About Us
The Digital Gold Institute is the leading crypto research center in Europe. Founded in 2018 by professionals from the academic and banking world, the institute fosters the integration of digital assets into traditional finance through research, training, and executive consulting.
History
Founded in 2018, the Digital Gold Institute (DGI) is the leading European think tank dedicated to the crypto world. Its commitment, focused on research and development activities in the sector, takes the form of providing specialized services for financial institutions and private investors.
In 2019, driven by DGI’s initiative, CheckSig was born — one of the leading crypto intermediaries in Italy, specializing in solutions for private investors, businesses, and financial institutions. In 2021, the Digital Gold Institute was acquired by CheckSig, with which it collaborates to provide specialized forensics and taxation services.
Together with the University of Milano-Bicocca, the Digital Gold Institute is a founding member of the Crypto Asset Lab, an academically-driven research center dedicated to the analysis of the crypto world. Every year, in collaboration with the European Commission (Directorate-General Joint Research Centre), the Crypto Asset Lab Conference takes place — the leading European event in the sector, bringing together academia and industry.
Origin of the Name
The Digital Gold Institute draws inspiration for its name from the most representative asset of the sector it studies: Bitcoin. Described as the first and only successful attempt at “digital gold,” Bitcoin shares numerous characteristics with the precious metal: limited supply, absence of a central authority, global adoption, and energy expenditure as an underlying guarantee. Gold has shaped the history of finance and currency for centuries, and Bitcoin is progressively assuming a similar role in the contemporary economy, establishing itself as a reserve asset.
Vision & Mission
Vision
Bitcoin and blockchain technology represent among the most disruptive innovations of recent decades, finding full application in the financial sector. They offer new investment opportunities and open spaces for innovation capable of redefining the boundaries of finance and monetary engineering. Topics such as digital asset custody, stablecoins, and the use of Bitcoin as a global reserve asset introduce dynamics capable of profoundly transforming the sector.
Mission
The Digital Gold Institute provides specialized and interdisciplinary expertise to support the evolution of the crypto sector, promoting solutions designed specifically for financial institutions. Thanks to the banking experience of its professionals and its strong technological vocation, DGI accompanies institutions by offering holistic support, from strategy definition to the technical implementation of solutions.
Team
Ferdinando Ametrano
Founder, Scientific director
Paolo Mazzocchi
Chief executive officer
Michele Mandelli
Executive director
Ferdinando Ametrano
Founder, Scientific director
Ferdinando Ametrano is also founder and scientific director of the Digital Gold Institute and the Crypto Asset Lab. Adjunct professor in many European universities, he teaches " Bitcoin, Crypto-Assets, and Blockchain Technology".
Innovator in the fintech field, he is the author of scientific publications and contributor to many media outlets. Appreciated as a lecturer and speaker, he is regularly invited to talk about Bitcoin and blockchain in events and TEDx, also organized in Montecitorio, by the United Nations, by central banks and numerous universities.
He has been "Head of Blockchain and Virtual Currencies" in Intesa Sanpaolo, member of the Organizing Committee of the "Scaling Bitcoin" conference, and has occasionally and marginally contributed to Bitcoin Core.
Before Bitcoin, he was a derivative product finance professional: he has been teaching "Interest Rate Derivatives" at the Milano-Bicocca University and has relevant publications on the subject. He is also the founder of QuantLib, the leading open source software project for quantitative finance. He has led trading, quantitative and risk management teams in Banca IMI, Banca Caboto and Monte Paschi Asset Management.
Paolo Mazzocchi
Chief executive officer
In his professional career he held the short_profile_1 of Quantitative Finance consultant in Deloitte, where he became member of Deloitte's EMEA Blockchain lab, since 2018 he held the short_profile_1 of Executive Director of the Digital Gold Institute and became faculty member of the Crypto Asset Lab of the University of Milano-Bicocca. In 2019 founds CheckSig, a Bitcoin custody company for institutional investors and wealthy individuals.
Michele Mandelli
Executive director
During his tenure at MonitorDeloitte, Michele also served as the head of the strategy team at Deloitte's EMEA Blockchain lab. He played a crucial short_profile_1 in supporting systemically important financial institutions, assessing the feasibility of crypto-related businesses, such as custodial solutions, M&A deals involving crypto exchanges, and the launch of euro-backed private stablecoins.
Michele firmly believes in the transformative potential of Bitcoin as a monetary technology innovation, comparing it to the digital equivalent of gold in the internet era. He advocates for the traditional banking system to embrace the opportunities presented by this new asset class, providing advisory, custody, and brokerage services to clients involved in crypto-assets, just as they do with other assets.
In addition to his work in the banking sector, Michele has a strong entrepreneurial background. He co-founded HR Analytics and Healthcare businesses and continues to serve on their board of directors, demonstrating his commitment to innovative ventures.
Michele Mandelli holds a Master of Science degree cum laude in Business Management from Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore of Milan. He further enhanced his expertise with a degree in Strategic Management in Banking from INSEAD.
Michele's insights and knowledge make him a sought-after voice in the industry. He contributes to national media, sharing his expertise on the topics of Bitcoin, cryptocurrency, digital assets and their intersection with the banking sector.
Born in 1982, Michele cherishes his personal life as much as his professional endeavors. He is a devoted family man, married, and blessed with seven children. He loves reading and Italian folk songs. One day, if the stars align and the universe conspires in his favor, he might just miraculously stumble upon the elusive time to resurrect his long-lost passions for drumming and snowboarding.
Alumni
Matteo Avigni
Mathematical Engineering, Politecnico di Milano
Cryptoassets in Asset Allocation: a new Asset Class (April 2020)
Rocco Sciaraffa
Portfolio Diversification using Crypto-Assets (February 2020)
Samuele Vianello