look book

The Look Book Goes to a Crypto Conference

After enduring a rocky few weeks, enthusiasts gathered at Benzinga’s “Future of Crypto” event to take stock.

Photo: DeSean McClinton-Holland
Photo: DeSean McClinton-Holland

Valentina Hartmann (pictured above)
Investor-relations manager, London

What brings you here?
I’m representing a company called Bitzero — we do zero-carbon bitcoin mining. One of our investors is Shark Tank’s Kevin O’Leary, and he’s the keynote today. In light of the whole FTX crash, a lot of our investors have come to us and asked, “Are you involved?” And we’re not. Only Kevin himself was. So we also felt it was a good opportunity to show face and clarify that.

Why didn’t you guys get involved with FTX?
We’ve not yet found a reason to trust any exchanges. We only store our bitcoin in a wallet, which is housed in the offices of our lawyers in Switzerland. Obviously, we feel terrible for the people who took the hit, but again, we’re not associated with any of that.

Luke Backus

Biz-dev liaison, Durham, Connecticut

Allison Samol

Biz-dev representative, Erie, Pennsylvania

Orrin Campbell

Software engineer, Flatbush

Alicia McCauley

Public-relations professional, Ridgewood

Aníbal Suriel

Crypto lawyer, Miami


Why did you come today?

I’m starting my own crypto-focused law firm. I need to get clients, so I’m attending as many conventions as possible. But the space is dead right now, which is unfortunate. I could probably have chosen a better time to venture out on my own.

Adam Levinstein

Visual-production specialist, Laguna Beach, California

Alex Taaffe

Crypto-exchange executive, Hoboken, New Jersey


Any memorable panels?

Anthony Scaramucci is a great talker. Same with Kevin O’Leary. But it’s hard to know their motivations at this point. They’re still recovering from their FTX investments like everyone else. It’s unclear to me whether they’re still gonna be in crypto five years from now.

Rosie Mattio

Communications executive, Closter, New Jersey

Agha Khan

Consultant, Williamsburg

Felix Slavutskiy

Biz-dev executive, Sheepshead Bay

Charlie Winterhalter

Account manager, Laguna Beach, California

Sean Kelly

Entrepreneur, Las Vegas


What do you do for fun?

I host meetups for high-net-worth individuals. You have to do a million or more a year, so it’s definitely quality people. I find them through conferences and my Instagram. I have 8 million followers, so I have to be careful with what I post about crypto and only use the exact wording my lawyer tells me.

Art Malkov

Crypto CMO, Williamsburg

Shaahid Hill

Investor, Baltimore

Shekinah Shazaam

Multimedia artist, Detroit

Megan Nilsson

Crypto and NFT consultant, Los Angeles

Kurt Wuckert Jr.

Bitcoin historian, Miami


Do you own any bitcoin?

Yes. I’m actually a bitcoin historian for a living. But I’m not a fancy guy — I drive a minivan. The best thing for me was simply using the 2017 bull run to pay off my house.

Derek Woods

Chief of staff, Chelsea

Photographs by DeSean McClinton-Holland

Luke Backus

Biz-dev liaison, Durham, Connecticut

Allison Samol

Biz-dev representative, Erie, Pennsylvania

Orrin Campbell

Software engineer, Flatbush

Alicia McCauley

Public-relations professional, Ridgewood

Aníbal Suriel

Crypto lawyer, Miami


Why did you come today?

I’m starting my own crypto-focused law firm. I need to get clients, so I’m attending as many conventions as possible. But the space is dead right now, which is unfortunate. I could probably have chosen a better time to venture out on my own.

Adam Levinstein

Visual-production specialist, Laguna Beach, California

Alex Taaffe

Crypto-exchange executive, Hoboken, New Jersey


Any memorable panels?

Anthony Scaramucci is a great talker. Same with Kevin O’Leary. But it’s hard to know their motivations at this point. They’re still recovering from their FTX investments like everyone else. It’s unclear to me whether they’re still gonna be in crypto five years from now.

Rosie Mattio

Communications executive, Closter, New Jersey

Agha Khan

Consultant, Williamsburg

Felix Slavutskiy

Biz-dev executive, Sheepshead Bay

Charlie Winterhalter

Account manager, Laguna Beach, California

Sean Kelly

Entrepreneur, Las Vegas


What do you do for fun?

I host meetups for high-net-worth individuals. You have to do a million or more a year, so it’s definitely quality people. I find them through conferences and my Instagram. I have 8 million followers, so I have to be careful with what I post about crypto and only use the exact wording my lawyer tells me.

Art Malkov

Crypto CMO, Williamsburg

Shaahid Hill

Investor, Baltimore

Shekinah Shazaam

Multimedia artist, Detroit

Megan Nilsson

Crypto and NFT consultant, Los Angeles

Kurt Wuckert Jr.

Bitcoin historian, Miami


Do you own any bitcoin?

Yes. I’m actually a bitcoin historian for a living. But I’m not a fancy guy — I drive a minivan. The best thing for me was simply using the 2017 bull run to pay off my house.

Derek Woods

Chief of staff, Chelsea

Photographs by DeSean McClinton-Holland

More From This Series

See All
The Look Book Goes to a Crypto Conference