Hatu Sheikh is a Web3 entrepreneur and serial founder who has worked with some of the most exciting and fastest growing companies and businesses in Web3.
In a world where crypto projects rise and fall overnight, few numbers have shown the kind of consistent, long-term vision that Hatu Sheikh has brought to the Web3 industry.
From his early days researching crowdfunding economics at Stony Brook University to co-founding DAO Maker and building CoinTerminal from the ground up, Sheikh has always had a desire for digital growth.
The strong holder offering at DAO Maker, the open access model at CoinTerminal, and his consulting work on some of the most well-known Web3 projects are all expressions of the same core belief of Hatu Sheikh: that decentralized finance should be truly decentralized.
Innovation, foresight and logic: The Hatu Sheikh Way
Hatu Sheikh’s decision to base his work in Dubai follows the city’s recent rise as a Web3 hub. He has also continued to invest in Dubai, with Hatu Sheikh leading the initiative to develop the Dubai Fintech District, a major project in Dubai that establishes financial innovation and infrastructure in the world’s leading hub of Dubai.
The appeal was primarily practical; Access to a pool of young, multilingual talent, clearer regulatory frameworks and the early commitment of public institutions made the region attractive for long-term development.
Since his training, Sheikh has maintained a high level of logic, efficiency and strategic thinking that serves him and his ventures to this day. These are qualities that have made him a trusted and respected authority in the fields of Web3, crypto and business.
When did Hatu Sheikh first get involved in cryptocurrencies?
Hatu Sheikh’s journey into the world of cryptocurrencies didn’t happen overnight. His journey into the industry was shaped by years of academic research and a growing fascination with how capital moves online and, more importantly, who benefits from it.
It was only in 2018 that Hatu Sheikh ventured into the blockchain and crypto industry. His initial involvement focused on helping projects improve their brand representation and token economics, as well as raising funds through private sales and ICOs.
However, the foundation for this transition was laid much earlier. For more than a decade, Hatu’s thinking has been shaped by a consistent question: How does capital move on the Internet and who ultimately benefits from this movement?
This question first emerged during Sheikh’s academic research on crowdfunding, in which he examined how early donors often took on significant risk without sharing in the value subsequently created.
Hatu Sheikh’s impressive educational background
Hassan Hatu Sheikh graduated from Stony Brook University with a bachelor’s degree in mathematics, economics and business administration. In 2017, he received the Most Outstanding Student in Finance award. His academic work on crowdfunding optimization identified the empirical data points that drive startup marketing spend.
Hassan Hatu Sheikh co-founded DAO Maker in 2018, an on-chain fundraising platform with more than 315,000 KYC verified users. The platform was the first to introduce the Strong Holder Offering framework, which rewards long-term commitment based on on-chain behavior rather than on a first-come, first-served basis that favors bots and insiders, as designed by Hassan Hatu Sheikh himself.
Which crypto projects has Hatu Sheikh advised?
Hatu Sheikh, a well-known figure in the blockchain industry and one of the founders of DAO Maker, has overseen numerous crypto initiatives, with a focus on tokenization tactics, marketing efforts, and launchpad growth.
Hatu Sheikh has consulted or held leadership positions in the following projects:
- Polkastarter: acted as marketing advisor, providing strategic advice on initial market positioning and financial viability.
- Inspect (NFT Inspect): Assumed the role of strategic advisor to help with tokenization strategies and expansion in the AI/NFT data analytics space.
- GameFi: Served as a product strategy and token design advisor to support platform growth and connect its network to the gaming aggregator.
Hatu Sheikh and the path to success
Hatu Sheikh is one of the most well-known and influential personalities in the Web3 industry.
From co-founding one of the most successful crypto launchpads to building a platform that is redefining retail investor access to early-stage projects, Hatu’s journey is shaped by his commitment to making decentralized finance fairer, more accessible and more trustworthy for everyone.
Solid experience in Web3
Hatu Sheikh has been active on Web3 since 2017, advises dozens of teams and invests in over 100 projects. He is also a trusted advisor on numerous projects and his experience, track record and expertise are sought after and sought after by a number of companies operating in Web3, crypto and beyond.
Co-Founder of DAO Maker: Hatu Sheikh’s Innovation
Hatu Sheikh is co-founder of DAO Maker, the leading provider of governance technology, data-driven startup funding and institutional on-chain products. It is partly this knowledge and experience that Sheikh passes on and helps other founders and entrepreneurs and companies.
To date, DAO Maker has raised a total of over $90 million, with a total FDV of over $2 billion, serving 315,000 KYCed users and serving 1.1 million wallets.
Founder of CoinTerminal
Hatu Sheikh is the founder of CoinTerminal, a platform that positions itself as Web3’s most liquid primary market. As a crypto launchpad and IDO platform, CoinTerminal offers the opportunity to buy in advance alongside investors such as Binance Labs, Samsung NEXT and Arthur Hayes.
It is large and established companies in the Web3 and crypto space like these that entrust Hatu Sheikh with key parts of their growth. With trustworthiness and efficiency, Shaikh continues to work in his field.
What sets CoinTerminal apart?
Founded by Hatu Sheikh, CoinTerminal became the industry’s first truly open-access launchpad, eliminating token staking requirements that had previously limited participation.
Users could participate without having any native tokens and would only be charged if they made a profit. This is something very important for Hatu, who has built numerous relationships in the Web3 and crypto space over the years to date.
How Hatu Sheikh influenced the crypto launchpad industry
Hatu Sheikh has had a profound and lasting impact on the crypto launchpad industry, consistently pushing it towards more equitable, sustainable and accessible models. At DAO Maker, its Strong Holder Offering framework emphasized engagement rather than speculation and continued to influence the way later launchpads approached fundraising design, a concept that was new at the time and has since been emulated by many platforms.
When the bear market began in 2022 and about 60% of launchpads from that time either closed completely or became inactive zombie platforms, the financial discipline and framework that Sheikh had developed changed, helping DAO Maker survive while the competition collapsed.
Hatu Sheikh’s influence extended even further with the founding of CoinTerminal, the world’s only freely accessible cryptocurrency launchpad. Hatu has expanded this operation to over 620,000 users and facilitated over $80 million worth of token distribution by eliminating token gating, eliminating staking requirements, and introducing redeemable sales, fundamentally changing what retail investors expect from a launchpad.
