Riccardo Donega

Filippo Chiricozzi is Stream Manager – Web3 Digital Assets Innovation at Banca Sella, a position he has held since August 2022. In this role, he coordinates the bank's web3, cryptocurrency, and metaverse development activities within the Innovation team. He also teaches on the executive master programme "NFT Creator & Metaverse Design" at w.academy Business School, covering modules on blockchain fundamentals, Bitcoin, Ethereum, and NFT history and use cases.

Chiricozzi entered the crypto space in 2017 and purchased his first NFT in December 2020, subsequently building a network focused on NFT education. Prior to Banca Sella, he worked as Partnership & Marketing Manager at Oval Money, a fintech firm. Earlier in his career, he co-founded two startups in 2014 — Moovenda and OffLunch — both built around a logistics-based approach to food delivery in Italy. Following a merger with another Italian operator in 2019, he transitioned to fintech. In 2022, he was selected for Operation3, a six-week programme run by Jericho designed to develop web3 skills, with involvement from founders of companies including The Sandbox and Ledger. His areas of expertise span finance and banking, marketing strategy, community building, and web3, with specific topic focus on NFTs, blockchain, and retention marketing.

Valerio Cicco is Deputy Director, Digital Banking at Banca Sella, a role he has held since March 2026. In this position he oversees HYPE (www.hype.it) and all Group digital touchpoints across online and omnichannel banking, with focus on the banking value proposition and the end-to-end product lifecycle of both Banca Sella Digital and HYPE. He also supervises the Group's digital assets and blockchain strategy in his capacity as a co-founder of that team. Immediately prior, from March 2025 to March 2026, he served as Head of AI Strategy, DLT & Digital Assets at the same institution.

His involvement in digital assets at Banca Sella dates to November 2022, when he co-founded the Digital Assets team from scratch, building it to approximately ten staff by 2025. As Co-Head, DLT & Digital Assets, he set strategy and led its execution within the Sella Group. His work in this period included participation in Banca d'Italia's Call for Proposals on DLT with a test stablecoin project described as the first of its kind in Italy, and leading the Group's exploration of an EU Stablecoin consortium opportunity, which he presented to the Board of Directors. He conducted more than 20 meetings with the national regulator. He also led the integration of HYPE S.p.A. into Banca Sella as Project Lead, including the definition of the 2026 Product Roadmap. Before moving into the Digital Assets mandate, he served as Executive Assistant to the Group Chief Executive Officer at Sella from November 2018 to October 2022. Earlier in his career he held roles at Axerve, including Special Project Manager and Strategic Planning Assistant, with responsibilities covering product launches and mergers and acquisitions scouting. Cicco holds a Bachelor's degree in Management and Business Administration from Università Commerciale 'Luigi Bocconi', graduating with 108/110, and completed a Double Degree in International Management with Fudan University, achieving 110 cum Laude.