From the Strip to the Blockchain

I graduated from Chaparral High School, where I played football and ran track, then earned a Bachelor of Science in Kinesiology from UNLV. In Alpha Epsilon Pi I served as VP, Treasurer, and Rush Chair across three years. That is where I learned to lead and to build with other people.

I worked the Las Vegas Strip as a Model Cabana Host at Planet Hollywood's party pool from 2010 to 2014, then as a Model Beverage Runner at Omnia Nightclub from 2015 to 2021. Those years taught me hospitality, how a room works, and why this city is such a launching pad for people who want to build.

While I was working the Strip, I was already building on the side: NextGen Pickers, a tech-integrated antique store with my father, and Chameleon Verify Network, a peer-to-peer ticket fraud platform. I discovered Ethereum in the summer of 2016 and made my first crypto investment in the spring of 2017.

I found crypto through Ethereum and smart contracts in the summer of 2016. By 2017 I had put up to 90% of my net worth into it, because I believed in the technology. Then the hard lesson: in the 2018 crypto winter I put my profits into an ICO and took a significant loss.

In March 2021, the rediscovery of MoonCats changed everything. I became the first person to sell MoonCats at Sotheby's, in their October 2021 “Natively Digital 1.2” auction, alongside collectors like Paris Hilton and Steve Aoki. That is what put me in the conversation around NFT archaeology and provenance.

In November 2022, Adam McBride and I joined Emblem Vault at the same time. About a year later, around late 2023, I brought Chris Devitte in. I became CEO in May 2024. As of Oct 2026, EmblemScan shows $138.44M in volume and $31.56M in TVL. Today I lead EmblemAI, the evolution of that infrastructure into an AI-powered DeFAI super app.

I launched Jake Gallen's Guest List in April 2020 as “The Guest List Podcast,” when the Las Vegas Strip shut down during COVID. It became a Top 6 Las Vegas podcast, and on January 1, 2022 I rebranded it to reach past Vegas. At episode 180 the show shifted to crypto industry leaders.

The show is 695+ episodes and 100K+ downloads, weekly since April 2020, in 75+ countries and 1,800+ cities. Consistency compounds. The Emblem Morning Show, which I host with Adam McBride and Chris Devitte, livestreams Tuesdays and Thursdays at 10 AM PT (1 PM ET) on the Emblem Vault YouTube channel and on X.

I am deep in the Las Vegas startup scene: Tech Alley, Pursue Vegas, Startup Vegas, and SCORE Las Vegas. Through Nativ Research I hosted blockchain meetups at the Harry Reid Research & Technology Park that brought in the City of Las Vegas, the NV Gaming Control Board, UNLV, MGM, Caesars, and a lot of local businesses.

Startup Vegas named me to its 2021 Top 100 Men of Success. I still tell people this is the place to build: Nevada's tax advantages, a cost of living you can actually live with, and a community that shows up for each other. How could you not be bullish on this city?