James Haft has been at the forefront of the global emerging markets Merchant Banking,  Investment banking and venture capital industries for over 30 years, focusing on product-market fit, business development and liquidity strategies for early-stage disruptors and investors.

He has been an advisor to over 100 venture-backed and blockchain-based entities and is the founder of PALcapital (a merchant bank focused on advising and investing in digital businesses globally) and StartupHubNYC; and co-founder of CryptoOracle, CryptoMondays, ClimateCoin, NXTPLabs and Condo.com.

Previously, James was MD of Asian Investment Banking in Hong Kong for Bear Stearns, where he was responsible for the first listing of a Chinese company on the NYSE. He was the MD of Latin American Equity Capital Markets at INGBarings, and founder and MD of Emerging Markets Investment Banking at Furman Selz.