Unlocking the Full Potential of Digital Assets

Sameer Shalaby oversees all non-trading/sales functions at VersiFi, with a focus on maximizing value for the company’s clients, employees and shareholders. Prior to founding VersiFi, Mr. Shalaby spent five years as President and CEO of HazelTree Fund Services, a treasury management solutions provider for asset managers, where he oversaw the addition of over 200 of the world’s largest hedge fund managers and private equity managers as clients, resulting in explosive revenue growth. Before HazelTree, Mr. Shalaby was the founder and CEO of Paladyne Systems, an investment management solutions provider that was acquired by Broadridge Financial Solutions in 2011. Previous ventures include founding Cogency Systems, an investor operational management and accounting solutions provider later acquired by BackStop Solutions, and co-founding TenFold Corporation, a technology and vertical applications provider he piloted to an IPO in 1999. Mr. Shalaby started his career at Oracle Corporation as a member of its core technology team. He holds a B.S. from The George Washington University and an M.S. from MIT. He is an active investor in software startups and serves on several technology startup boards.

Sasha Kouperman is an entrepreneur, networker, fintech executive, company and culture builder, investor and mentor. As Co-Founder & Managing Director at VersiFi, he focuses on strategic, corporate and business development. Before joining VersiFi, Mr. Kouperman spent 27 years in the hedge fund industry. He founded, grew and exited InfoHedge Technologies, a well-known MSP in the hedge fund space. Before founding InfoHedge, he spent 10 years as CTO of a large hedge fund, where he architected and built what became known as Paladyne Systems. It was around this time that Mr. Kouperman met VersiFi co-founder Sameer Shalaby, with whom he continued to collaborate on various projects throughout the next 15 years. Over the course of his career, Mr. Kouperman has become an expert on architecting, building and implementing systems and platforms for hedge funds, asset managers, broker-dealers, fintechs and prime brokerages. He holds a B.S. from Brooklyn College and is an alumni of executive education programs from Harvard Business School and MIT.

Sidharth Sankhe is a software engineer, systems designer and researcher who oversees quantitative trading and technology at VersiFi. Before joining VersiFi, Mr. Sankhe was founder and Chief Technology Officer at Ather Digital. Previous stops include high-frequency trading firm Five Rings Capital, where he built high-performance, low latency systems, and Goldman Sachs, where he was a quant developer. In addition, Mr. Sankhe’s work has been published by leading data management associations such as SIGMOD. He holds a B.E. in Computer Science with a systems concentration from the University of Pennsylvania.

Feroze Medora oversees all OTC trading activities at VersiFi. He brings over 15 years of macro trading and structuring experience, having held various leadership positions at investment banks in London, Singapore and the Middle East. Before joining VersiFi, he was Managing Director, Head of APAC for Gemini, where he set up the firm’s cryptocurrency derivatives trading business. He holds undergraduate and postgraduate degrees in finance and economics from the London School of Economics and Bayes Business School.

John Livingstone focuses on building and maintaining relationships for VersiFi’s UAE business. Before joining VersiFi, he spent his 25-year career as an entrepreneur, investment manager and business mentor, with a particular focus on researching, managing and advising on investments both direct and through fund strategies. He has managed assets for various institutional fund managers, including Russell Investments, Henderson Global Investors, Edinburgh Fund Managers and Aberdeen Asset Management (London and Asia). Most recently, he was advising multiple UAE-based family offices. Mr. Livingstone began his career as an interest rate swaps broker based in Hong Kong. He earned an M.A. from the University of Edinburgh and an M.S. from the University of Stirling. He is a CFA (UK) Charterholder.

Dr. Valentin Zhigulin has over 15 years of investment management experience in traditional and digital assets. Since 2007, he has worked as an equity portfolio manager at multiple hedge funds, including Visium Asset Management and Citadel Investment Group. Over the last five years, he has focused on investing and trading in digital assets, most recently serving as Chief Investment Officer of a crypto-focused hedge fund. Dr. Zhigulin received a PhD in Physics from the California Institute of Technology.

