ETH Phoenix 2025
13 Builders. One BitAngels Pitch Night.
Exponent Labs embedded in ETH Phoenix, hosted by BitAngels in downtown Phoenix, and interviewed the founders and builders behind Arizona's growing digital asset ecosystem — on camera, unscripted.
ETH Phoenix 2025 was produced by BitAngels — the world's first angel network for digital currency startups, founded by Michael Terpin in 2013 — and co-organized by Shelton Bascochea (StandWithCrypto AZ chapter president) and PJ Way (AI Film 3). The event featured a live pitch competition where founders pitched BitAngels for funding. Michael Jagdeo attended as interviewer and conducted every conversation on this page solo.
Blockchain & Digital Assets
2 speakers
Richard Stangland
Chief of Staff · Lunar Digital Assets
We're the venture studio that's incubated unicorns like Polygon and QuickSwap — and I also host BitAngels' global events, connecting founders with the capital and network to actually build.
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Aztec
Founder · LitVM
I was instrumental in launching and incubating projects like Polygon and QuickSwap — now I'm building the first Litecoin layer two, fully endorsed by the Litecoin Foundation and Charlie Lee.
View Profile →Compliance, Payments & Treasury
2 speakers
Jonathan Chambless
Circle Developer / Governor, Accumulate Foundation · MicroPay Technologies
The political, legal, regulatory, and compliance environment is the fulcrum upon which companies live and die — that's what I speak on, from corporate digital asset treasury to industrial payroll.
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Praveen
Cloud / DevOps Engineer · Zelle
When the major US banks need Zelle to work, and need KYC and AML to hold up wherever a transaction is domiciled, I'm the reason the transaction works.
View Profile →Community & Culture
4 speakers
Eric
City Leader · BitAngels
We've had a group of talented developers and financiers, and BitAngels tries to connect founders with capital — we want to build an ecosystem that can thrive.
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Shelton
Arizona Chapter President · StandWithCrypto
This was my first event of this scale — built from grassroots meetups I've hosted weekly for over a year, into the first iteration of ETH Phoenix.
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Justin
Co-Founder · PPN
We started out of the boom of AI in 2021, when the creative barrier to entry got significantly lowered — so we built a platform to bring exposure and opportunity to independent artists.
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Lilith
Founder · CrowdCtrl
I'm a builder at heart — CrowdCtrl uses blockchain technology to fix what fans and independent artists both hate about ticketing.
View Profile →Social Impact & Rising Builders
4 speakers
Tyler Gentry
Founder · NEED-AID
The state of California tapped us to distribute half a billion dollars in pandemic aid — that experience made me angry, because so many people have been left behind, and it's why I'm building NEED-AID.
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Isabella
Director, Canyon Angels · Grand Canyon University
GCU is the only college in the country — potentially the world — with its own student-run and operated angel investment group. I'm the current director.
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Brianna
Student & Intern · Arizona District Export Council
Anybody who's successful, or on a path to success, has a certain type of aura about them — and that's what I noticed in that room.
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The Podcast Space Owner
Owner, the podcast space that hosted ETH Phoenix's interviews
Knowing has a charge behind it — it's a conviction. Hope still has an escape hatch built into it.
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