Meet Our Team
RealT is a union of seasoned real estate and blockchain industry executives, along with marketing, ecommerce and technology experts. Together, we are executing our collective vision to create a new real estate ownership experience.
Remy Jacobson
Co-Chairman of the Board / Principal
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Remy brings a wealth of experience in sales, investor relations, and security token structure to the Managing Member position. Remy has been deeply involved in real estate since 1999, and since 2012 he has been the Chief Executive Officer of J Cube Development, a real estate investment and development company based in the Miami area, where he has built multiple real estate investment portfolios that have seen positive growth.
In 2011, Remy transitioned into crypto, where he quickly developed a passion for cryptocurrency and blockchain technology. He began his career in blockchain as a miner, building his first mining operation called Liquid Bits. This operation quickly evolved into a more substantial company called CoinWare, which became one of the first commercial mega mines in 2013.
Jean-Marc Jacobson
Co-Chairman of the Board / Principal
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After exiting real estate, Jean-Marc initiated another project called Liquid Gold. It was here he first learned about Bitcoin, and immediately became passionate about the transformational implications cryptocurrency would have on the world. He quickly transitioned from Liquid Gold to Liquid Bits and began to focus solely on Bitcoin.
In 2013, he founded Bitcoin Embassy, the world’s first entrepreneurial hub for developers, professionals and startups in the Bitcoin industry. His vision for the Embassy was to foster a cryptocurrency community where people from different backgrounds and experiences could come together and create mutually-beneficial relationships that could help further develop and advance this disruptive technology.
Through these experiences, Jean-Marc sees the potential of blockchain technology and the important implications it has for society on a massive scale. He has a deep interest in using blockchain to help people and organizations strike the balance between privacy and transparency.
Gary Krat
Board Member / Principal
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In 1977 he joined a client, Integrated Resources, Inc., a publicly-held financial services company, and spent 13 years in the marketing, structuring and acquiring of over 600 leveraged real estate, equipment leasing, cable TV and other operating company transactions. He also headed and built the largest financial planning broker dealer group in the United States at that time.
In 1990 he was the senior-most officer at Integrated to move with the acquisition by Eli Broad and SunAmerica Inc. of Integrated’s trust company, annuity company, brokerage business and mutual fund company. During his career with SunAmerica he managed as Chairman, CEO and/or President these and other SunAmerica companies.
In 1999 following the acquisition of SunAmerica Inc. by American International Group, Inc., he stepped away from many of his day-to-day responsibilities and worked directly with AIG’s Chairman, Hank Greenberg, traveling extensively in Europe and the Far East to recreate the SunAmerica core businesses in AIG strongholds located in those places.
He decided to step back even further and spent time in the capacity of Senior Consultant to SunAmerica and AIG. He ended his formal relationship with both companies at the end of 2001.
Thereafter, he formed a series of companies to lend to, invest in and manage operating real estate and storage businesses, which to this day have been involved in over 250 transactions.
The last decade he’s focused on what has become a 40 acre real estate assemblage in the Wynwood area of Miami, a 10 acre assemblage encompassing more than 50 buildings in the Flagler Street area in downtown Miami and a 20 acre real estate assemblage in Jersey City, New Jersey, named Mana Contemporary, which today represents one of the largest 100% art related business/real estate assemblages in the world.
Astor Rivera
Chief Technology Officer
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He has led and managed development teams, product documentation, dev ops, micro & lambda services, cryptographic schemes, security contract audits, streaming data, applied machine learning and cloud networking.
He brings his extensive experience developing for the cryptocurrency market to his work building cutting-edge technology for RealT.
Michael Courvoisier
Chief Operations Officer
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From a young age, Michael had the ambition and energy to create value and entrepreneurship, including starting his own small business at the age of 17. Passionate about computers and open source, he quickly learned various web languages and participated in many open-source projects such as Jeedom (home automation software).
He discovered and briefly explored Bitcoin in 2013, and then had the opportunity in 2018 to devote more time to it and to the blockchain. He quickly made important relationships in the French-speaking ecosystem as an influencer, business leader, trainer, developer, and investor. Michael continues to provide support as an investor, trainer, and consultant (UX, DeFi, process, etc.) on various projects, including “Jarvis” and “Mt Pelerin”. He likes to test new protocols and educate as many people as he can to advance the general adoption of decentralized finance.
At the end of 2019 Michael discovered RealT, which at that time was still in beta and not well-known. As usual, he purchased a few tokens to test what RealT offered, but soon realized that he wanted to better understand the project, and fell in love with RealT’s mission. He reached out to Rémy and Jean-Marc in order to get a deeper understanding, which he began to pass on to the various crypto communities in which he is active. This established him as a French-speaking trainer and contact point for RealT.
