Relevance Person
Barry Silbert
Barry Silbert is the Founder and CEO of Digital Currency Group (DCG). He is at the epicenter of the bitcoin and blockchain industry, and DCG is a global enterprise that builds, supports, and invests in companies worldwide. As an early and active investor in the industry, Barry established himself in 2012. He founded DCG in 2015 and the company is now one of the industry's most prolific investors, backing hundreds of companies globally. In addition to its investment portfolio, DCG owns Grayscale Investments, Genesis, CoinDesk, Foundry, Luno, TradeBlock, and HQ. DCG also invests directly in digital currencies and other digital assets. Before DCG, Barry was the Founder and CEO of SecondMarket, a venture-backed technology company that was acquired by Nasdaq. He has been recognized with several awards and honors, such as Entrepreneur of the Year by Ernst & Young and Crain's, and being selected to Fortune's "40 under 40" list. Before becoming an entrepreneur, Barry worked as an investment banker in New York. He graduated with honors from the Goizueta Business School of Emory University.
Mark Shifke
Mark Shifke is the Chief Financial Officer at DCG. Presively he was CFO at Billtrust & Green Dot Corporation, Managing Director at JPMorgan Chase, Vice President at Goldman Sachs. Mark Shifke graduated from New York University School of Law.
Mark Murphy
As President of DCG, Mark works closely with the company's six wholly-owned subsidiaries on strategy, execution, and all management matters. He leads DCG's legal, communications, marketing, brand, and public policy efforts, and supports the CEO on day-to-day management. Mark also advises DCG's 175+ portfolio companies on public relations, brand, and marketing efforts. He is a member of the Board of Directors of the Blockchain Association, the industry's leading trade association.
Michael Kraines
Michael Kraines was the Chief Financial Officer of the Digital Currency Group.
Bobby Cho
Bobby Cho is President and Founding Partner at CMS Holdings. CMS is a principal investment firm focused on crypto assets. Previously, Bobby was chief operating officer of DRW’s crypto trading arm, Cumberland. Prior to DRW, Bobby was Director of Trading at Paxos Trust Company concentrating on building out crypto trading and custody products. Bobby started his career at SecondMarket working in illiquid asset-backed securities. At SecondMarket, Bobby helped build out their bitcoin trading arm, Genesis Global Trading, and asset management division, Digital Currency Group. Bobby is a graduate of Villanova University.
Ryan Selkis
Ryan Selkis is the Founder & ex-CEO of Messari, and was previously an Entrepreneur-in-Residence at ConsenSys and a founding team member at the industry's most active investor, Digital Currency Group, and the largest media brand, CoinDesk. He is also working on new ventures and angel investing.
Travis Scher
Travis is co-founder and Managing Partner at NIV. Prior to founding NIV, he led investments at Digital Currency Group from 2015-2019, during which time he invested in over 100 crypto startups and protocols across dozens of countries. Travis started his career as an M&A attorney at Skadden Arps. He holds a BBA from Emory University’s Goizueta Business School, and a JD from the University of Michigan Law School.
Mike Katz
Mike Katz was previously vice president and head of legal at DCG. He is a graduate of the University of Pennsylvania and holds a Juris Doctor from Columbia University.
Meltem Demirors
Meltem Demirors is Chief Strategy Officer of CoinShares, the digital asset manager. She is also a cryptocurrency investor, advisor, and advocate, with a unique blend of experience in both legacy and blockchain-based finance and cryptocurrencies. At CoinShares, Ms. Demirors builds asset management products to provide institutional investors with exposure to crypto assets and blockchain companies. Prior to this, she held a senior strategic and investing role at Digital Currency Group.
Evan Malanga
Evan Malanga is vice president of investment strategy at DCG and previously served as Senior Director of Business development at Securitize. He also worked at ConsenSys. Evan Malanga has extensive experience working in the financial services, fintech, blockchain and money transfer broker industries. He graduated from the University of Connecticut and holds an MBA from Columbia University.