Speaker · Proof of Talk 2026

Hadley Stern

Former Independent Non-Executive Chairman, DeFi Development Corporation UK PLC

Having launched Fidelity's blockchain incubator in 2014 and later headed global digital asset custody at BNY Mellon, he moderated three sessions at Proof of Talk Paris 2026.

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The Significance

Why the room needs them.

Hadley Stern moderated three sessions at Proof of Talk Paris 2026, on institutional DeFi, digital asset treasuries and judgement in the age of infinite tools. From 2014 he launched Fidelity's blockchain-specific incubator and digital currency group, and later ran global digital asset custody at The Bank of New York Mellon. He was appointed a director of DeFi Development Corp. (Nasdaq: DFDV) in January 2026.

The Numbers

Sessions moderated at Proof of Talk Paris 2026

Years at Fidelity Investments, from 2001

2014

Fidelity Labs blockchain incubator launched

The Biography

The full account.

Hadley Stern moderated three sessions at Proof of Talk Paris 2026, all on the first day. At 11:00 he chaired the Hecto Main Stage panel "Institutional DeFi: The Use Cases Worth the Risk", with Dax Hansen of Perkins Coie, Stéphanie Cabossioras, Chief Strategy and Global Policy Officer at Societe Generale-FORGE, and Maja Vujinovic, chief executive of FGNexus. Later, on the Taostats Stage, he moderated the 13:10 fireside "The Role of Digital Asset Treasuries and the Investment Case Ahead", with Nico Pasquariello, a digital assets specialist at Cantor, and Hyunsu Jung, chief executive of Hyperion DeFi. He returned to the main stage at 16:10 for "The Last Moat: An Interview with Maja Vujinovic on Judgement in the Age of Infinite Tools". In all three he was the moderator, not a panellist.

He joined Fidelity Investments in 2001 from Razorfish, where he had led user experience in the Boston office, and stayed seventeen years. From 2014, as a senior vice president at Fidelity Labs, he launched the firm's blockchain-specific incubator and digital currency group, and founded Fidelity Digital Asset Services in 2016, per DeFi Development Corp.'s SEC-filed biography. Bloq named him its first chief operating officer in October 2018. He then led the Amazon Web Services Innovation Lab, and afterwards headed global digital asset custody at The Bank of New York Mellon, where, in DeFi Development Corp.'s wording, he launched the industry's first bank-grade digital asset custody platform for bitcoin and ethereum. In September 2024 he joined Marinade as Chief Commercial Officer, and by 2026 was advising the firm.

Stern became a director of DeFi Development Corporation UK PLC with effect from 15 January 2026 and served as its Independent Non-Executive Chairman, signing the Chairman's Statement in the annual report of 22 May 2026, eleven days before the Louvre stage. He resigned from that board on 30 June 2026, and the company was renamed Cykel AI PLC on 13 July 2026. Separately, on 27 January 2026 he was appointed a director of DeFi Development Corp. (Nasdaq: DFDV), the US-listed Solana treasury company, and was still listed as a director in its information statement of 5 June 2026. He has written for Forbes on institutional crypto, staking and Solana, and argued in CoinDesk in March 2025 for a US Solana ETF that pays staking rewards. An earlier book, iPod & iTunes Hacks, was published by O'Reilly in 2005.

The Thesis · on the record

What Hadley believes about the next ten years.

US ETFs should pay the staking reward

Writing in CoinDesk in March 2025, he argued that Europe's approval of staking ETPs should set the precedent for a staking ETF in the United States, and that American investors were being denied yield because issuers had learned from the Ethereum case to strike staking from their applications. Midway through the piece he put it in a line: "It's time for a Solana ETF."

The corporate crypto treasury has outgrown the inflation hedge

In Forbes in September 2025 he wrote that what began as a macro hedge against inflation had evolved into public companies using crypto for infrastructure participation and yield, and that the shift was playing out on Solana through a new class of digital asset treasury entities.

A listed company can participate in a network, not merely hold it

On his appointment to the board of DeFi Development Corp. in January 2026 he said that combining a public market structure with active participation in the Solana ecosystem represented "a compelling evolution in digital asset treasury management".

The Timeline

Years of shipping.

2014

As a senior vice president at Fidelity Labs, launches the firm's blockchain-specific incubator and digital currency group, per the biography DeFi Development Corp. has filed with the SEC.

2016

Founds Fidelity Digital Asset Services, per that same filed biography. The Block later described him as the unit's founding president from 2016 to 2018.

2018

Leaves Fidelity after seventeen years and is named Bloq's first chief operating officer in October.

2021

Becomes head of global digital asset custody at The Bank of New York Mellon, a role The Block reported as running to 2024, after leading the Amazon Web Services Innovation Lab from 2020.

2024

Joins Marinade as Chief Commercial Officer in September.

2026

Appointed a director of DeFi Development Corp. (Nasdaq: DFDV) on 27 January, and Independent Non-Executive Chairman of DeFi Development Corporation UK PLC from 15 January; resigns from the UK board on 30 June, and that company is renamed Cykel AI PLC on 13 July.

In Their Words

Lines that keep proving correct.

“But what began as a macro hedge against inflation has now evolved into something more sophisticated: public companies leveraging crypto not just for exposure, but for infrastructure participation and yield.”

Forbes, "Solana's Institutional Moment: SOL Digital Asset Treasuries", 17 September 2025

“It's time for a Solana ETF.”

CoinDesk, "The U.S. Deserves Better Crypto ETFs. Let's Start With Solana", 17 March 2025

“DFDV's approach to combining a public market structure with active participation in the Solana ecosystem represents a compelling evolution in digital asset treasury management, and I look forward to supporting the Company's long-term strategy.”

DeFi Development Corp. press release filed with the SEC as Exhibit 99.1 to a Form 8-K, 29 January 2026

The Body of Work

What they have built, written, and backed.

Built

Fidelity's first iPhone appBloq's October 2018 announcement of his hire credits him with leading development of Fidelity's first iPhone app and with launching the firm on Facebook and Twitter, and says he holds 16 patents.
Fidelity's blockchain incubatorFrom 2014, as a senior vice president at Fidelity Labs, he launched the firm's blockchain-specific incubator and digital currency group, per the biography DeFi Development Corp. has filed with the SEC. Bloq's 2018 announcement describes the same work as the cryptocurrency and blockchain incubator inside Fidelity Labs.
Fidelity Digital Asset ServicesDeFi Development Corp.'s SEC-filed biography says he founded the unit in 2016. The Block, reporting his hire by Marinade in September 2024, described him as its founding president from 2016 to 2018.
Digital asset custody at BNY MellonHe was head of global digital asset custody at The Bank of New York Mellon. DeFi Development Corp.'s January 2026 announcement of his board appointment says he launched the industry's first bank-grade digital asset custody platform for bitcoin and ethereum.

Hadley at Proof of Talk Paris 2026

The next Proof of Talk is in Abu Dhabi.

Louvre Abu Dhabi, 3–4 December 2026. Admission is by application, and the room is capped at 2,000.

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