Maria Lobanova

Quantum-proof Web3 cybersecurity infrastructure. Joined as an advisor in June 2025 and appointed Chief Marketing Officer later. Leading the global marketing strategy and overseeing four partner agencies (PR, advertising, and growth). Key Achievements: 🏆 Awards & Industry Recognition Drove the marketing and visibility strategy behind Naoris Protocol's back-to-back recognition as Most Innovative DePIN Project of the Year by CoinGape Media and The Cryptonomist. . 📜 U.S. SEC Regulatory Recognition Developed and executed the communications strategy around Naoris Protocol's citation in a U.S. SEC submission on the Post-Quantum Financial Infrastructure Framework — the first time a decentralized protocol has ever been named as a reference model in a U.S. regulatory context (pages 66, 68, and 71). 🌍 Global Events & Executive Positioning Built and executed a global event presence. Highlights include Art Basel Miami with Nolcha Shows, Blockchain Futurist Conference, DevConnect Buenos Aires. 🏛️ Government & Institutional Engagements Supported communications and visibility strategy around high-level government engagements in Kuwait (Minister of State for Communication Affairs), Argentina (Central Bank board members), and more. 📰 Media & PR Secured consistent coverage across CoinDesk, Benzinga, Yahoo Finance, BeInCrypto, and multiple top-tier crypto and cybersecurity publications. Positioned CEO David Carvalho as the industry's foremost voice on quantum risk, securing features in CoinDesk, Benzinga, Yahoo Finance, BeInCrypto, and a Forbes Uruguay 40 Under 40 recognition. Native Token The $NAORIS token grew over 40% since my appointment as CMO and made it to CoinGecko's list of top gainers.

CEO at PR and marketing agency focused on web3 and tech sectors Interstellar Digital (interstellardigital.io) Received U.S. Green Card under the EB2 National Interest Waiver as a recognized entrepreneur in the tech and crypto sectors. Key Responsibilities: -Business development, sales, and operations leadership -Strategic communications and campaign design -Executive branding and event production -Marketing campaigns Metrics that Matter: *$25 M+ in capital or exit value unlocked for clients through PR-led BD and investor introductions. *40+ retained clients across L1s, exchanges, SaaS, and consumer tech. *Press hits in Bloomberg, Forbes, TechCrunch, The Block, CoinDesk, CNBC and more. Notable Clients & Impact: zkSync (Matter Labs) • Developed content strategy. • Campaigns drove a 60% YoY increase in signed partnerships and materially expanded developer adoption across the L2 ecosystem. Ankr • Launched a global PR program for Ankr Staking, securing Tier-1 coverage (Forbes, CoinDesk) and C-suite podcast slots. • Result: +200% growth in stakers and a 70% uplift in institutional clients within six months. GetID (Reg-tech, Estonia) • Built brand, social media, GTM, and earned-media engine from zero → acquisition. • Led to $9 M exit to Checkin.com Group (Sweden) two years after launch. AEXLAB / VAIL VR • Combined targeted PR, KOL activations, and two marquee Miami events: – Investor dinner with Arrington Capital, Kevin O’Leary Ventures, Coinbase Ventures and more. – Faena Forum Art Basel 2021 party (1,000+ attendees). • Result: $5 M NFT collection sell-out in 48 hours and VAIL VR charting top-20 downloads on Meta Quest 3. STEX Exchange • Designed the exchange’s first institutional narrative and investor deck. • Backstopped CEO in roadshows, securing a $5M Series A led by Jointer DeFi. WOWCube® Entertainment System • Engineered viral product-storytelling sprint (TechCrunch, Mashable, CNET). • Achieved 119,000 pre-orders and wait-list overflow within eight weeks.

