Aryan Sheikhalian is the Head of Research and an Investor at CMT Digital, where he leads the firm’s investment theses and technical due diligence for early-stage blockchain infrastructure. His current research at CMT Digital explores the evolution of the Ethereum ecosystem, specifically the integration of zero-knowledge proofs and the emerging verifiability stack. Previously, Aryan served as a Research Associate at the Blockchain Research Institute, co-authoring foundational papers on decentralized finance and governance. He holds a degree in Economics and Mathematics from Columbia University, where he co-founded the Columbia Blockchain Club in 2017. Before his career in venture capital, he worked as a Business Analyst at Accenture in London and was a varsity athlete for the Columbia lightweight rowing team.