On Wednesday, February 18th, 2026, The Tie will host our Innovate event, InnovateDenver. Innovate is an event series presented by The Tie at crypto’s major conferences, where investors and builders come together to engage in discussions that strengthen the industry’s momentum and increase interest in digital assets. The event series features three key pillars: networking with top-tier industry professionals, expert-led panels, and opportunities for 1:1 meetings with blockchain innovators. InnovateDenver was the first of these invitation-only events at ETHDenver 2024.
2026 Speakers
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Jake Brukhman
CoinFund
CEO & Founder
Colton Conley
Arrington Capital
Partner
Eunice Giarta
Monad
Co-Founder, GM of Monad Foundation
Jonathan (JK) King
Coinbase Ventures
Senior Manager, Investments
Ayesha Kiani
Monarq Asset Management
Chief Operating Officer
James Newman, CFA
Republic
Managing Partner - Fund Manager, Global COO & European CEO
Omar Kanji
Dragonfly
Partner
Justin Cohen
J.P. Morgan
Managing Director - Head of EDG & SI Product Development
Maria Shen
Electric Capital
General Partner
Richard Widmann
Google
Head of Strategy, Web3
Lee Fan
Avenir Group
Head of US / Managing Partner
Crypto VCs Have Scale, Liquid Funds Do Not. What Are the Implications and Can This Change?
You Just Raised a $500M VC Fund, In This Cycle is It Even Possible to Generate a Return for LPs?
Are Airdrops and Incentives Fueling Real Adoption or Just Phantom Users?
From ETFs to Treasury Strategies — What’s the Next Institutional Trade in Crypto?
Do Venture-Backed Tokens Create Uninvestable Post-Launch Dynamics?
Buybacks, TVL, Users, Revenue, Liquidity, Community: Which Metrics Actually Matter?
The Real Moat Debate: Are Chains Competing on Tech, Brand, or Balance Sheet?
Confidential by Design: How Privacy Protocols and Chains Are Unlocking Institutional Use Cases
AI × Crypto: Essential Fusion or Forced Marriage?
Speculation Built Crypto, but Can Utility Sustain It Through the Next Decade?
Layered Yield: Are We Stacking Productivity or Just Stacking Risk?
How Can Protocols Build Sustainably When Crypto Narratives Constantly Rotate?
Tokenomics in 2026, What Bull and Bear Markets of Past Can Teach us About Sustainable Token Design
The Push to Tokenize Everything: Which Use Cases Demand It, and Which Clearly Don’t?
Equity vs. Tokens: Are Conflicting Priorities Killing Crypto as an Investable Asset Class?
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