Thomas Braziel Managing Partner 507 CAPITAL

Thomas is a partner and co-founder at 507 Capital, a distressed investing firm. With seven years of experience founding and running a distressed investing fund prior to establishing 507 Capital in 2019, Thomas has developed extensive expertise in the field. He has played a pivotal role in almost every crypto distressed situation, starting with MtGox in 2015. He has also been involved in other crypto insolvencies such as Bitcoinica, Cryptopia, Gigawatt, Voyager, Celsius, FTX, 3AC, among others, as a claim buyer and capital provider.

 Thomas holds a Master of Science in Applied Mathematics from Columbia University and a Bachelor of Science and Bachelor of Arts in Mathematics and Economics from New York University. Interestingly, Thomas grew up around bankruptcy law as both his parents were bankruptcy attorneys.

Kenneth Ehrler Managing Director M3 PARTNERS

Kenneth Ehrler, Managing Director, M3 Partners, LP

Ken Ehrler brings more than 15 years of experience leading financial restructuring and value creation engagements. Ken is currently advising in several crypto-related cases, including advising the creditors (UCC) in Celsius Network and BlockFi Inc. Recently, he led out-of-court workout for US Bitcoin (bitcoin mining), and his industry experience also includes on/off chain asset tracing, investigating potential token manipulation and other causes of action, and evaluating existing and new product opportunities including mining, staking, and other digital products.

Prior to M3, Ken was a leader in EY’s strategy consulting practice, advising corporate clients on capital allocation and enterprise and business unit strategy. His engagements included managing activist investors, executing/integrating acquisitions, digital transformation, new market entry, and intelligent automation. He has partnered directly with CEO and CFO clients to develop and execute financial and operational transformation plans while managing board, vendor, and investor relationships.

Ken received a B.S. in Electrical and Computer Engineering from Cornell University and an MBA with Honors from The Wharton School at University of Pennsylvania.

Michael Maloney CEO and Founder ROYALE HOLDINGS

Michael Maloney is a digital currency and blockchain technology expert who has been active in the space since 2011. He is the CEO and Founder of Royale Holdings, a Web 3.0 blockchain technology that bridges the gap between institutional finance and DeFi. 

Royale recently launched the Royale ETH Totale Return Fund –the first fully regulatory-compliant staking trust that allows investors to easily purchase and stake digital assets through their traditional brokerage account.

Royale also develops institutional-grade client nodes for POS blockchain networks (Ethereum, Solana, etc.) that support client-specific microservices. Royale has also developed MEB3EX(“Most Efficient Block Beacon for Best Execution”), a novel transaction selection engine for POS networks which increases combats negative front-running and encourages fair market making. Michael is presently an Adjunct Professor at Fordham Law School and Fordham Gabelli Business, (since August 2019), and co-teaching "Blockchain, Virtual Currencies, and Tokens: Business and Legal Issues" at Wharton School of Business. Michael was a founding employee of Galaxy Digital as the Head of Advisory. At Galaxy, he directed the Digital Strategy and Transaction Advisory practice to assist clients in the building and financing of blockchain technologies. Michael also previously served as the CFO for Coinmint, LLC from July 2019 to October 2021and was a founding member of Ernst & Young’s Distributed Ledger Technology group and led global blockchain development for the firm from June 2013 to September 2017.

David Turetsky Partner WHITE & CASE

David Turetsky is a partner in the Financial Restructuring and Insolvency Practice at White & Case. David represents companies and other parties in complex business reorganizations, out-of-court restructurings and workouts, debt restructurings, and insolvency matters. Recognized as an "Emerging Leader" by M&A Advisor, David has advised on the restructuring of billions of dollars of debt across a variety of industries and jurisdictions.

David has played a significant role representing numerous debtors in their Chapter 11 cases, including Atlas Resource Partners, FiberMark, GenTek, Herbst Gaming, Savient Pharmaceuticals, Spectrum Brands, Sterling Chemicals, Syms and Filene's Basement, and Winn-Dixie Stores.* The Savient Pharmaceuticals Chapter 11 sale to Crealta Pharmaceuticals was recognized by Turnaround Atlas as the "Pharmaceuticals Turnaround" of the Year in 2015.* In 2007, the reorganization of Winn-Dixie Stores was named the "Mega Turnaround of the Year" by Turnaround Management Association.*

David also has had substantial involvement representing companies in connection with out-of-court restructurings, refinancings and workouts, including Archstone, DS Waters, ION Media Networks and Residential Capital.* The out-of-court restructuring of DS Waters was recognized as one of the "Most Successful Restructurings of 2012" by Turnarounds & Workouts.* In 2008, the comprehensive recapitalization of ION Media Networks was recognized as the "Turnaround Deal of the Year" (Media, Telecom & Technology) and as the "Refinancing Deal of the Year" by The M&A Advisor.*

In addition, David has played a significant role representing creditors, sponsors, and other interested parties in connection with Chapter 11 cases and out-of-court restructurings, including: Apax Partners in the out-of-court restructuring of Contech; Citibank, Goldman Sachs and Deutsche Bank Securities in their litigation arising out of an exit financing for Solutia; claimants in the pre-negotiated Chapter 11 Case of Signal International; Clayton, Dubilier & Rice in the Chapter 11 reorganization of CHC Group; Credit Suisse as agent for a syndicate of lenders to Ginn Resorts; the official equity committee in Chemtura’s Chapter 11 case; Pfizer Inc. in connection with aspects of Quigley’s Chapter 11 case; and Sealed Air Corporation in connection with the Chapter 11 case of W.R. Grace.

In 2017, David was named a BTI Client Service All-Star in recognition of his outstanding client service.  David has been recognized as a "Top Rated Bankruptcy Attorney" by Super Lawyers and received an "Emerging Leader" award from M&A Advisor for being among the top 40 M&A, financing and turn­around professionals under the age of 40. David also repeatedly has been selected as one of the country's "Outstanding Young Restructuring Lawyers" by Turnarounds & Workouts. In addition, David has been selected as a member of the International Insolvency Institute’s "Next Generation," has served as a member of the New York City Bar Committee on Restructuring and Reorganization, and is a member of the UJA-Federation’s "Next Generation" Bankruptcy & Reorganization Group.

James Wheaton Special Counsel to the Director of Enforcement US CFTC

James Wheaton is currently Special Counsel to the CFTC's Director of Enforcement. He previously spent twelve years as a Senior Trial Attorney at the CFTC investigating and litigating a wide variety of matters including offline communications, digital assets, fraud and market manipulation in swaps, and insider trading. He has taking leading roles in the Division's ongoing litigations CFTC v Rivoire and CFTC v Gorman.

Before government James worked as a litigation associate at both Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton and Garrison and at Pillsbury Winthrop. James is a graduate of the NYU School of Law and Stanford University.