After exchanges with the founders and the growing French-speaking community, RealT proposed that Michael become their official link with the French-speaking community. His relationship with RealT continued to evolve, coming to include work as a consultant on the field of DeFi (Decentralized Finance), decentralized blockchain tools, internal processes, and many other ideas from the culture of his native country, Switzerland.
In 2020 he officially became RealT’s COO in order to accelerate RealT’s rapid progress, and to take up challenges such as the L2 migration, the Aave partnership, and RealT’s ongoing integration with the DeFi ecosystem.
Yohann Libot
Chief Marketing Officer
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With ten years of experience in project management in the events and music production fields. Yohann specializes in the development and implementation of innovative, methodical, and ROI-oriented marketing strategies. Yohann has managed social media, marketing, and communication strategies for bands and solo artists, as well as leading communication campaigns and online events for brands like Hard Rock Cafe. He is able to successfully manage multiple projects, and excels in a fast-paced environment. No matter what challenge stands in front of him, he finds creative ways to achieve success.
In addition, he has volunteered for several years with organizations including The Red Cross, Anonymous For The Voiceless, or Movember. Passionate, curious, and always on the lookout for new ideas, he is a vegan minimalist with a passion for travel, extreme sports, photography, and investment in cutting-edge blockchain and fintech. Email him at yohann@realt.co, or find him on Twitter.
Raphaël Lapuyade
Director of Customer Satisfaction
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After graduating with a master’s degree in political science and communication, Raphaël started his career as a public relations specialist at EDF, the second-largest producer of electricity in the world. His responsibilities grew to encompass work on all external communication including community management, events, and press relations.
From EDF, he moved into work with a Paris thinktank with influence in the research and public policy sector. Raphael became deeply engaged in issues such as religion and decentralisation. His work there was wide-ranging, including press relations, the organization and management of academic events, and collaboration on research on multiple social issues.
Passionate about investment and new technologies, Raphaël is particularly excited about the potential positive impacts of blockchain and decentralized finance on society. He discovered RealT in early 2020, and soon joined the team to manage critical customer support and community engagement.
Ben Hoverter
Lead Web Developer
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Ben comes to web development from a rich background that spans multiple disciplines. A polymath with a degree in international political economy and Japanese, his interest in computers dates back to MS-DOS in the early nineties. He worked as a web developer during college, and throughout his first career teaching mathematics and sciences at the secondary and post-secondary level he continued to integrate his interest in technology with his work. When he started his own online tutoring company in the mid-2000’s, he was well-prepared to realize the educational potential promised by the web.
In 2017, after 18 years as an educator and professional communicator, Ben chose to switch to full-time work as a developer. His transition was quick, fueled by his years of experience marrying technology and communication, and today his résumé includes solutions for companies large and small, including REI and the University of Washington. Today, as Lead Web Developer for RealT, Ben’s mission is to craft a user experience that is truly first-class.
Torre Locascio
Web Developer
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Laurel Avant
Accountant
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Joseph Hernandez
Real Estate Legal Counsel
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In addition, Joe has extensive experience with representing condominium associations, community associations, developers and investors in condominium projects and groups of unit owners in a variety of condominium law and community association matters. Joe has developed a special niche in representing condominium associations and cooperative corporations which are being pursued by developers for acquisition of all or substantially all of the units and frequently coordinates a multi-disciplinary approach to representing these clients in order to counsel and assist clients in navigating the myriad of legal issues faced by associations and unit owners in these situations. Joe and the condominium law attorneys at the Firm have also developed extensive experience representing condominium associations which are facing a significant casualty or construction defects issues.
Prior to joining the firm, Joe served as General Counsel for an asset management firm owned by a large private equity firm which managed several luxury high-rise condominium projects. Prior to that, Joe was the head of the real estate practice group at the Miami office of Hogan Lovells and was also a shareholder in the real estate practice group at Greenberg Traurig in Miami.
In April of 2017, Joe was elected as a Fellow of the American College of Real Estate Lawyers (ACREL).
Joe is active in the community and was formerly the Chairman of the Board of Junior Achievement of Greater Miami and now serves as a board member. In addition, Joe is an adjunct professor at the University of Miami School of Law and teaches courses in real estate finance in the Real Property Development L.L.M Program.
Lou Bevilacqua
Securities Legal Counsel
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Mr. Bevilacqua graduated Cum Laude from Fordham University and obtained a Juris Doctor from Fordham University School of Law where was a member of the Order of Coif. Mr. Bevilacqua is Chambers ranked in Capital Markets (International Firms) (Experts Based Abroad) and USA Capital Markets: Debt & Equity (Foreign Experts). Mr. Bevilacqua holds Series 7, Series 24 and Series 63 securities registrations with FINRA.