Michael Terpin
Founder and CEO
Transform Ventures
Author, Bitcoin Supercycle
Michael Terpin is founder and CEO of Transform Ventures, a leading blockchain advisory and venture studio since 2013, working with hundreds of crypto projects in their earliest stages, including Augur, Bancor, Ethereum, Gnosis, Mastercoin, Neo, Tether and WAX. Current projects include Brett, Core DAO, and Shiba Inu. CNBC called Terpin “the godfather of crypto” for his long history of launching and advising iconic crypto projects. His first book, Bitcoin Supercycle, is being published by Skyhorse Publishing and distributed by Simon & Schuster in November 2024.
Terpin also co-founded BitAngels, the world’s first angel network for digital currency startups, in May, 2013, which has expanded to 25 city chapters. His venture studio incubated Blockchain Wire and blockchain-based sustainability platform, OpenCarbon. A prolific angel investor, he is also a general partner at digital asset fund managers Alpha Transform Holdings and Tradecraft Capital; senior advisor and LP at Alphabit Fund and LP at four other crypto funds. He also co-founded and profitably exited the Dapps Fund, one of the first cryptocurrency venture funds, in March 2014.
Terpin is a frequent speaker at leading conferences, including 1640 Society, Benzinga, Bitcoin 2022, 2023 and 2024, Campden Family Office, CES (six-time featured speaker on blockchain), Consensus, Family Office Club, NFT NYC, Opal Family Office, Venture Cayman, and many others. Previously, Terpin founded Marketwire (now Globe Newswire), one of the world’s largest company newswires, which was acquired in 2006, later sold to NASDAQ for $200 million, and ultimately to Intrado Digital Media, a division of Apollo Global Management (NYSE: APO). Terpin previously founded and sold The Terpin Group, which represented many of the early Internet leaders, including America Online, Earthlink, Match.com and the Motley Fool. The firm is now part of FTI Consulting (NYSE: FCN). Terpin holds an MFA from SUNY at Buffalo and dual BA in journalism and English from Syracuse University, where he serves on the board of advisors.
Terpin lives in San Juan, Puerto Rico, where he received the first Act 22 tax decree granted to a blockchain industry investor and has widely been credited with being the father of the Puerto Rico blockchain movement. He also co-founded the Caribbean Blockchain Association with industry leaders Gabriel Abed and Roger Ver.