As Head of PR at USDX Wallet, I was brought in to lift brand credibility ahead of an international expansion. With no major earned-media footprint and a lean budget, I designed a data-driven PR roadmap that targeted business television, top fintech podcasts, and marquee tech events. I secured a 12-minute founder interview on RBC-TV (≈3 M business viewers), a feature on the Bad Crypto Podcast (10 M+ downloads), and an exclusive, fee-waived pitch slot at Pioneers Conference Vienna—saving the company ~€25K in sponsorship costs. The coverage delivered 45+ Tier-1 media hits, a 60 % jump in verified users, and a 40 % spike in weekly downloads, while generating 27 inbound investor meetings that produced two term-sheet offers and a 9× ROI versus paid-media benchmarks.

Director of Communications, Business Development, and Partnerships for a cross-exchange arbitrage platform (fintech, web3). Secured top-tier crypto media coverage (Cointelegraph, Coindesk, and more) that boosted social media following by 60 %. Launched an Ambassador Program that expanded the user base by 30 %. Forged strategic partnerships with the Ethereum Industry Summit and Unblock Community Conference, saving the company $20K in sponsorship costs.

Consultant. The company needed greater global visibility and credible partnerships to support rapid expansion—particularly a market entry into Japan. Identified and negotiated collaborations with premier tech platforms, including Web Summit’s invite-only #SmartBrains program, and secured meetings at Tech in Asia Tokyo Conference. Activated partnerships that reached 2 M+ tech professionals, opened the door to a new Tokyo office, and boosted qualified inbound leads by 45 % within six months through top-tier IT and business media coverage.

Communications, Business Development, and Partnerships executive for an asset-tokenization platform, was co-founded by Telegram Vice President Ilya Perekopsky. Created and executed Blackmoon PR and marketing strategy. Built Blackmoon’s end-to-end PR and marketing engine, landing 120+ pieces of Tier-1 coverage (Financial Times, Bitcoin Magazine, Investing.com, etc.) and lifting website traffic 3× in one quarter. Orchestrated the global media push around the Xiaomi IPO tokenization, securing a feature in the Financial Times that sparked a 40 % surge in qualified investor leads within 48 hours. Spearheaded negotiations with Interactive Brokers, one of Europe’s largest brokerage houses—partnership credited with a 55 % jump in custodial assets and a step-change in institutional credibility.

Led promotional campaigns across top Russian and international outlets—including Forbes, Investing.com, and TechCrunch—boosting the company’s user base by 214%. Organized one of the largest international blockchain conferences in Eastern Europe—Cryptospace —with over 3,000 participants and 59 speakers, including top global industry leaders such as the CGO of Binance, the CEO of eToro, and the CEO of Metaverse, among others.

Designed and executed Prover.io’s PR strategy, securing tier-1 media coverage that accelerated the company’s fundraising and helped close a multi-million-dollar round. Sourced and nurtured 200+ limited-partner prospects, culminating in an $8 M seed fund backed by Asian family offices. Produced a 200-attendee blockchain summit featuring global industry leaders; the event converted 3 new portfolio investments and 1 follow-on deal, expanding the fund’s assets under management by double-digit percentages.

Recruited and led a 30-member team of journalism students, providing editorial guidance and deadline management. Published 100+ feature articles covering art, film, and culture, expanding the outlet’s monthly readership by 250 %. Personally conducted and edited high-profile interviews with luminaries such as filmmaker Ilya Naishuller (Hardcore Henry, Nobody, Heads of State) and Kremlin pool journalist Andrey Kolesnikov, elevating the publication’s reputation among industry professionals and academia alike.

Some examples of the publications: http://www.kommersant.ru/doc/2732833 http://www.kommersant.ru/doc/2733041 http://www.kommersant.ru/doc/2753817 http://www.kommersant.ru/doc/2738166 http://www.kommersant.ru/doc/2754374 http://www.kommersant.ru/doc/2753834 http://www.kommersant.ru/doc/2761668 http://www.kommersant.ru/doc/2778802 http://www.kommersant.ru/doc/2768071 http://www.kommersant.ru/doc/2768659

Stupendium Hungaricum scholarship holder

Management faculty, "Investment and Finance Management" major

Exchange student