John Nahas

John Nahas is the Chief Business Officer at Ava Labs, the company behind the Avalanche blockchain. It is an open-source, Layer-1 blockchain designed to support decentralised applications (dApps), smart contracts, and custom blockchain networks. 

At Ava Labs, he leads ecosystem growth and business development across sectors including institutional finance, enterprise, wallets, exchanges, consumer platforms, gaming, decentralised finance (DeFi), and crypto-native applications. He also manages international growth efforts in South Korea, Japan, India, Southeast Asia, Turkey, the Middle East, and Latin America. 

Since joining Ava Labs, he has held the roles of Senior Vice President, Vice President, and Senior Director of Business Development. John also serves as Director of FinTech and International Relations at LA Blockchain Lab, where he supports partnerships between academia, government, and industry. The lab includes members such as Caltech, UCLA, USC, and the City of Los Angeles. 

Prior to this, he was a founding team member and Vice President of Corporate Development at Onsa, a blockchain-based financial firm later acquired by Franklin Templeton. He helped raise $18 million, secured 43 state Money Transmitter Licences, and led partnerships and regulatory compliance. He previously worked as Director of Business Development and Investor Relations at the same firm. 

John also held senior roles as Director of Operations at Engeocom-Invicta Commodities and Invicta Petroleum, where he managed international commodity trading, partnerships with global banks, and oversaw trade finance deals totalling over $1.3 billion. Earlier, he was Managing Editor and Director of Partnerships at Mic, where he helped develop outreach strategies and manage editorial teams. 

John Nahas was a Summer Fellow at the Carnegie Middle East Centre in Beirut. He worked with a World Economic Forum visiting scholar on research related to Sovereign Wealth Funds (SWFs). He also briefed senior staff of global leaders and organised multiple conferences, seminars, and media events. He is a contributor to MIT Technology Review, a former Parish Council Chairman at St. Nicholas Antiochian Orthodox Cathedral, and a member of the Los Angeles World Affairs Council and the Pacific Council on International Policy. 

John holds a Master's in Public Diplomacy, International Relations and Communication, as well as dual Bachelor's degrees in Political Science and Communication from the University of Southern California (USC).

John Nahas enrolled at the University of Southern California (USC) in 2002, where he undertook a dual Bachelor's degree programme. He earned a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science from the College of Letters, Arts & Sciences with a focus on American Government and Middle East Politics, and a Bachelor of Arts in Communication from the Annenberg School for Communication & Journalism, concentrating on Media, Government, and Society. He completed these degrees in 2006.
 

In 2008, he returned to USC to pursue a Master's in Public Diplomacy, a joint programme between USC Annenberg and the School of International Relations. During this time, he served as President of the Association of Public Diplomacy Scholars (2009–2010), Senior Editor and Editor of Public Diplomacy Magazine (2008–2010), and Program Director of the USC–American University of Dubai Graduate Exchange Fellowship in 2010. He also participated in the POMED/USIP conference in Beirut in 2009 and contributed articles to Neon Tommy and the USC Centre on Public Diplomacy blog.
 

In 2009, John completed a summer fellowship at the Carnegie Middle East Centre in Beirut. He worked with a World Economic Forum visiting scholar on sovereign wealth fund policy and participated in policy briefings with international government leaders. He was also involved in organising conferences, seminars, and press briefings during this period.
 

In 2010, he joined Mic as a founding team member. From May 2010 to March 2011, he was Managing Editor and Director of Partnerships and Outreach. He helped develop the initial strategy and outreach programme, securing collaboration with media such as NPR, CNN, BBC, and NYT, as well as academic institutions including Harvard, UCLA, and USC. He also managed a team of five section editors and over 100 writers.

In 2011, John joined Invicta Petroleum, LLC as Director of Operations, where he worked until December 2015. He arranged trade finance agreements with 16 financial institutions, including BNP Paribas, Deutsche Bank, and HSBC. He oversaw $450 million in energy and commodity trades across Europe and Asia and handled compliance documentation for banks, ports, and regulatory authorities.

