The ACT presented a unique series of four webinars from September to November 2021, in partnership with Arca and Copper, that explored digital assets and cryptocurrencies. As digital assets and cryptocurrency in general start to become more mainstream, this series will guide you on a journey to an in-depth understanding of the topic.
Will you be joining?
These are just some of the companies already registered ready to discover how digital assets and cryptocurrencies can work for them and their organisation.
Explore the types of tokens and coins available and hear about essential market and regulatory updates in part one. Then explore the security and custody of investing in digital assets in part two. In part three, get insight on investment strategies; and end by looking at the bigger picture for digital assets.
Part one: what are digital assets?
Watch now by clicking on the green button. This webinar led by Arca and Copper explored the types of tokens and coins available and importantly, how regulators view them. It covered stablecoins and issues with tether, bitcoin and other similar coins, such as utility coins, differences from central bank digital currencies, and more.
Speakers:
Rayne Steinberg is Chief Executive Officer at Arca. In his role, Rayne leads the overall direction of the company and is responsible for securities structuring and risk management. Rayne has a rich history of financial and entrepreneurial success with nearly two decades of experience. Prior to founding Arca, Rayne co-founded asset management company, WisdomTree. There, he was responsible for raising capital, creating intellectual property and building and overseeing the sales team responsible for raising $50 billion in ETF AUM. Rayne holds a Bachelor of Science Degree in Economics from the Wharton School of Business.
As Copper's CFO, Ralph is responsible for financial oversight of the business with a focus on the timely and accurate reconciliation of client funds.
He began his career in an accountancy practice, spending ten years with Perrys Chartered Accountants, qualifying in 2009 and gaining the Investment Management Certificate in 2010. He has also worked for Barclays on their commodities team before joining an investment incubator group in 2014, and elevating to Finance Director the following year.
Ralph is a fellow of the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants. At Copper, Ralph takes care of all financial operations, client banking setups, and oversees the company's trading activities. He was also the driving force behind Copper making its own allocation to BTC, following board approval. This investment has to date-returned 133%.
Moderator:
Naresh has spent 30 years in a variety of treasury roles spanning industry and advisory firms. At PwC he was the UK Lead for Cash Management and Payments where he helped lead the firm’s work on payments, Brexit, treasury controls, Blockchain, operational resilience and target operating model design and implementation. He won an Innovation award for his proposition around mobile payments. Prior to PwC, Naresh spent almost 20 years in industry across a range of organisations including BP, Heron Property, Cable and Wireless and Fujitsu taking on roles such as analyst, dealer and treasurer.
This webinar took place on 8 September 2021.
Part two: how do you manage the security of investing, redeeming and owning digital assets? Watch now by clicking on the green button. In the first webinar of our series, we explore the digital asset ecosystem, giving you a clearer understanding of the different types of assets that exist. This second webinar went into more detail on security and custody – an area we know that treasurers and other finance professionals are concerned with. It explored timing and liquidity issues, the role of custodians, the focus of the regulators, and recent regulatory developments.
Speaker:
Asen Kostadinov is Copper’s head of strategy and joined the company from MMC Ventures where he led the blockchain/crypto investment portfolio and also led the fund's research department. Prior to his career in venture capital, he spent four years as an equity research analyst at Barclays, covering European media and video and internet gaming. Previously, Asen worked in the aerospace industry as an engineer in the Airbus Flight Physics Division, after completing his engineering degree in Aeronautics and Astronautics. Asen is a Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA)
Moderator:
Sarah has extensive corporate experience with over two decades in industry working in a wide range of finance and treasury roles with companies including Cadbury and Whitbread. A qualified accountant, she now spends her time applying her insights to practical use, enabling others to understand how the corporate financial world works and the relevance of developments in financial markets on their day-to-day activities. She is an Associate Member of the ACT.
This webinar took place on 6 October 2021.
Part three: the role of digital assets as part of an investment strategyHaving explored the digital asset ecosystem and how to invest securely in parts one and two of the series, this third webinar looks at how digital assets can form part of a diversified investment portfolio. Led by Arca, we explore the benefits that digital assets can bring to a portfolio, and how treasurers can aggregate reporting on traditional and non-traditional assets.
Speakers:
Jeff Dorman is Chief Investment Officer at Arca. In his role, Jeff leads the investment committee and is responsible for portfolio sizing and risk management. Jeff has over 17 years of trading and asset management experience at leading firms including Merrill Lynch and Citadel, where he oversaw trading of over $100 million in proprietary capital. Jeff also served as COO of Harvest Exchange, a FinTech company that is widely utilized by asset managers and investors. Jeff is a CFA charterholder and holds a BA in Finance and Economics from Washington University in St. Louis.
In his role, Peter is responsible for all aspects of strategy and management across investor relations, distribution and strategic relationships. Peter also serves on the risk committee where he focuses on regulatory and policy risk opportunities. Prior to joining Arca, Peter was the co-founder and CEO of the popular financial technology company, Harvest Exchange, which he ran from its founding in 2013 through 2019. Peter helped found Height Analytics, and was the former Director of Research for a Policy Intelligence Research Firm, to which he built a best-in-class research department. For the past 20 years, Peter has led teams and been responsible for goal-exceeding organic growth across multiple asset management and capital markets companies. Peter holds a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Psychology from Colby College and an MBA in Finance from Vanderbilt University.
Vance Sanders is Chief Financial Officer at Arca. In his role, Vance leads the finance and compliance efforts for the corporate and fund entities. Vance has over 25 years progressive financial management experience including 10 years with asset management and mutual fund companies where he directed the corporate financial, corporate technology and fund operations for an asset management firm with over $2 billion of assets under management. Vance is a Colorado CPA (inactive) and holds a BSBA from Missouri Southern University.
Pat White is the CEO and Co-Founder of Bitwave, a platform specializing in software for businesses that use digital assets and crypto. Bitwave provides cryptocurrency accounting, tax tracking, bookkeeping, DeFi ROI monitoring, and crypto AR/AP software.
Over the last decade, Pat White has built enterprise software at companies such as Intuit, Microsoft, Five9, and Fortify Software (now HP Security). Later he co-founded Synata, an enterprise search platform that was acquired by Cisco in 2016, where he worked as the Chief Architect for their Webex Teams Product.
A cryptocurrency enthusiast since 2011, Pat is passionate about the potential for blockchain technology to change the world, and is on a mission to enable that change. He combined his expertise in enterprise software and cryptocurrencies to co-found Bitwave in 2018. Pat has contributed code to Bitcoin, Ethereum, and several other crypto-currency projects. He is also the co-host of the podcast, The DeFi Daily.
Moderator:
Naresh has spent 30 years in a variety of treasury roles spanning industry and advisory firms. At PwC he was the UK Lead for Cash Management and Payments where he helped lead the firm’s work on payments, Brexit, treasury controls, Blockchain, operational resilience and target operating model design and implementation. He won an Innovation award for his proposition around mobile payments. Prior to PwC, Naresh spent almost 20 years in industry across a range of organisations including BP, Heron Property, Cable and Wireless and Fujitsu taking on roles such as analyst, dealer and treasurer.
This webinar took place on 3 November 2021.
Part four: digital assets in 2021 and beyondThis final webinar of the series took place at the virtual ACT Festival of Treasury Transformation, 23-25 November. Corporates, Click on the green button to watch the recording on YouTube.
This webinar took place at the virtual ACT Festival of Treasury Transformation, 23 November 2021.
