Adam Back

Adam Back appeared at Proof of Talk Paris 2026 on 2 June in “The Great Crossover: Asset Management for the Onchain Investor”. The Day 1 fireside ran from 11:45 to 12:25 on the Hecto Main Stage. He joined Franklin Templeton CEO Jenny Johnson, with Eleanor Terrett moderating. The programme billed Back as Co-Founder & CEO, Blockstream & BSTR.

His Blockstream role and his BSTR role require separate context. Blockstream appointed him chief executive on 3 October 2016, and its leadership page continues to identify him as co-founder and CEO. The company works on Bitcoin infrastructure, with products and projects spanning self-custody, asset issuance and Lightning payments. Its published product portfolio includes Jade, the Liquid Network, the Elements platform, Core Lightning and Simplicity.

Blockstream's dated quarterly update of 3 July 2026 added specific context to that infrastructure work. It reported an expanded Jade hardware-wallet range, a Liquid roadmap covering transaction and tokenisation tooling, and two Core Lightning releases. These were company and engineering-team developments. The update also recorded Back's Paris appearance with Johnson, providing an additional company-side record of the conference session.

BSTR's announcement of 20 August 2026 identified Back as its CEO and co-founder. It also said that BSTR and Cantor Equity Partners I had agreed to terminate their proposed business combination. That announcement described continuing work on active Bitcoin treasury management, including yield strategies and strategies intended to outperform passive Bitcoin holding. Those were stated business intentions rather than reported investment results.

The terminated transaction therefore must not be presented as a completed Nasdaq listing. BSTR's name in the June programme remains part of the edition's historical billing; the August release is the dated basis for describing Back's separate role there. Blockstream's operating-company leadership and the proposed BSTR transaction should not be collapsed into one company history.