Bitcoin Financial Services Summit

Paul has accumulated over 40 years of professional experience with institutional alternative investment strategies. He is a co-founder of the Pearl Bitcoin Fund and Company that offers Bitcoin asset class investors the opportunity to access Bitcoin capital value growth in combination with federal income tax-free benefits to maximize generational wealth.

Dr. Hohns founded Newmarket in 2020 with the buy-out of the IIFC strategy platform, which he and his colleagues launched in 2012 with Mariner Investment Group. He has served on the Investment Committees for IIFC I, IIFC II, IIFC III, and IIFC IV since inception. Since the establishment of IIFC, Dr. Hohns has overseen transaction structuring and negotiation for approximately $50 billion of notional risk transfer. He has been a regular speaker at various industry conferences, with special expertise in topics related to infrastructure, securitization, socially responsible investment, impact investment, and development finance. Prior to joining Mariner, Dr. Hohns was a Managing Director at Cohen & Company, which he joined at its inception in 2001. While at Cohen & Company, Institutional Investor named Dr. Hohns as a member of its 2008 “20 Rising Stars of Fixed Income.” Additionally, Dr. Hohns served as an Adjunct Assistant Professor at New York University’s Stern School of Business from 2012 to 2015. Dr. Hohns holds a BS in Economics from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania, a Masters in Liberal Arts from the School of Arts and Sciences at the University of Pennsylvania, and a PhD in Applied Economics and Managerial Sciences from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania. Dr. Hohns serves as a member of the Board of Directors of FTAC Emerald Acquisition Corp. He is also a member of the Board of Directors and Investment Committee of Battery Finance Inc., an affiliate of Newmarket, where since its founding, he has served as President. Dr. Hohns also is a member of the Board of Directors of UNICEF USA.

As Chief Investment Officer of Samara Alpha Management, Adil leverages his 30+ years in traditional, alternative, and digital asset management. He brings expertise in hedge fund investment, risk management, and valuation from leadership roles at renowned firms such as Protégé Partners, AdKap, Nomura, and Barclays.

Pierre Rochard is the Founder and CEO of the Bitcoin Bond Company since April 2025, a financial technology firm focused on developing bitcoin-backed financial products. Prior to that role, he served as Vice President of Research for Riot Platforms Inc. from July 2022 to March 2025, one of the largest publicly traded Bitcoin mining companies in North America. Before that, he was a product manager at Kraken Digital Asset Exchange, a cryptocurrency exchange, from October 2019 to June 2022. Mr. Rochard has an extensive career in Bitcoin economics, policy and technology. He started his career in public accounting and later co-founded the Satoshi Nakamoto Institute, an educational initiative dedicated to archiving and promoting Bitcoin’s intellectual history. He became a prominent writer and speaker on Bitcoin, energy policy and financial regulation, and has advised policymakers, institutional investors and corporations on Bitcoin adoption and integration into the traditional financial markets. Mr. Rochard was educated at the University of Texas at Austin, where he earned his Bachelor of Business Administration and Master’s degrees in Accounting. Mr. Rochard also serves on the Board of Directors for Strive, Inc. He brings deep expertise in Bitcoin, financial innovation and regulatory engagement. His background at the intersection of digital assets, economics and public policy supports informed oversight and long-term value creation.