Sergey Nazarov (businessman)

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Sergey Nazarov
Born1986 (age 3839)
CitizenshipAmerican
Alma mater New York University
Occupation Entrepreneur
Known forCo-founder of blockchain network Chainlink

Sergey Nazarov is an American entrepreneur and technologist who co-founded the decentralized blockchain oracle network Chainlink. [1] [2]

Contents

Early life and education

Nazarov was born in 1986. His parents were engineers. In 2007, he graduated from New York University with a bachelor’s degree in philosophy and management. Following his graduation, Nazarov was a teaching fellow at the New York University's Stern School of Business. [3]

Career

In 2009, Nazarov co-founded the peer-to-peer marketplace ExistLocal and worked at the venture capital firm FirstMark Capital. In 2011, he established QED Capital, an early-stage venture fund. Through QED, he launched the decentralized email service CryptaMail and the Secure Asset Exchange in 2014. [3]

In September 2014, Nazarov co-founded SmartContract.com with Steve Ellis. [4] The company worked with Cornell Tech professor Ari Juels to develop a decentralized oracle network. This work led to the launch of Chainlink in June 2017, accompanied by a white paper co-authored by Nazarov, Ellis, and Juels. [5] Nazarov was also part of a team that worked with SWIFT on a pilot project for automated bond payments using a smart contract. As CEO of Chainlink Labs, Nazarov oversaw the project's growth and developed features including Proof-of-Reserve and the Cross-Chain Interoperability Protocol (CCIP). [6]

Recognition

In March 2025, Nazarov was invited to the White House Crypto Summit in Washington, D.C.. [7] [8]

References

  1. "How Chainlink Labs CEO Sergey Nazarov sees tariffs affecting DeFi". American Banker. April 10, 2025.
  2. "Chainlink's Sergey Nazarov discusses meeting with SEC Chair Paul Atkins". CNBC. September 5, 2025.
  3. 1 2 "Satoshi Files: Sergey Nazarov | CoinMarketCap". CoinMarketCap Academy.
  4. "Chainlink co-founder wants web3 to provide cryptographic guarantees to the world". March 29, 2024.
  5. https://www.proquest.com/docview/3176313248/
  6. Locke, Taylor. "'A solvable problem': Chainlink founder Sergey Nazarov remains bullish on cross-chain future with SWIFT partnership". Fortune Crypto.
  7. "Trump signs order to create bitcoin reserve, crypto stockpile". American Banker. March 7, 2025.
  8. "Chainlink's Nazarov on White House Crypto Summit". March 18, 2025 via www.bloomberg.com.