Rarestone is composed of diversely skilled partners with rich on-chain experience and market exposure

We trade with and invest our own capital, and have operated on-chain since 2020, with individual industry experience spanning back to as early as 2016.

We're a hands-on team of growth hackers, software engineers, traders, protocol designers, and creators that can guide you through every stage of your project.

Charles Read

Charles Read

Founding Partner

Charles heads up strategy and go-to-market for the portfolio and the Labs team. He's officially a “class of 17” altcoiner, and has been full time in the industry since then. An early investor in Antshares, Cardano and many others, he is razor sharp at catching trends early. As an avid NFT collector, Charles’ wallet is home to many cryptodickbutts, pandas, punks and clones. He’s also 2022 Crypto Fight Night contender, and recently was named Forbes 30 under 30 in the European Finance category.

Charles’ has been an active contributor to research on the Metaverse since 2019, and is very interested in the spatial web and gaming, and is an on-chain enjoyer, who bought SHIB on release day and sold it shortly after for a small profit.

Before crypto, he was a senior headhunter for defense and government, working with clients such as FCO Services and BAE systems.

Jared Polites

Jared Polites

Partner, Marketing

Jared leads Rarestone’s PR practice, with bylines at leading publications such as Entrepreneur, Forbes, Benzinga, and Hackernoon.

As a dual investor/marketer, Jared helps early-stage companies with everything from marketing and go-to-market strategy, as well as tangible PR campaign and strategic consulting around KOLs, launchpads, marketing agencies, and more.

Previously, Jared was the VP of marketing at Crypto Media Group, one of the first full-service blockchain agencies, a product marketer at a NYC tech startup (acquired by NBC Sports), the marketing lead at a prominent SEA VC fund, and an Intelligence Analyst at the FBI. He holds a Master’s in Finance and a BBA in business.

Derek Hansen

Derek Hansen

Partner, Product

Derek leads the product management advisory of Rarestone, responsible for helping early stage founders focus on maximizing user adoption and product stickiness.

Drawing on over 6 years of full-time experience testing, using, and improving blockchain products to provide a bird's eye view of how similar and adjacent verticals are innovating in a fast moving and dynamic market. Living primarily on-chain, he was early to past cycle narratives around distributed governance, defi yield aggregation and liquidity strategies, as well as web3 gaming.

As the next cycle comes to fruition, he looks forward to helping teams build out a seamless user experience, as retail comes to expect a more native "Web 2.0" experience interacting with the blockchain.

Previously to crypto, Derek was a classically trained software engineer, Derek quickly moved into director level roles for engineering and product management. After a private equity acquisition for a traditional SaaS company, he moved full-time into crypto in 2017.

Luke Jones

Luke Jones

Partner, Finance

Luke is responsible for managing Rarestone’s finances. He also advises Rarestone’s portfolio on certain financial matters, including treasury management.

As an avid trader, Luke started his career at the Hubb Financial Group supporting aspiring financial analysts and traders learn about the financial markets. He then went onto become a stockbroker at Ord Minnett before joining the Finlease Group – one of the largest financial brokerage firms in Australia – as a finance broker. After purchasing his first $ETH in 2016, Luke quickly became engulfed in crypto. He co-founded Fortifex, a software development company dedicated to the industry. At Fortifex, Luke and his team helped several multi-national organizations with the development of private and hybrid blockchain networks.

Luke has been a keynote speaker at several blockchain-focused conferences in the south-east Asian region. He also keeps apace with developments in the space through his YouTube channel, Blocksiders. His hobbies include trading, gaming and travelling the world. Luke has an MBA from UTS majoring in Entrepreneurship, a BA in Business & Accounting and a BA in Information Systems from ACU. He is a RG146 compliant and accredited derivatives advisor.

Harry Read

Harry Read

Analyst

Harry is a lifelong technophile specializing in communications and research. Having worked alongside multiple start-up Founders, he harnesses his expertise to propel growth in emerging tech sectors. Has previously written for brands including BMW, Cartier and Macy's alongside myriad Web3-native companies, and holds a Master's in Philosophy from the University of St. Andrews.

Advisory Team

We believe in the power of collective - all of our advisors are deeply embedded in crypto-culture with a broad range of expertise to fit a rapidly evolving industry.

José Silva
José Silva

Advisor - Creative

Justin Harkema
Justin Harkema

Advisor - Compliance, Venture

Robin Davids
Robin Davids

Advisor - Protocol Design

Anthony Logan Scott
Anthony Logan Scott

Advisor - Creative, Branding

Our team has worked with industry giants