Ahmed Al-Balaghi
Co-Host of Encrypted
Ahmed is a Co-host of Encrypted and has been involved in the blockchain and crypto space since early 2016 spending. Working in the Far East and helping to bridge east and West, Ahmed has worked on a number of projects in this field and has invested and advised new projects. Business fluent in Mandarin, Ahmed co-founded the Fudan Blockchain Association in China and assisted multiple blockchain projects to tap into Emerging Markets. Previously, Ahmed held roles in Citibank and Dow Jones.
Ahmed Al-Balaghi has hosted 77 Episodes.
-
#Ep. 81: DIFCs take on building Fintech and Crypto success in MENA
June 20th, 2021 | 35 mins 8 secs
adgm, blockchain, crypto, difc, ecosystem, fintech, innovation
In this episode we speak with Christian Kunz, Head of Group Strategy at DIFC Authority, a leading financial center based in Dubai, UAE. We hear the DIFCs stance on crypto and their ambitions within this growing sector. If you are looking to know more about regulations, setting up and getting ahead within the region, this episode is a great listen.
-
#Ep. 80: NFTs - The Direct to Avatar Economy & The Open Metaverse
March 28th, 2021 | 45 mins 25 secs
bitcoin, blockchain, crypto, cryptocurrency, nfts, non-fungible, tokens
Did you hear about that $69 million NFT sale on Christie’s? Well, we just dove right into NFTs in this episode! NFTs or non-fungible tokens are unique digital items that are not interchangeable. Today, we speak with Ryan Gill, CEO and co-founder of Crucible about the beginnings and the future of NFTs.
-
#Ep. 79: Scalability and Advancement of Enterprise Blockchain
February 8th, 2021 | 33 mins 31 secs
blockchain, blockfinex, crypto, enterprise, gitex, justchain
In this episode we speak with Saqr Ereiqat, consultant at IBM and Akbar Farook, founder of Just Chain about blockchain enterprise advancements.
-
#Ep. 78: Tech Scoop on Bitfinex and Tether from Stablecoins to Global Decentralised Liquidity
January 26th, 2021 | 51 mins 20 secs
bitfinex, cex, defi, dex, stablecoins, tether, usdt
USDT, Tether, and everything in between. In this episode, we have the CTO of Bitfinex and Tether, Paolo Ardoino, who shares all you need to know about Bitfinex, and Tether. From discussing the backing of Tether to the future of exchanges and stablecoins, this episode dives deep into one of the most forward thinking CTOs in the space.
-
#Ep. 77: The rise of institutional adoption in crypto and blockchain
January 10th, 2021 | 43 mins 36 secs
adoption, institutions, lseg, tokenisation, ucl
Institutions are coming. Tokenisation is real and taking place. In this episode, we have Thamim Ahmed from UCL Center for Blockchain Technologies and Dotun Rominiyi from the emerging technology division at the London Stock Exchange, where we talk about institutional and enterprise adoption of blockchain and crypto, particularly within the financial sector.
-
#Ep. 76: The humble beginnings of crypto art and its meteoric rise
December 21st, 2020 | 31 mins 8 secs
art, crypto art, digital art, metaverse, nft
In this episode we talk about crypto art! We discuss its origins, what it actually is, why it matters and what to expect in the years to come! Recording from Gitex and the Future Blockchain summit in Dubai, we're super lucky to have recorded this in person using our equipment which haven't been used for several months. Hope you enjoy!
-
#Ep. 75: Crypto Communications - How PR can make or break projects
November 30th, 2020 | 51 mins 38 secs
communications, crisis, crypto, pr
In this episode we talk public relations and the blurring lines of promoting, community engagement and shilling. Our guests are Mohanned Halawani, founder of Crypto-PR.io and David Wachsman Founder and CEO of WACHSMAN. Both our guests are leaders in the Crypto and Blockchain space for communications as we dive deep into their experience and expertise.
-
#Ep. 74: Build it and they will come - How one firm is designing chain infrastructure to enable you to scale
October 26th, 2020 | 53 mins 27 secs
crypto, infrastructure, leadership, remote working, talent
In this episode, we speak to Joe Lallouz who is the CEO and Co-founder of Bison Trails. This has been one of the most valuable conversations we've ever had on the show that touches on remote working, leadership, retaining talent and crypto infrastructure. So make sure not to miss out on this one!
