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Hackathon@WEF 2025 Review The hackathon was held in Davos, Switzerland, with 23 registered developers participating and 7 projects approved; using AI, data science and other technologies to address global challenges, developers collaborated online and offline to create practical solutions. DIGITAL LOUNGE@WEF helps developers meet elites from all walks of life and increase project exposure.

Most locked in I've ever been. Not necessarily to trading itself, but in business/life generally. There is such a massive opportunity over the next few years to get insanely rich with AI/crypto/online products. I want to look back in 10 years time and say, "wow - I really gave it my all". That's my only goal - to give my 100% effort every day. The results will come as a bi-product. And occasionally, stop to smell the roses along the way (or in this case, the ocean 😅 - pic below).

President Donald Trump made history when he pardoned a corporation, the Mahe, Seychelles-based BitMEX. The crypto exchange has been operating since 2014. In addition to pardoning it of its money laundering conviction following a guilty plea in July 2024, the president added its three founders and a senior employee. Trump signed the pardons without publicizing them, so the BitMEX pardons were not as widely anticipated as that of Ross Ulbricht in January. While campaigning for reelection, the president pledged at the Libertarian Convention in May 2024 to pardon the Silk Road founder. Now crypto communities are wondering if the president will grant some other founders clemency. They include some big names like FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried and Binance founder Changpeng Zhao. Here are four cryptocurrency founders Trump just pardoned in March and three more that might follow soon. BitMEX pled guilty to violating the Bank Secrecy Act of 1970 by failing to police its exchange for money laundering properly. As a result, the US Dept. of Justice announced a $100 million fine for BitMEX on Jan. 15. Furthermore, the DOJ put the exchange’s parent company on two years of probation. U.S. Attorney Matthew Podolsky said the fine sends a message that consequences for violating anti-money laundering policies will be severe. In addition to BitMEX’s conviction, the US government previously found its founder, Arthur Hayes, guilty of his company’s violations. After starting his exchange, Hayes became the youngest African American billionaire in history. In May 2022, the government sentenced Hayes to six months in supervised home detention and two years of probation. Following his pardon in March, Hayes thanked the president in a post on X. Cardano founder Charles Hoskinson congratulated the Bitcoin exchange founder. In his first blog update since the pardon, Hayes wrote a lengthy and technical critique of Trump’s trade wars using tariffs on imports. After the pardons, BitMEX co-founder Benjamin Delo released a note stating the DOJ “wrongfully targeted BitMEX and its co-founders.” Delo also thanked Trump for the pardons: “This full and unconditional pardon by President Trump is a vindication of the position we have always held – that BitMEX, my co-founders and I should never have been charged with a criminal offense through an obscure, antiquated law.” Delo asserted regulators pressed the case against his exchange for political reasons: “As the most successful crypto exchange of its kind, we were wrongfully made to serve as an example, sacrificed for political reasons and used to send inconsistent regulatory signals.” A British national, Delo is giving away half of his crypto fortune to charitable causes: “A legal wrong has been righted today and despite the distress I have been through over the past few years I’m pleased to have cleared my name and to be able to continue my life and philanthropic work without the burden of an unfounded conviction.” BitMEX CTO Samuel Reed also got a pardon from Mr. Trump. He pled guilty along with his business partners to violating anti-money laundering and Know Your Customer regulations in Mar. 2022. As a result, he got slapped with a $10 million fine while facing down the possibility of five years in prison. He wound up getting 18 months of probation instead. In addition, the exchange’s former Head of Business Development, Gregory Dwyer, received a pardon for his Bank Secrecy Act conviction along with the others. He agreed to pay a fine of $150,000. BitMEX has stayed busy in the meantime, building its extraordinary reputation for security. Last November, the exchange marked ten years as the crypto exchange with the longest streak of losing zero customers’ funds to hacks. This month, BitMEX boosted staking rewards for BMEX by 50%. The pardons prompted CNBC’s Jim Cramer to wonder out loud if Trump might spring Sam Bankman-Fried from a 25-year prison sentence. His financial news site, TheStreet, reported : “As Trump’s pardons stir debate across the crypto world, speculation grows over who could be next — with names like SBF, CZ, and Roger Ver dividing the prediction markets.” Ross Ulbricht founded the legendary Silk Road exchange under the screen name Dread Pirate Roberts in 