Sol Zlotchenko helps oversee VersiFi’s engineering and product teams. He brings over 25 years of experience driving growth and innovation across the financial services and technology sectors, most recently at Hazeltree Fund Services, a treasury management solutions provider for asset managers, and Paladyne Systems, an investment management solutions provider that was acquired by Broadridge Financial Solutions in 2011. With deep knowledge of buy-side operations, financial engineering and risk management, Mr. Zlotchenko is a proven technology leader whose solutions have consistently delivered value to the world’s foremost financial institutions. He holds B.S. and M.S. degrees in Electrical Engineering from Columbia University.

Daniel Zayfman oversees all systems, networks, security and applications infrastructure at VersiFi, with a focus on protecting assets and minimizing cybersecurity threats. Prior to joining VersiFi, Mr. Zayfman spent six years at Hazeltree Fund Services, a treasury management solutions provider for asset managers, where he oversaw the continued development of an innovative, robust and secure IT environment. Prior to joining Hazeltree, Mr. Zayfman was Vice President of IT and Operations at Paladyne Systems, an investment management solutions provider that was acquired by Broadridge Financial Solutions in 2011, where he played a key role in building its hosted Application Service Provider (ASP) solution. He holds a bachelor’s degree from Touro University.

Scott Crew leads all operational functions at VersiFi, bringing a wealth of experience from a distinguished career in technology and finance. Mr. Crew joined VersiFi from the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority (ADIA), where he spent over a decade in various operational roles, including change management, operational risk and most recently heading the Trade and Collateral Management function. In this capacity, Mr. Crew was responsible for overseeing all post-trade activities across ADIA’s diverse and complex product lines, ensuring operational efficiency and mitigating risk through effective, scalable workflows. Mr. Crew began his career in technology-focused roles at JPMorgan and RBS in London, where he specialized in designing, implementing and maintaining risk management systems. He combines a strong technical foundation with deep operational expertise, comprehensive financial product knowledge and a commitment to building robust, scalable and client-centric operational capabilities. He holds a BSc (Hons) in Computer Science from the University of Edinburgh and is a CFA Charterholder.

Adam Hoffman is responsible for providing strategic legal and business counsel, while overseeing VersiFi’s regulatory compliance program. Prior to joining VersiFi, Mr. Hoffman was Chief Operating Officer, General Counsel, and Chief Compliance Officer of Hunting Hill Global Capital, an SEC registered investment advisor, where he oversaw day-to-day business operations and managed all aspects of the legal, compliance and regulatory activities for crypto-related trading. Prior to Hunting Hill Mr. Hoffman was GC/CCO at Sandell Asset Management, a global activist hedge fund manager. Before Sandell, Mr. Hoffman was a member of multiple institutional legal and compliance teams and over the course of his legal career, Mr. Hoffman has performed core compliance roles including those associated with anti-money laundering, regulatory filings, marketing, trading and product development. Mr. Hoffman earned a JD from the Cardozo School of Law, an MBA from Drexel University and a BA from the University of Rochester.

Dawid Nowicki oversees all compliance and anti-money laundering functions at VersiFi, applying experience from over 11 years in compliance, regulatory management and risk mitigation across both traditional finance and the digital asset space. Throughout his career, Mr. Nowicki has successfully managed compliance operations in multinational environments, most recently as Compliance Principal at ADQ, one of Abu Dhabi’s largest holding companies. His prior experience includes roles at Interactive Brokers and Credit Suisse. In each role, he has shown a commitment to building sustainable compliance programs and driving long-term growth and regulatory excellence. Mr. Nowicki holds a master’s degree from Wroclaw University of Economics and Business.