-
#Ep. 72: Connecting Africa to the World with Danny Oyekan
September 7th, 2020 | 37 mins 31 secs
africa, coinsapp, defi, remittance
In episode 72, we hear from Danny Oyekan, the Founder of Dan Holdings, which is an Investment firm focused exclusively on ventures, and projects related to blockchain tech, digital currency, and digital assets. In this talk, we discuss remittances, the blockchain scene in Africa, Defi and when the crypto market will be maturing !
-
#Ep. 71: The Nod of Approval - How Bitt pioneered the world's first concept of a blockchain Central Bank Digital Currency
July 30th, 2020 | 29 mins 51 secs
barbados, bitt, central bank, central bank digital currency, crypto
In today’s episode, we have a super panel, featuring the Ex governor of the Barbados Central Bank, Dr. Deslisle Worrell, Founder of Bitt.com Gabriel Abed, and the CBDO of Bitt.com, Simon Chantry. We uncover the amazing story of how Gabriel and his team defied all odds with their crazy idea for central bank digital currencies, and how they managed to get a nod of approval from the governor of the central bank himself. We also look into how the events unfolded over the years, what the future holds for CBCDs and how Bitt.com plans to implement CBDCs across the Caribbean.
-
#Ep. 70: AI Generated Content - The Why, What and How
June 30th, 2020 | 28 mins 6 secs
Arif khan is the CEO and founder of Alethea.AI. We discuss what AI generated synthetic media is, why it could explode in the future and how blockchain is enabling real use cases to counter the growing rise in deep fakes and drive the adoption of this new media segment. This episode will blow you away with all the facts and interesting findings around how audio and AI generated content is being used and can be used in many different contexts.
-
#Ep. 69: A World Divided - Covid19 is the World's Chief Digital Officer
June 10th, 2020 | 46 mins 45 secs
chief digital officer, covid19, data, digital identity, ethics, privacy
Maja Vujinovic, Ex CIO of Emerging tech globally for GE Digital and Vinny Lingham, Founder and CEO of Civic joins this special episode of Encrypted where we discuss how the world is becoming increasingly divided with recent events, how technologies like blockchain is increasingly becoming relevant with digital identities on the rise and why we need ethical leaders and corporations to lead us into the new generation of technology.
-
#Ep. 68: Digital Keynote - A Global Economic Crisis is Looming, Now the Time for Blockchain to Leave Self Isolation
May 31st, 2020 | 37 mins 44 secs
adoption, blockchain, china, covid19, government, marketing
Encrypted is excited to partner up with the Future Blockchain Summit who have recently held their first ever Digital Keynote! In this Digital Keynote, the panel saw superstar speakers from the United Nations, Ant Financial and Swedish Government, moderated by a world-famous radio host & TEDx Speaker all debating on how Blockchain technology will be leveraged to fight the economic collapse caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.
-
#Ep. 67: Web3 + Egypt + Global Users = Next Gen Privacy Email
May 25th, 2020 | 24 mins 31 secs
emails, privacy, start-up, web3
Today we speak with Mohamed Abdou, the founder and CEO of Pravica, which is MENAs first blockchain powered email service focusing on security and user privacy. In this episode we hear about Mohamed’s journey, why he’s so passionate about bringing privacy to MENA, and what its like to build a Web 3 start up in Egypt with users from all over the world.
-
#Ep. 66: Mike Dudas on how Covid19 is growing attention in the crypto and digital assets space
April 13th, 2020 | 31 mins 57 secs
covid19, growth, leader, media, wartime
In this episode, we have Mike Dudas, who is the CEO and founder of The Block, which is one of the most rapidly growing research and media brands in the crypto and digital asset space. We discuss with Mike how Covid19 is affecting tech companies, the impact it will have on crypto , and what attributes a wartime CEO should have during these times. All this and more is discussed on today's episode!
-
#Ep. 65: Covid19 Special - A Pandemic of Fake News
March 25th, 2020 | 39 mins 49 secs
corona, data, fake, lies, news, pandemic, ssi
It’s been quite an extraordinary time we live in. The world as we know it is in shutdown due to the Corona virus outbreak. I would like to wish all of our listeners, supporters and everyone around the world good health in these extreme times.
This is our 65th episode, and we are fully remote! We have a special guest, Arwen Smit, who is the author of Identity Reboot and the Lead Blockchain Strategist and Mintbit.
On this episode, we talk about lies, the taxonomy of fake news, how this all created unnecessary panic and its consequences, and finally we discuss potential tech solutions that can help during a crisis like this.