Crypto Fest 2025

SNAPSHOT OF CRYPTO FEST 2025

Attendees

343
ATTENDEES

Events

3
WORKSHOPS

Speakers

32
SPEAKERS

Countries

24
COUNTRIES

Crypto Fest 2025

14 November 2025 | Workshop 17, Victoria & Alfred Waterfront, Cape Town, South Africa | 7th Edition

On 14 November 2025, Crypto Fest returned for its 7th edition at Workshop17, Victoria & Alfred Waterfront in Cape Town.

The event brought together a diverse crowd of attendees for an exciting day packed with educational workshops, speaker sessions, engaging panel discussions, and networking opportunities.

Featured industry leaders included Reece Merrick-Managing Director, Middle East & Africa at Ripple; Elçin Güven – Worldwide Digital Assets Sales at IBM and Lauren Weymouth, Senior Director of University Partnerships at Ripple.

Some of the standout sessions included:- Strategy-to-Production: Building the Enterprise-Grade Digital Assets Control Plane by Elçin Güven.

– Panel: How Banks Are Approaching Their Digital Assets Strategies, featuring Reece Merrick, Hari Chaitanya, Rikki Barnes, Gideon Rossouw and Robyn Lawson.

– Panel: Demystifying Crypto Taxation in South Africa: Navigating Compliance, Capital Gains, and Income Tax in the Digital Asset Era, featuring Dale Russell, Dr. Wiehann Olivier and Jerome Brink.

– Panel: Unlocking Africa’s Crypto Potential: Institutional Adoption, Tokenisation, and ETFs as Catalysts for Expansion, featuring Callan Richardson, Christo De Wit and Blake Player.

– Panel: State of Bitcoin Payments in South Africa, featuring Hannes Wessels, Carel van Wyk and Deven Moodley.

For a deeper dive into the insights shared during the event, watch the speaker sessions on the YouTube playlist.

The Sponsors

Welcome to Crypto Fest

video

Photos

Speakers

Networking

Workshops

The workshops were sponsored by IBM , Bybit and Stellar.

SPEAKERS

Master of Ceremonies

Koshiek Karan (Master of Ceremonies) Founder and CEO of BankerX

Koshiek Karan is a serial entrepreneur, early stage investor & financial activist.

Reece Merrick Managing Director, Middle East & Africa at Ripple

Reece Merrick is the Managing Director of Middle East and Africa at

Lauren Weymouth Senior Director of University Partnerships at Ripple

Lauren Weymouth is a Senior Director at Ripple, where she leads its

Elçin Güven Worldwide Digital Assets Sales at IBM

Elçin Güven is a digital-assets leader at IBM, based in Zürich, helping organisations

Carel de Jager CEO and Founder at Silver Sixpence

Carel de Jager is a blockchain expert, engineer, and thought leader in

Callan Richardson Head of Growth - Africa at Bitget

Callan Richardson is the Head of Growth at Bitget, bringing over 15

Charne’ Thompson Director and Founder of Thompsons Legal Alliance

Charne’ imbues unconventional thinking with a deep understanding and appreciation of the

Julian Kanjere Co-founder at Mandla Money

Julian Kanjere is a Co-founder at Mandla Money, a FinTech start-up that

Reginald Labuschagne Head of Product and Strategy at Sanlam Private Wealth

Reginald has 23 years of experience in the financial industry – his

Mamadou Kwidjim Toure Founder and CEO at Ubuntu Group

Mamadou Kwidjim Toure, inspired by his ancestors’ wisdom, believes in co-creating a

Nersan Naidoo Founder of MidSquare

Nersan Naidoo is a highly respected expert in both traditional finance and

Dr. Wiehann Olivier Partner | Head of FinTech and Digital Assets for Forvis Mazars South Africa

Wiehann Olivier is a Partner at Forvis Mazars South Africa, where he

Hari Chaitanya Head of Investor Services, Africa Standard Bank Group

Based in Johannesburg, Hari Chaitanya is responsible for leading Investor Services business

Rikki Barnes Head - Blockchain Enabler at FNB South Africa

Rikki Barnes has been with FirstRand for 12 years, predominantly in Foreign

Jerome Brink Director - Tax & Exchange Control at Cliffe Dekker Hofmeyr Inc

Jerome is a Director in CDH (Cliffe Dekker Hofmeyr Inc) Tax &

Hannes Wessels General Manager, Binance South Africa

Hannes Wessels is the General Manager, Binance South Africa. the world’s foremost blockchain ecosystem

Carel van Wyk CEO and Co-Founder of MoneyBadger

Carel van Wyk is a distinguished engineer and serial entrepreneur renowned for

Melanie Carstens Media Founder at Bitcoin and Beyond, Culture Unchained and Atlas

Melanie Carstens is a futurist and founder. She works at the intersection

Graeme Tennant CEO of Nottingham Road Asset Management

Graeme Tennant, is the CEO of Nottingham Road Asset Management, a licensed investment

Elo Mukoro CEO and Co-Founder at Cr3dentials

Elo Mukoro is the Founder and CEO of Cr3dentials, a verification protocol

Dale Russell Director at Moore Blockchain and Digital Assets JHB Pty Ltd

Dale Russell is a dynamic and visionary leader in the blockchain sector,

Deven Moodley Executive Head of Value-Added Services, Financial Services and Mobile at the Pick n Pay Group

Deven is a seasoned professional with 24 years of combined experience in

Werner Gerber Group Head of Investment Solutions at Skybound Capital

Werner Gerber is a highly regarded investment and finance professional with more

Gideon Rossouw Executive: Web3 Enablement at Nedbank

Gideon Rossouw is an Executive specializing in Web3 Enablement at Nedbank, where

Robyn Lawson Head of Digital Product: Custody at Absa

Robyn Lawson is a senior product and operations leader spearheading the development of

Jurgen Kuhnel Co-founder and CEO of Xago

Jurgen is a cryptocurrency enthusiast, trader, Co-founder and CEO of a South

Elli De Gouveia Lead for Solana in South Africa

Elli  is currently the Lead for Solana in South Africa. Eli also

Nicholas Allen CEO at Arrel

Nicholas brings over 15 years of experience in financial technology and digital

Dr. Allan Davids Director of the Financial Innovation Hub in the School of Economics at the University of Cape Town

Dr. Allan Davids is the Director of the Financial Innovation Hub in

Christo de Wit Country Manager South Africa at Luno

Christo de Wit serves as the Country Manager for Luno in South

Kamogelo Mosime Country Manager (South Africa) at Yellow Card

Kamogelo Mosime is the Country Manager for Yellow Card Financial in South

Blake Player Chief Commercial Officer at VALR

Blake Player is the Chief Commercial Officer at VALR, Africa’s largest digital

Speaker Videos

View all the speaker talks and panels on our YouTube channel.

View Speaker Videos

Programme

View the full Crypto Fest 2025 programme in pdf format.

View Programme

Sponsors