2011. The “dark web” exchange allowed users to buy and sell illegal items and services like scheduled drugs and assassin services and pay vendors using Bitcoin. While serving a life sentence for criminal enterprise, drug trafficking, money laundering, and computer hacking, Trump pardoned him with overwhelming support for the move from the cryptocurrency community. The day Trump pardoned him , the odds on PolyMarket rose to 93%. At his sentencing hearing, Ulbricht said, “I wanted to empower people to make choices in their lives and have privacy and anonymity.” He’s set to share his story in a new documentary. The FTX exchange founder, known online as SBF, is serving a 25-year sentence for wire fraud and financial fraud that surfaced during the crypto market crash in 2022. In January, Bloomberg reported that SBF’s parents are seeking a pardon from the president. Once a big donor to the Democratic Party, SBF has made a hard right pivot. He bashed SDNY Judge Kaplan in a February New York Sun interview by telephone, the judge who handed Trump a loss in a salacious civil trial. Then turned around in March and gave a bombshell prison interview to Tucker Carlson that the jail administrators did not authorize. Ultra-early Bitcoin (BTC) and Bitcoin Cash (BCH) investor Roger Ver has been in detention in Spain since Apr. 2024, fighting extradition to the US on charges of tax evasion. Because of his status as a very early Bitcoin and crypto promoter, the media nicknamed Ver Bitcoin Jesus. In Feb. 2024, a grand jury in California indicted Ver for “three counts of mail fraud, two counts of tax evasion, and three counts of subscription to a false tax return.” He reached out in January to President Trump for a pardon, posting on X: “Mr. President, I am an American, and I need your help. Only you, with your commitment to justice, can save me @realDonaldTrump.” Ross Ulbricht came to his defense in February in an X post suggesting he should just be allowed to pay any taxes owed and be free again. CZ, the software engineer and business mastermind behind the globally class-leading crypto exchange Binance, is already out of jail after a four-month stint in California last year. He has denied rumors of any business involvement with the Trump crypto enterprises. But the BitMEX pardons added fuel to the fire of rumors that Trump may pardon Zhao next. That would allow him to get back to a leadership role at Binance.

In a surprising shift from its historically tough stance on digital assets, New York is now exploring a crypto-friendly future. A newly proposed bill—Assembly Bill A7788—seeks to allow residents to pay state-related obligations such as taxes, rent, and fines using cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Litecoin. If approved, this bill could mark a watershed moment not just for New York, but for the broader U.S. crypto ecosystem . But how far will this go, and what does it really mean for the average New Yorker? Assemblyman Clyde Vanel’s bill proposes amending New York’s finance law to let state agencies accept cryptocurrencies for a wide range of payments. These include fines, civil penalties, taxes, rent, fees, charges, and more. Unlike a mandatory framework, the bill grants agencies the discretion to opt in based on operational feasibility. This could mean that adoption happens gradually, with forward-thinking departments leading the charge while others observe and wait. If passed, the law would go into effect 90 days after being signed—giving agencies a relatively short runway to integrate Bitcoin or crypto payment systems. This move, while technically optional, sends a powerful message: New York is no longer shutting the door on digital assets. The proposal is a big win for crypto normalization, especially in a state where regulations like the BitLicense made crypto companies hesitant to operate. While the bill doesn’t create a reserve system or endorse Bitcoin as legal tender , it lays the groundwork for mainstream adoption within public infrastructure. The bill also smartly allows agencies to charge a service fee—not as a profit mechanism, but to cover blockchain transaction costs like gas fees. This pragmatic approach may reduce friction for agencies while making sure taxpayers don’t shoulder surprise costs. If adopted, New York would join a growing list of states—including Colorado and Arizona—paving the way for state-level crypto integration. And given New York’s influence in finance, this could pressure other states to follow suit. Not everyone in the state is celebrating this shift. Attorney General Letitia James has voiced strong concerns about crypto’s role in financial stability, national security, and illicit activity. Her statements reflect a more cautious stance, one focused on federal oversight and investor protection. James warns that widespread adoption of cryptocurrencies could undermine the U.S. dollar , bypass AML frameworks, and fund adversarial regimes. Her advocacy for tighter federal rules highlights an ongoing tension in New York’s leadership—innovation vs. regulation. While her viewpoint doesn’t directly oppose A7788, it signals that the road ahead for full-scale crypto integration will involve intense