Philip R. Zimmermann is the creator of Pretty Good Privacy (PGP), the most widely used email encryption software in the world. Originally designed as a human rights tool, PGP was published for free on the Internet in 1991. This made Zimmermann the target of a three-year criminal investigation, with Zimmermann leading the charge in what became known as the first “Crypto Wars”. The government dropped its case in 1996.

Zimmermann founded PGP Inc., and is the co-founder of Silent Circle, a provider of secure communications services. He specializes in cryptography and data security, data communications, and real-time embedded systems.

Zimmermann has received numerous technical and humanitarian awards for his pioneering work in cryptography: the US Privacy Champion Award from the Electronic Privacy Information Center, the Louis Brandeis Award from Privacy International, a Lifetime Achievement Award from Secure Computing Magazine, the Norbert Wiener Award from Computer Professionals for Social Responsibility for promoting the responsible use of technology, Chrysler Award for Innovation in Design, the Pioneer Award from the Electronic Frontier Foundation. He’s been inducted into the National Cyber Security Hall of Fame, the Internet Society’s Inaugural Class of the Internet Hall of Fame, the Information Systems Security Association’s ISSA Hall of Fame, the Heinz Nixdorf Museums Forum Wall of Fame, the CRN Industry Hall of Fame.

Foreign Policy Magazine named him one of the Leading Global Thinkers of 2014. In 2008 PC World named him one of the Top 50 Tech Visionaries of the last 50 years. In 2006 eWeek ranked PGP 9th in the 25 Most Influential Products introduced since the invention of the PC in 1981. In 2000 InfoWorld named him one of the Top 10 Innovators in E-business. In 1995 Newsweek named Zimmermann one of the "Net 50", the 50 most influential people on the Internet.

Ryan has been deeply involved in computer security since discovering the Internet, NSA Rainbow Books, and the Cypherpunks mailing list in the early 1990s.

After leaving MIT to co-found an early digital token startup in Anguilla, he set up the world’s first datahaven — on the self-declared independent state of Sealand — to host early digital currency and related projects. Subsequently he spent 7 years working on Iraq and Afghanistan bootstrapping a defense contracting business, working with government and private clients.

Ryan co-founded CryptoSeal, a security technology company developing virtual machine security solutions, which was acquired by Cloudflare. His recent focus has been in cryptocurrency security and infrastructure, serving as Tezos CSO and Foundation Board member, along with a number of other projects.

Perry Metzger is a computer scientist, entrepreneur, and consultant who spent most of his career in the financial services industry. He was one of the early members of the Cypherpunks movement, and is the creator of the Cryptography mailing list where Bitcoin was first released.

Perry is the currently founder and CEO of Sylenic, a startup focused on using artificial intelligence to formally verify software. He is also the founder and chairman of the board of Alliance for the Future, a nonprofit coalition of entrepreneurs, technologists, and policy experts working to promote artificial intelligence technology and as well as to protect it from special interest lobbying.

He studied computer science at Columbia University and University of Pennsylvania.

As a trailblazer in electronic civil liberties, Sameer Brenn implemented an innovative international development and sales strategy with his first venture, C2Net Software, overcoming domestic market export restrictions. Under his leadership, the company's market share surpassed industry giants like Microsoft, culminating in its acquisition by Red Hat Software. Continuing his commitment to digital independence, Sameer served as Chairman of HavenCo, pioneering secure data centers globally.

Building on his experience, Sameer ventured into finance, joining Goldman Sachs as a Fixed Income Strat. There, he led engineering efforts for the Treasury bond trading desk, integrating the voice trading desk with automated electronic trading systems. Driven by his passion for autonomous robots, Sameer transitioned and founded Falkor Systems. Returning to finance, he founded Mimetic Markets, where he pioneered Bitcoin-denominated derivative markets. Sameer then made significant contributions as a Staff Software Engineer at Twitter, where he led engineering efforts for the data streaming business, and later at Hashflow, where he played a key role in expanding the frontiers of decentralized finance.

Sameer's impactful work has garnered widespread recognition, with features in esteemed publications such as Forbes and WIRED. A sought-after speaker, he has shared insights at prestigious conferences including TEDx and the Usenix Association.

Having studied Mathematics, Computer Science, and Physics, Sameer holds a BA in Economics from the University of California at Berkeley and an MS in Mathematics in Finance from New York University's Courant Institute. His multidisciplinary background fuels his innovative approach, driving advancements at the forefront of technology and finance.

Scott Banister is an entrepreneur, startup founder, and angel investor. He cofounded the anti-spam company IronPort, and he was an early advisor and board member at PayPal. He invented paid search advertising via keyword auction, a core business model for internet advertising companies.

He was an early investor in Powerset, a startup building a natural language search engine. His other private equity investments include Zappos, Topsy, Upstart, Affirm, Thumbtack, Postmates, Uber, Diamond Foundry, Flexport, Niantic, Fivetran, Turing, Magic, DuckDuckGo, Nervana Cloud, Crusoe Cloud, and TogetherAI. Banister also cofounded Zivity, an adult-themed social networking site, with his wife, Cyan Banister.

David Gelles has identified Banister as one of the PayPal Mafia, former board members of PayPal, influential investors in "a collection of some of the most valuable technology start-ups ever seen". He invested in PayPal's earliest version, and he served as a founding board member. In a 2019 VentureBeat article, Andrew Ganato and Scy Yoon wrote that Peter Thiel and Scott Banister had been the most prolific investors, each responsible for investing in more than 100 companies.

Marta Belcher is a civil liberties attorney and a pioneer in the area of blockchain law. She is the president and chair of Filecoin Foundation as well as its sister charitable organization, Filecoin Foundation for the Decentralized Web. She also serves as general counsel and head of policy at Protocol Labs.

Marta is a member of the Board of Directors of the Zcash Foundation and the Blockchain Association, and is a member of Paradigm’s Crypto Policy Council.

She also serves on the board of Creative Commons.

Marta was previously an attorney at Ropes & Gray LLP focusing on blockchain and emerging technologies.

Marta received a B.A. in Rhetoric from the University of California, Berkeley, and a J.D. from Stanford Law School.

Naomi Brockwell is the President and Founder of The Ludlow Institute. She is a tech journalist, and creator of "NBTV.media" — a project of The Ludlow Institute with over 750k subscribers across platforms. NBTV produces videos that teach people how to reclaim control of their lives in the digital age. The channel gives people the tools they need to take back their data, money, and free online expression.

From 2013 - 2015 she worked as a policy associate at the New York Bitcoin Center. From 2015 - 2021 she has worked as a producer for 19-times Emmy-Award-Winning Journalist John Stossel. From 2021 to 2022 she hosted the CoinDesk series “Break it Down”, and the CoinDesk daily show “The Hash”.

Naomi was a producer for the 2015 feature documentary Bitcoin: The End of Money as We Know It (Best International Documentary, Anthem Film Festival; Winner of Special Jury Prize, Amsterdam Film Festival), and producer of the 2018 award-winning documentary The Housing Bubble.

Naomi is the co-founder of “The Soho Forum”, a NY debate series. She is on the Advisory Council at the “Mannkal Economic Education Foundation”, and is author of “Beginner's Introduction To Privacy”, and the children's book “Billy's Bitcoin”.