Nikola Stojanow
Partner, New Ventures, Bank Frick
Stojanow’s investing argument is that blockchain’s largest opportunity sits in markets whose existing financial infrastructure is weakest rather than in its most developed ones.
Why the room needs them.
Nikola Stojanow, co-founder of the æternity blockchain, moderated a panel on DeFi security at Proof of Talk Paris 2026. He founded AE Ventures in Sofia in 2017 and launched the €100 million blockchain fund Meta Change Capital in 2020.
The full account.
Nikola Stojanow moderated the panel “DeFi Under Attack: Securing Onchain Finance and the Machine Economy” on the Hecto Main Stage on the second day of Proof of Talk Paris 2026, on 3 June 2026. The session, which also brought together Kostas Chalkias, Charles Guillemet, Rodrigo Coelho and Jason Jiang, ran from 16:30 to 17:10 and examined the security of onchain finance. The event billed Stojanow as Partner, New Ventures at Bank Frick, the Liechtenstein bank owned by the Kuno Frick Family Foundation.
Stojanow came to blockchain from outside the industry. A law graduate who grew up in Germany, he worked for a large German generics pharmaceutical company, took its business into Serbia and the wider Balkans, and then moved to Hong Kong as director of business development for Asia-Pacific, according to a 2019 interview with Trending Topics. He moved to Berlin to build his own ventures and in 2016 co-founded the æternity blockchain with Yanislav Malahov. The same interview records that æternity became Liechtenstein’s first blockchain unicorn in the second quarter of 2018.
In 2017 Stojanow and Malahov set up AE Ventures, originally Æternity Ventures, in Sofia. Its Starfleet acceleration programme ran its first cohort in May 2018 and, Tech.eu reported in June 2020, had backed more than 20 early-stage startups through editions in Europe and India.
In June 2020 Stojanow launched Meta Change Capital with Luka Sucic, AE Ventures’ former head of investments and acceleration. Tech.eu and Finance Magnates reported that the London-based, FCA-regulated manager was seeking €100 million for Series A and later rounds in less-developed parts of Europe, the Middle East, Asia and Africa, with the fund domiciled in the Cayman Islands and a first close targeted for the fourth quarter of 2020. “I see the world changing and believe that cooperation is the keyword driving progress forward,” Stojanow said at the launch. The 2019 Trending Topics interview also described him as a partner at Vitosha Venture Partners.
What Nikola believes about the next ten years.
Years of shipping.
Lines that keep proving correct.
“I see the largest potential and supply of talent await in countries where blockchain is a tenfold leap to existing infrastructure that is crumbling, nonexistent or old.”
“There are a lot of ways to get your project funded, especially in Eastern Europe, but there is a lack of consistent mentoring.”
“I see the world changing and believe that cooperation is the keyword driving progress forward.”
What they have built, written, and backed.
Built
- æternityLayer-1 blockchain co-founded in 2016 with Yanislav Malahov and launched out of Liechtenstein; a 2019 interview records it becoming Liechtenstein’s first blockchain unicorn in the second quarter of 2018.
- AE Ventures / StarfleetSofia-based investment and acceleration vehicle set up in 2017, originally Æternity Ventures; its Starfleet programme ran from May 2018 and had backed more than 20 early-stage startups in Europe and India by June 2020.
- Meta Change CapitalLondon-based, FCA-regulated fund launched in June 2020 with Luka Sucic, seeking €100 million for Series A and later blockchain rounds in less-developed parts of Europe, the Middle East, Asia and Africa.
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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