political negotiation, particularly at the federal level. If passed, New York’s bill could become a template for crypto integration in other major states. More importantly, it would help shift the narrative: from crypto as a fringe speculative asset to crypto as a practical financial tool embedded in public systems. The bill also opens new possibilities for innovation within the DeFi and public payment sectors, especially if state agencies begin to build infrastructure that interfaces directly with blockchains. However, the timing and execution of the bill will be key. With skepticism still strong in parts of government, the success of this initiative will depend on clear security protocols, easy-to-use payment systems, and public trust. For now, it appears so—but cautiously. Assembly Bill A7788 represents a major shift in tone from the state that once made life difficult for crypto startups. It doesn’t mean New York is going all-in on Bitcoin tomorrow, but it does mean the state is ready to experiment—a critical first step. If executed properly, this bill could help New York reclaim its status as a global fintech leader—this time, in the blockchain era. In a surprising shift from its historically tough stance on digital assets, New York is now exploring a crypto-friendly future. A newly proposed bill—Assembly Bill A7788—seeks to allow residents to pay state-related obligations such as taxes, rent, and fines using cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Litecoin. If approved, this bill could mark a watershed moment not just for New York, but for the broader U.S. crypto ecosystem . But how far will this go, and what does it really mean for the average New Yorker? Assemblyman Clyde Vanel’s bill proposes amending New York’s finance law to let state agencies accept cryptocurrencies for a wide range of payments. These include fines, civil penalties, taxes, rent, fees, charges, and more. Unlike a mandatory framework, the bill grants agencies the discretion to opt in based on operational feasibility. This could mean that adoption happens gradually, with forward-thinking departments leading the charge while others observe and wait. If passed, the law would go into effect 90 days after being signed—giving agencies a relatively short runway to integrate Bitcoin or crypto payment systems. This move, while technically optional, sends a powerful message: New York is no longer shutting the door on digital assets. The proposal is a big win for crypto normalization, especially in a state where regulations like the BitLicense made crypto companies hesitant to operate. While the bill doesn’t create a reserve system or endorse Bitcoin as legal tender , it lays the groundwork for mainstream adoption within public infrastructure. The bill also smartly allows agencies to charge a service fee—not as a profit mechanism, but to cover blockchain transaction costs like gas fees. This pragmatic approach may reduce friction for agencies while making sure taxpayers don’t shoulder surprise costs. If adopted, New York would join a growing list of states—including Colorado and Arizona—paving the way for state-level crypto integration. And given New York’s influence in finance, this could pressure other states to follow suit. Not everyone in the state is celebrating this shift. Attorney General Letitia James has voiced strong concerns about crypto’s role in financial stability, national security, and illicit activity. Her statements reflect a more cautious stance, one focused on federal oversight and investor protection. James warns that widespread adoption of cryptocurrencies could undermine the U.S. dollar , bypass AML frameworks, and fund adversarial regimes. Her advocacy for tighter federal rules highlights an ongoing tension in New York’s leadership—innovation vs. regulation. While her viewpoint doesn’t directly oppose A7788, it signals that the road ahead for full-scale crypto integration will involve intense political negotiation, particularly at the federal level. If passed, New York’s bill could become a template for crypto integration in other major states. More importantly, it would help shift the narrative: from crypto as a fringe speculative asset to crypto as a practical financial tool embedded in public systems. The bill also opens new possibilities for innovation within the DeFi and public payment sectors, especially if state agencies begin to build infrastructure that interfaces directly with blockchains. However, the timing and execution of the bill will be key. With skepticism still strong in parts of government, the success of this initiative will depend on clear security protocols, easy-to-use payment systems, and public trust. For now, it appears so—but cautiously. Assembly Bill A7788 represents a major shift in tone from the state that once made life difficult for crypto startups. It doesn’t mean New York is going all-in on Bitcoin tomorrow, but it does mean the state is ready to experiment—a critical first step. If executed properly, this bill could help New York reclaim its status as a global fintech leader—this time, in the blockchain era.

The two largest regrets in life are to not buy Bitcoin and not becoming a parent.