Valery Vavilov

CEO & co-founder of BitFury (Was part of Hong Kong consensus), “Valery's entrepreneurial experience and passion for Blockchain technology led him to found the company in 2011, when blockchain technology was just beginning to capture the world’s attention and imagination. A native Latvian who experienced first-hand the challenges resulting from the collapse of the Soviet Union, Valery was inspired by blockchain technology and saw an opportunity to build technological solutions that could improve the lives of people all over the world. Valery focused first on the hardware solutions that would ensure security and trust in the Bitcoin Blockchain, leading Bitfury to develop five generations of cutting-edge mining chips and state-of-the-art data center designs. Under his leadership, the company has expanded its focus to provide custom-designed software, consulting solutions, and advanced hardware, all while maintaining its position as one of the major public Bitcoin Blockchain security and transaction providers. Prior to founding Bitfury, Valery spent more than 15 years in a variety of technical and leadership positions. He received his MS from Riga’s Transport & Telecommunication University in Latvia.”
Says he worked for many years to create registery systems for Latvian muncipalities. And did consultency for start-ups. Got into the Bitcoin sphere in 2010.
Marat Kichikov is a mutual friend of Valery and George Kikvadze, executive vice chairman of Bitfury.
According to Forbes "Meet the Crypto's Richest" from 5-2-2018 (just around the end of the bull market of 2017:

Growing up in Latvia in the 1980s, programming whiz Vavilov was scarred by the Soviet Union's collapse in 1991. "We just literally lost everything," he says. "Money became paper. Patents become worthless." That experience shaped his thinking--that decentralized frameworks needed to be designed so people could always retain their property.

In 2011, Vavilov cofounded Bitfury, a startup that "mines" Bitcoin, or uses computers to solve complex mathematical problems that add a new block of transactions to the blockchain and earn Bitcoin. For four years he struggled to raise outside capital. "Very few investors believed in this technology," he says. So he used the Bitcoin he mined to fund the business, selling it as low as $30. Bitfury has generated about 800,000 Bitcoins since its start, says Vavilov, 38.

Based in Amsterdam, his 400-person company is the ultimate pick-and-shovel operation to the blockchain boom. Besides being a top player in the Bitcoin mining market, it also makes and sells hardware, including processor chips and a product called Blockbox, a mobile bitcoin mining machine that typically retails for more than $1 million. Bitfury is on track to bring in $400 million in revenues in 2018.