Board of Directors
Paul Brigner
Chairman of the Board of Directors of Bootstrap
Paul Brigner is well known within the cryptocurrency policy community for spearheading the PGP* (Pretty Good Policy) initiative, which he started at ECC when he served as Head of Policy.
With an early career spanning over a decade in software development, Paul transitioned into policy, where he has since held high-ranking positions in notable organizations including Verizon, Internet Society, the Motion Picture Association of America, and the Chamber of Digital Commerce, before ECC. In particular, he was head of the Coinbase Institute.
A U.S. Army veteran with an educational background marked by a JD and MBA from Georgetown, Paul combines technical proficiency with policy expertise, offering a rich perspective grounded in experience and academic excellence. His career is a testament to his commitment to fostering intelligent discourse and promoting advancements in the technology policy arena.
Tom Howard
Board of Directors, Bootstrap
Tom Howard is currently the Head of Strategy at CoinList. He brings extensive operating experience from senior roles at PowerTrade and Mosendo, coupled with a track record of managing fiduciary responsibilities across over 300 early-stage investments. A longstanding contributor to the Zcash ecosystem, Tom has actively shaped community governance and championed user adoption through education and onboarding for privacy-centric tools like the Zashi wallet.
Shawn Murphy
Board of Directors, Bootstrap
Shawn Murphy is a senior technology executive and former U.S. Army Captain who bridges the gap between high-stakes military infrastructure and decentralized protocol governance. With over two decades of experience in secure network engineering and cryptographic systems design, he has authored and deployed mission-critical privacy platforms based on end-to-end encryption. He is the founder of a high-performance validator operation.
Arjun Khemani
Board of Directors, Bootstrap
Arjun Khemani is an independent Zcash contributor and member of GenZcash, an educational initiative dedicated to privacy. A recipient of fellowships from Emergent Ventures and O’Shaughnessy Ventures, Arjun specializes in translating complex technoeconomic topics into accessible stories. His work focuses on improving the adoption of Zcash through educational outreach.
Josh Swihart
Alumnus and Former Executive Director, Bootstrap
Josh Swihart is currently building a new company. Formerly CEO at Electric Coin Co. (ECC) and executive director of Bootstrap, Josh was previously the CEO and an owner at Aspenware (exit to Aspen Ski Company and Alterra Resorts). He has also served as the SVP of Global Marketing for K2 (exit to Francisco Partners), a global practice principle for the Interlink Group (exit to EMC and TPG), and co-founder and VP of software development for 3t Systems.
Josh has received numerous global and national awards for leadership, marketing and solution delivery. He is an advocate for underserved and/or exploited people all over the world, most actively with those living in the slums of Mumbai and Pune, India.