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 figures have demonstrated 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 an appetite for digital growth.
The Strong Holder Offering at DAO Maker, the open-access model at CoinTerminal, and his advisory work across some of Web3’s most recognised projects are all expressions of Hatu Sheikh’s same core belief: that decentralised finance should be genuinely decentralised.
Innovation, Foresight And Logic: The Hatu Sheikh Way
Hatu Sheikh’s decision to base his work in Dubai predates the city’s recent rise as a Web3 hub. He has continued to invest in Dubai too, with Hatu Sheikh leading the initiative on the development of Dubai Fintech District, a large project in Dubai, establishing financial innovation and infrastructure in the world-leading hub that is Dubai.
The appeal was primarily practical; access to a young, multilingual talent pool, clearer regulatory frameworks and early engagement from public institutions made the region attractive for long-term building.
Since his days in education, Sheikh has maintained a high degree of logic, efficiency and strategicness that serves him and his ventures to this day. These are traits which have positioned him as a trusted and respected authority in Web3, crypto and business.
When Did Hatu Sheikh First Get Involved in Crypto?
The journey of Hatu Sheikh into the world of crypto did not happen overnight. His path into the industry was shaped by years of academic research and a growing fascination with how capital moves on the internet, and, more importantly, who benefits from it.
It wasn’t until 2018 that Hatu Sheikh made his move into the blockchain and crypto industry. His initial involvement centred on helping projects improve their brand representation and token economies, as well as bootstrapping funds through private sales and ICOs.
However, the foundations for this transition were laid much earlier. For more than a decade, Hatu’s thinking had been shaped by a consistent question: how does capital move on the internet, and who ultimately benefits from that movement?
That question first emerged through Sheikh’s academic research into crowdfunding, where he examined how early contributors often carried significant risk without sharing proportionally in the value created later.
The Impressive Educational Background Of Hatu Sheikh
Hassan Hatu Sheikh completed his studies at Stony Brook University, earning a Bachelor’s degree in Mathematics, Economics, and Business. In 2017, he received the award for “Most Outstanding Student in Finance.” His scholarly work on crowdfunding optimisation pinpointed the empirical data points that enhance startup marketing expenditures.
Hassan Hatu Sheikh co-founded DAO Maker in 2018, which is an on-chain fundraising platform boasting more than 315,000 users verified through KYC. The platform was the first to introduce the Strong Holder Offering framework, which rewards long-term commitment based on on-chain behaviour rather than first-come-first-served mechanics that favour bots and insiders, as designed by Hassan Hatu Sheikh himself.
Which Crypto Projects Has Hatu Sheikh Advised?
Hatu Sheikh, a well-known personality within the blockchain industry and one of the founders of DAO Maker, has provided guidance to numerous crypto initiatives, with an emphasis on tokenisation tactics, marketing efforts, and growth of launchpads.
Hatu Sheikh has advised or held leadership roles in the following projects:
- Polkastarter: Acted as a marketing advisor, offering strategic counsel on initial market positioning and financial viability.
- Inspect (NFT Inspect): Took on the role of Strategic Advisor to help with tokenisation strategies and expansion in the AI/NFT data analytics sector.
- GameFi: Served as an advisor on product strategy and token design to assist with platform growth and link his network to the gaming aggregator.
Hatu Sheikh And The Journey To Success
Hatu Sheikh is one of the most recognised and influential figures in the Web3 industry.
From co-founding one of crypto’s most successful launchpads to building a platform that is redefining how retail investors access early-stage projects, Hatu’s journey is one of commitment to making decentralised finance fairer, more accessible and more trusted for everyone.
Established Experience in Web3
Hatu Sheikh has been active in Web3 since 2017, advising dozens of teams and seed-investing in over 100 projects. He is also a trusted advisor to numerous projects and his experience, track record and expertise are coveted and required by a number of companies operating in Web3, crypto and further afield.
Co-Founder Of DAO Maker: Hatu Sheikh’s Innovation
Hatu Sheikh co-founded DAO Maker, the leader in governance technology, data-supported startup funding and institutional on-chain products. It is this knowledge and experience, in part, that Sheikh carries forward and helps other founders and entrepreneurs as well as businesses with.
To date, DAO Maker has registered over $90 million in total amount raised, with more than $2 billion in total FDV, catering to 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. A crypto launchpad and IDO platform, CoinTerminal offers opportunities to buy in pre-sales alongside investors like Binance Labs, Samsung NEXT and Arthur Hayes.
It is large and established companies in the Web3 and crypto spaces like these, who trust Hatu Sheikh with core parts of their growth. It is with trustworthiness and efficiency that Shaikh continues to operate in his field.
What Makes CoinTerminal Different?
CoinTerminal, founded by Hatu Sheikh, became the first truly open-access launchpad in the industry, eliminating token staking requirements that had previously gated participation.
Users could participate without holding native tokens and were only charged when they generated profit. This is something very important to Hatu, who has built multiple relationships within the Web3 and crypto spaces over the years which remain to this day.
How Hatu Sheikh Has Influenced the Crypto Launchpad Industry
Hatu Sheikh has had a profound and lasting impact on the crypto launchpad industry, consistently pushing it toward fairer, more sustainable and more accessible models. At DAO Maker, his Strong Holder Offering framework emphasised commitment over speculation and went on to influence how later launchpads approached fundraising design, a concept that was novel at the time and that many platforms have since sought to replicate.
When the 2022 bear market hit, and approximately 60% of launchpads from that era either shut down entirely or became inactive zombie platforms, the financial discipline and frameworks Sheikh had developed and pivoted, helping DAO Maker survive while competitors collapsed.
Hatu Sheikh’s influence reached even further with the founding of CoinTerminal, the world’s only free-access cryptocurrency launchpad. Hatu has grown this venture to over 620,000 users and facilitated over $80 million in token distribution by removing token gating, eliminating staking requirements and introducing refundable sales, fundamentally changing what retail investors could expect from a launchpad.