Adam Guren is the founder and CIO of Hunting Hill Global Capital, which launched its first fund in February 2012. From 2005 to 2011, Mr. Guren managed a global event-driven arbitrage portfolio at First New York Securities, investing in ETF arbitrage, cross-border arbitrage, merger arbitrage, corporate actions and other special situations. In 2007, he was named a partner at FNYS at the age of 26, becoming the youngest partner in the firm’s history to that point. In 2008, Mr. Guren was named to Trader Monthly’s “Top 30 Traders Under 30” list. From 2009 to 2011, he continued to manage his portfolio while a full-time student at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, where he received an M.B.A. with a focus in Entrepreneurial Management. He also holds a B.A. in Economics from Duke University. Mr. Guren has also enjoyed success on the soccer pitch – as a member of the top-ranked Duke Blue Devils varsity squad, professionally for the MLS’ Columbus Crew and Cleveland Force organizations, and with the U-18 U.S. Men’s National Team.

Dimitri Sogoloff is a founder and CEO of Horton Point, an alternative investment specialist firm. Prior to starting Horton Point in 2006, he was Co-Founder and President of a $3b relative value hedge fund investment firm, which he ran from 1992 to 2006, and a convertible arbitrage and equity derivatives trader at several trading firms, including Baring Securities and Spear Leeds. Mr. Sogoloff has helped launch a number of financial technology firms, with several highly successful exits. He holds a B.S. in Engineering and an M.B.A. in Finance, both from Columbia University.

Dougal Brech has spent over 25 years working in prime brokerage, providing investment banking and financing services to hedge funds. He spent the first 13 years of his career at Morgan Stanley, where he learned his trade. He left in 2007 to head up Credit Suisse’s European Prime Services team, helping to establish the franchise as the region’s top service provider by AUM, a position it maintained for seven years. Mr. Brech joined Nomura in 2018 as the Global Head of Prime Finance, where he reengineered the business: increasing pre-tax income by 500%, negotiating wholesale financing rates to cheaper levels and working with the team to focus on identifying the most profitable clients on a firmwide level. He has also set up smaller entrepreneurial businesses, from listed pub groups to vegan burgers. Mr. Brech holds a degree in Environmental Chemistry from Queen Mary University of London, as well as diplomas in Sustainable Financing from Cambridge University and in Cryptocurrency from MIT.

Aisha is Executive Director of the Emirates Family Office Association (EFOA) – an independent, non-profit association and the only official industry body for family offices in the UAE – helping member families connect with industry experts and share knowledge with other families so they can preserve and grow their wealth, modernise their business structures, and scale their operations internationally. She is also Head of Project Management at MIZA Abu Dhabi, an urban regeneration project, focussed on the creation of a cutting-edge, innovation-focussed neighbourhood in the city’s Mina Zayed district. With extensive experience in the public, private and family office sectors, Aisha has a track record of excellence in strategy, business performance and stakeholder engagement. Before joining EFOA and MIZA Abu Dhabi, Aisha held several senior managerial roles spanning both government and the private sector, including Directorial roles at Accenture Middle East and EY. Aisha holds Board positions at various finance companies based in Europe and North America regulated by ADGM

Prior to joining the VersiFi advisory team, Mr. Garcia was among the pioneering employees at SecondMarket, which evolved into Digital Currency Group (DCG). Notably, he played a foundational role in establishing DCG’s wholly owned trading business, Genesis Global Trading. Beginning his professional journey in Bitcoin and other digital assets in 2013, Mr. Garcia steered Genesis to prominence as one of the world’s largest digital currency trading and lending desks before departing in 2021. He earned a B.E. from Vanderbilt University and holds FINRA Series 7, 24, 63 and 53 licenses.

Prior to joining the VersiFi advisory team, Mr. Magliacca spent over six years at NYDIG as Head of Operations and Head of Asset Servicing, where he was responsible for the architecture and management of the firm’s custody, asset management and execution operations. Prior to that, he managed FX operations at Stone Ridge Asset Management and held various roles at Two Sigma and Millennium. He earned a BBA from Pace University and an MBA from NYU Stern School of Business.