Christiana Aristidou
Founder Partner / Director - The Hybrid LawTech Firm
Christiana Aristidou is a Transnational Technology Lawyer, Founder, and Managing Partner of The Hybrid LawTech Firm, with more than 28 years of experience in business, technology law, and regulatory compliance. She specialises in complex, multijurisdictional projects and advises startups, SMEs, incumbent institutions, and governments on the integration of advanced technologies, innovative business models, and evolving regulatory frameworks across sectors such as fintech, maritime tech, AI, blockchain, digital assets, sustainable finance, payments and banking, investment funds, energy, green transition, circular economy, proptech, and legaltech.
Her work lies at the intersection of law, digital transformation, and automation, making her a key contributor to the discussion on AI adoption, cybersecurity, blockchain, and smart systems integration. With expertise in maritime technology law, she has been at the forefront of advising on the digitalisation of shipping operations, smart vessel integration, satellite communications compliance, and cybersecurity governance frameworks for the maritime and logistics sectors.
Christiana currently serves as legal and regulatory advisor to blockchain and AI-driven projects and platforms, including banks and other payment service providers, AI and AI security tool providers, investment firms, CASPs, stablecoin and RWA tokenisation projects, DAOs, DeFi protocols, metaverse, and Web3 ecosystems, supporting innovation through legal clarity and compliance. She also provides strategic guidance on maritime digital governance, helping stakeholders navigate IMO cybersecurity guidelines, EU data protection and eIDAS compliance, and the safe adoption of autonomous and connected vessel technologies.
A certified trainer, also authorised to deliver vital importance programmes by the Human Resource Development Authority (HRDA), Christiana has designed and delivered advanced training courses to private and public organisations, financial institutions, and regulators such as CySEC and the Central Bank of Cyprus. Her training focuses on AI governance, blockchain regulation, data protection, AML and regulatory compliance, electronic identification and trust services, digital payments and payment services innovation, and cyber-resilient compliance frameworks.
Recognised as a funded blockchain and cybersecurity expert under various European and international programmes, and serving as Co-Chair of Standardisation for the International Association for Trusted Blockchain Applications (INATBA), she contributes to international and European standardisation bodies, including ISO, CEN-CENELEC, and ETSI, across technical committees on blockchain, smart contracts, AI, cybersecurity, financial services, and sustainability. She serves as the Head of the Cyprus National Delegation to ISO/TC 307 on Blockchain and Distributed Ledger Technologies, where she contributes to several working groups and notably leads the ISO/DTS 18126 project on Taxonomy and Classification for Smart Contracts, currently in the approval phase, within WG3 Smart Contracts and their Applications.
Christiana is the Director of Legal Research at the Blockchain and Climate Institute, where, among others, she has trained climate negotiators for participation in COP conferences. She is also the Cyprus Ambassador at the European Legal Technology Association (ELTA).
Christiana has contributed to several legal and standardisation journals, highlighting the use of technology across industries. Notable examples include her paper “Tokenization: Renewed Efficiency and Capital Flow in the Maritime Industry,” which explores how distributed ledger technologies and tokenization are driving greater efficiency, transparency, and capital mobility across the maritime value chain, and her article in the ICT Standardisation Journal titled “Blockchain Standards and Government Applications,” exploring the benefits of blockchain in government digital transformation and the importance of blockchain standardisation for public sector adoption.
A regular international speaker, Christiana is widely recognised for her thought leadership in technology law, digital governance, AI ethics, blockchain regulation, and sustainable innovation, particularly in the context of next-generation, connected, and cyber-secure industries. Her recent focus includes regulatory and ethical frameworks for maritime automation, cybersecurity-by-design in smart navigation systems, and cross-border compliance models for AI-enabled vessel operations making her a leading voice in shaping the future of safe, smart, and connected shipping.