In 2015, following Invicta Petroleum’s acquisition by Engeocom Holdings, he became Partner and Director of Operations and Business Development at Engeocom-Invicta Commodities, LTD, based in Los Angeles and Moscow. From June 2015 to January 2018, he structured strategic partnerships with institutions including JPMorgan, HSBC, BNP Paribas, and Deutsche Bank. He sourced and sold products through over 35 suppliers and clients, such as Gunvor, ENOC (UAE), Dangote (Nigeria), and CNPC (China), and managed the full lifecycle of commodity transactions.

In late 2017, he transitioned into the fintech and blockchain industry. From November 2017 to June 2018, John worked as Director of Business Development and Investor Relations for an unnamed early-stage fintech venture. He led investor onboarding, due diligence, pitch material development, and external stakeholder communication.
 

In June 2018, John became Vice President of Corporate Development at Onsa, a digital securities platform. As part of the founding team, he helped establish the corporate structure and business plan that led to Onsa’s acquisition by Franklin Templeton in 2020. He helped raise $18 million in funding, negotiated strategic partnerships, and coordinated product and partner integration efforts. He managed regulatory compliance strategies with the SEC, FinCEN, and 43 state banking regulators, securing Money Transmitter Licenses in six months. He worked at Onsa until February 2020.
 

In July 2019, while still working at Onsa, he took on a volunteer role as Director of FinTech & International Relations at LA Blockchain Lab, a position he continues to hold. The organisation unites academia, government, enterprises, and investors across institutions such as UCLA, USC, Caltech, and the City of Los Angeles to support blockchain ecosystem development.
 

In September 2019, John also became a contributor to MIT Technology Review, where he shares insights on the impact of emerging technologies on business and work. He has contributed to research initiatives and published analysis as part of the MIT Technology Review Insights team.

In September 2020, John joined Ava Labs, the development company behind the Avalanche blockchain. He was appointed Senior Director of Business Development and focused on ecosystem partnerships. In October 2021, he was promoted to Vice President of Business Development. From this position, he led the expansion of Avalanche across institutional finance, enterprises, exchanges, wallets, DeFi platforms, NFTs, gaming, and international markets, including South Korea, Japan, and India.
 

In January 2024, he became Senior Vice President of Business Development and, in May 2024, was appointed Chief Business Officer. In this role, he leads Ava Labs’ global ecosystem growth and business development strategy. He oversees efforts across multiple sectors, including institutional finance, gaming, retail, and decentralised applications. His team is responsible for market development in Asia, the Middle East, Latin America, and beyond.
 

Between 2019 and 2022, John served as Parish Council Chairman at St. Nicholas Antiochian Orthodox Cathedral, managing an annual budget and a multi-million dollar endowment.

He remains an active member of the Los Angeles World Affairs Council (since 2016) and the Pacific Council on International Policy (since 2015), supporting international dialogue and policy discussions.
 

As of 2025, John Nahas continues to serve as Chief Business Officer at Ava Labs and remains engaged in initiatives bridging technology, finance, and international relations.

John Nahas aims to help build a more accessible, secure, and global financial system through blockchain technology. His work focuses on expanding the Avalanche ecosystem to support use cases across finance, gaming, enterprise, and decentralised applications. He believes in the power of open infrastructure to connect people and organisations across the world. John is committed to supporting innovation, promoting real-world adoption of blockchain, and leading strategic growth in key international markets. He works with developers, partners, and institutions to make blockchain solutions scalable and useful in everyday life, especially in emerging regions like Southeast Asia, Latin America, and the Middle East.

John Nahas was part of the founding team at Onsa, a blockchain platform that was acquired by Franklin Templeton after helping raise $18 million and securing 43 state-level Money Transmitter Licences in six months. He led global partnerships and compliance strategies that were essential to the company’s success. At Ava Labs, he has driven ecosystem expansion across key regions including Asia, the Middle East, and Latin America. He has spoken at international conferences, contributed to MIT Technology Review, and led high-impact business development teams. His leadership has been recognised through long-standing roles at LA Blockchain Lab and contributions to public policy and technology forums.