John Nahas
John Nahas is the Chief Business Officer atAva Labs, the company behind the Avalanche blockchain. It is an open-source, Layer-1 blockchain designed to support decentralised applications (dApps), smart contracts, and custom blockchain networks.
At Ava Labs, he leads ecosystem growth and business development across sectors including institutional finance, enterprise, wallets, exchanges, consumer platforms, gaming,decentralisedfinance (DeFi), and crypto-native applications. He also manages international growth efforts in South Korea, Japan, India, Southeast Asia, Turkey, the Middle East, and Latin America.
Since joining Ava Labs, he has held the roles of Senior Vice President, Vice President, and Senior Director of Business Development. John also serves as Director of FinTech and International Relations at LA Blockchain Lab, where he supports partnerships between academia, government, and industry. The lab includes members such as Caltech,UCLA,USC, and the City of Los Angeles.
Prior to this, he was a founding team member and Vice President of Corporate Development at Onsa, a blockchain-based financial firm later acquired by Franklin Templeton. He helped raise $18 million, secured 43 state Money Transmitter Licences, and led partnerships and regulatory compliance. He previously worked as Director of Business Development and Investor Relations at the same firm.
John also held senior roles as Director of Operations at Engeocom-Invicta Commodities and Invicta Petroleum, where he managed international commodity trading, partnerships with global banks, and oversaw trade finance deals totalling over $1.3 billion. Earlier, he was Managing Editor and Director of Partnerships at Mic, where he helped develop outreach strategies and manage editorial teams.
John Nahas was a Summer Fellow at the Carnegie Middle East Centre in Beirut. He worked with a World Economic Forum visiting scholar on research related to Sovereign Wealth Funds (SWFs). He also briefed senior staff of global leaders and organised multiple conferences, seminars, and media events. He is a contributor toMITTechnology Review, a former Parish Council Chairman at St. Nicholas Antiochian Orthodox Cathedral, and a member of the Los Angeles World Affairs Council and the Pacific Council on International Policy.
John holds a Master's in Public Diplomacy, International Relations and Communication, as well as dual Bachelor's degrees in Political Science and Communication from the University of Southern California (USC).
