose vs. App-specific Chains

Moderator
Brian Crain
CEO | Chorus One
Panelists
Zon CEO | Initia Tom Schmidt Partner | Dragonfly Jason Zhao Founder | Story Protocol
11:30 am
-
12:15 pm
//

Evolution of Payments through Crypto

Moderator
Neil Bhuta
Galaxy Ventures
Panelists
Farooq Co-founder | Rain Card Neil Bhuta Galaxy Ventures Chris Pizzo Ark Innovation Fund
1:30 pm
-
2:00 pm
//

Fireside Chat with Cathie Wood

Moderator
Jason Yano
Co-founder | Blockworks
Panelists
Cathie Wood CEO | Ark Invest
2:00 pm
-
2:45 pm
//

Next Targets for Institutional Adoption

Moderator
Sunny Parikh
General Partner | Reflexive Capital
Panelists
Christopher Jensen Director of Research | Franklin Templeton John D'Agostino Head of Strategy | Coinbase Institutional William Nuelle General Partner | Galaxy Ventures Chris Yin Founder & CEO | Plume Network
2:45 pm
-
3:30 pm
//

The AI-Crypto Collision

Moderator
Ahmed Abdellah
Hackathon Chair
Panelists
Mitchell Amador CEO | Immunefi Luca Curran DePIN & AI Lead | Base Nirav Murthy Co-founder | Camp Network
3:30 pm
-
3:50 pm
//

Fireside Chat with State Senator Joe Picozzi

Moderator
Panelists
Joseph Picozzi PA State Senator | Pennsylvania State Senate
3:50 pm
-
4:35 pm
//

Does DeSci Really Make Sense?

Moderator
James Sinka
Chief Scientific Officer | Bio
Panelists
James Sinka Chief Scientific Officer | Bio Eli Mohamad CEO | CryoDAO Andrew Verbinnen CEO | HairDAO Brian Magierski Founding Steward | Cerebrum DAO Kai Micah Mills CEO | Cryopets Geoff Anders CEO | Quantum Biology DAO

CONTACT US

Catrina Wang
Alumni Advisor
X: @dotCuriousCat
Vikramaditya Singh
Penn Blockchain President
X: @vikramcantsingh
Winnie Wang
Penn Blockchain President
X: @winniewngg
Ahmed Abdellah
Hackathon Chair
X: @aaawonzo