Merkle Mini Meet at ETHDenver 2026 - Hosted by Taft
Join Taft and Merkle Science for a high-signal, mini meet during ETHDenver week—built for operators, counsel, compliance leaders, payments teams, and builders navigating the next phase of institutional crypto and stablecoin adoption.
Expect two focused panels, a real-world investigative case walkthrough with a live product demo, and plenty of time to connect over drinks with people actually shipping, licensing, integrating, or investigating in this space.
What we’ll cover
Institutional Adoption of Cryptocurrencies
A practical discussion on what’s accelerating adoption (and what’s still blocking it) across market structure, custody, risk, compliance, and governance.
What’s Needed for Mainstream Stablecoin Adoption
What it takes to scale stablecoins beyond crypto-native rails: trust, redemption mechanics, compliance design, issuer risk, monitoring, payments integration, and operational resilience.
Live Investigation + Product Demo (Merkle Science)
A case-study style walkthrough of how crypto investigations are run in practice, including tracing flows and connecting activity across wallets/services—plus a live demo of Merkle Science’s investigation workflow (built for law enforcement, investigators, and compliance teams).
Hosts
Taft
Taft is a modern, Am Law-ranked firm with over 1,250 attorneys across major U.S. markets, including Denver.
Merkle Science
Merkle Science is a predictive crypto risk and intelligence platform used by government agencies, financial institutions, and crypto businesses. Teams use it to investigate illicit activity, strengthen transaction monitoring, and operationalize crypto risk workflows across compliance and investigations.
Agenda (2:00–6:00 PM)
2:00–2:05 PM
Welcome remarks
2:05-2:15 PM
Overview of the Genius Act and Market Structure Bills
Richard B Levin, Bobby Wenner ( TAFT)
2:20–2:55 PM
Panel 1: Institutional Adoption of Cryptocurrencies (45 mins)
Shyam Nagarajan (Hedera), Michael Kriak (Consensys Mesh), Mriganka Pattnaik ( Merkle Science)
2:55–3:05 PM
Networking break (10 mins)
3:05–3:35 PM
Case Study: Live Investigation/Case + Merkle Science product demo (30 mins)
David Richards (Blockchain Unmasked) and Justus Delp (Merkle Science)
3:35–3:45 PM
Transition break (10 mins)
3:45–4:30 PM
Panel 2: What’s Needed for Mainstream Stablecoin Adoption (45 mins)
Koh Harada ( Aleo), Adam Sperry(EY), Bobby Wenner (TAFT), Channi Greenwall (Olympix), Melvis Langyuito (Canton)
4:30–6:00 PM
Networking drinks (1 hour)
Featured speakers
Shyam Nagarajan - COO - Hedera
Shyam is a distinguished leader in emerging technology, with over 20 years of experience in scaling AI, blockchain, and digital transformation. He has held key leadership roles at IBM, where he led responsible AI and blockchain initiatives, driving triple-digit growth and helping position IBM as a leader in enterprise blockchain services.He also played a pivotal role in developing IBM’s COVID pass solutions, which were adopted by NYC and reached over 12 million users, and led the growth of IBM’s Blockchain and Digital Assets business. Shyam previously served as a member of Hedera’s Board of Directors and Hedera’s Technology Committee
Michael Kriak - CEO - Consensys Mesh
Michael Kriak is the Chief Executive Officer at ConsenSys Mesh, bringing expertise in financial management and operational leadership to the forefront of web3 technologies. Drawing on a background in financial strategy, Michael previously served as Chief Operating Officer and Chief Financial Officer at Mashable for over five years. In these roles, they oversaw revenue strategies, business intelligence, financial reporting, and human resources. Michael also led the company's relationship with the Board of Directors and managed the global expansion, opening offices in multiple international locations. They successfully managed the process to sell the company to Ziff Davis, facilitating the business transition and integration. Prior to Mashable, Michael was the Chief Operating Officer at Haymarket
Koh Harada - CEO - Aleo
Koh is CEO of the Aleo Network Foundation and previously served as Head of Special Projects and Business Development at MobileCoin. For the past several years he has been working on building private stablecoin payments
David Richards ( Blockchain Unmasked)
David Richards is the Founder and Lead at Blockchain Unmasked, a firm specializing in blockchain forensics, analytics, threat assessment, and fraud investigation. He provides expertise on tracking illicit digital asset activity and enhancing on-chain security.
Adam Sperry (EY Digital Assets Leader)
Adam Sperry is a Senior Manager within EY’s Financial Services Risk Management practice with over 10 years of experience in Anti-Money Laundering and Financial Crime. He has advised several large virtual currency firms in the development of on-chain investigations capabilities, transaction monitoring and sanctions screening rules, customer due diligence, global risk assessment methodology, and policy and procedure enhancement.
Richard B. Levin (Taft)
Chair of Taft’s FinTech Practice and an early legal specialist in blockchain and digital asset regulation, advising trading platforms, exchanges/ATSs, and other regulated financial services and technology businesses.
Bobby Wenner (Taft)
Partner advising fintech and digital asset companies on regulatory and corporate matters, with prior in-house experience as chief legal officer of a FINRA-member digital asset issuance and trading platform.
Sean Ruff (Taft)
Partner in Taft’s Financial Services, FinTech, and PayTech groups. He advises financial institutions, fintech companies, global marketplaces, and digital asset platforms on regulatory, transactional, and strategic matters spanning a wide range of consumer and commercial financial services.
Mriganka Pattnaik (Merkle Science)
CEO and co-founder of Merkle Science, a blockchain analytics and financial crime prevention platform trusted by Web3 businesses, financial institutions, and law enforcement. Mriganka began his career in investment banking at Bank of America, holds an engineering degree from IIT, and actively supports global regulatory and law enforcement initiatives, including work with Interpol and the IVAN network.
Note: all attendees must bring a valid photo ID.