{"id":"declan-hannon","title":"Declan Hannon","content":"**Declan Hannon** is a business executive and the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of [Aurora](https://iq.wiki/wiki/aurora). Based in the United Kingdom, he is recognized for his experience in strategic partnerships and product management at high-growth financial technology companies, including Revolut and Epos Now. [\\[1\\]](#cite-id-83ENzELZiscPhUtf) [\\[2\\]](#cite-id-tvK7zWcRQAmx0d4e)​\n\n## Education\n\nDeclon Hannon studied law at University of East Anglia from 2010 to 2014. He previously completed A-Level studies in Law, Geography, General Studies, Critical Thinking, and History at St. John Payne Comprehensive from 2007 to 2009.  [\\[4\\]](#cite-id-HC7nxR65TLZPEOTa) \n\n## Career\n\nDeclon Hannon began his career in business development roles, including work as a freelancer and a position in sales and business development at Entu. He later joined Epos Now, where he held multiple roles between 2015 and 2020, progressing from Special Projects Manager to Business Analyst and subsequently leading strategic partnerships and App Store product initiatives. His work focused on product delivery, partnership development, and commercial strategy.\n\nIn 2020, Hannon joined Revolut, where he served as Director of Strategic Partnerships for the EMEA region and later as Global Director of Strategic Partnerships for its business platform. His responsibilities included partnership strategy development, market expansion initiatives, and cross-functional coordination.\n\nHe subsequently held the position of Global Partnerships and Alliances Director at Coincover, where he worked on partnership strategy and channel development. In 2023, Hannon founded Avaley Ltd, providing advisory and contracting services related to business development and strategic partnerships.  [\\[4\\]](#cite-id-HC7nxR65TLZPEOTa) \n\n### Aurora\n\nHannon's career in the blockchain sector began at Aurora Labs. By May 2025, he was serving as the Vice President of Growth. In this capacity, he represented the company at industry events, such as [TOKEN2049](https://iq.wiki/wiki/token2049) in Dubai. During an interview at the event, Hannon articulated [Aurora's](https://iq.wiki/wiki/aurora) vision and strategy, which centered on making [blockchain](https://iq.wiki/wiki/blockchain) technology more accessible to non-technical users and traditional Web2 companies. He emphasized the company's focus on simplifying the complexities of blockchain deployment.  [\\[3\\]](#cite-id-H8uwKnRBo5eZfotE)​\n\nAs VP of Growth, Hannon was involved in promoting [Aurora's](https://iq.wiki/wiki/aurora) core products. These products included:\n\n* **Virtual Chains**\n* **The Forwarder Protocol**\n* **Near Intense**\n* **Virtual Chain Marketplace** [\\[3\\]](#cite-id-H8uwKnRBo5eZfotE)\n\nOn December 18, 2025, [Aurora](https://iq.wiki/wiki/aurora) announced that Declan Hannon would become its new Chief Executive Officer. The transition saw the former CEO, [Alex Shevchenko](https://iq.wiki/wiki/alex-shevchenko), move into a Strategic Advisor role to concentrate on protocol-level innovations, particularly [NEAR Intents](https://iq.wiki/wiki/near-intents).  The announcement of Hannon's appointment as CEO coincided with the listing of [Aurora's](https://iq.wiki/wiki/aurora) native token, AURORA as the ecosystem grows. [\\[2\\]](#cite-id-tvK7zWcRQAmx0d4e)​","summary":"Declan Hannon is the CEO of Aurora, an EVM on the NEAR Protocol. With a background in strategic partnerships at Revolut and Epos Now, he focuses on commercial execution and user growth to drive mass adoption for the Aurora ecosystem.","images":[{"id":"QmT9cPPGXmgXAJzrq8mYxY8rzZEwq7Mavof66tL5Bc8GrY","type":"image/jpeg, image/png"}],"categories":[{"id":"people","title":"people"}],"tags":[{"id":"PeopleInDeFi"},{"id":"Founders"},{"id":"Ethereum"},{"id":"Speakers"}],"media":[],"metadata":[{"id":"references","value":"[{\"id\":\"83ENzELZiscPhUtf\",\"description\":\"Declan Hannon's Official X Profile\",\"timestamp\":1771899597514,\"url\":\"https://x.com/declan\\\\_hannon\"},{\"id\":\"tvK7zWcRQAmx0d4e\",\"description\":\"Hackernoon - Revolut Lists $AURORA as Aurora Unveils Leadership Transition to Drive Mass Adoption\",\"timestamp\":1771899617232,\"url\":\"https://hackernoon.com/revolut-lists-$aurora-as-aurora-unveils-leadership-transition-to-drive-mass-adoption\"},{\"id\":\"H8uwKnRBo5eZfotE\",\"description\":\"CryptoNews - No Code, No Complexity: Declan Hannon on How Aurora Labs Is Making Blockchain Accessible for All\",\"timestamp\":1771899632117,\"url\":\"https://cryptonews.net/news/blockchain/30951123/\"},{\"id\":\"HC7nxR65TLZPEOTa\",\"description\":\"LinkedIn: Declan Hannon\",\"timestamp\":1771899585962,\"url\":\"https://www.linkedin.com/in/declanhannon/?originalSubdomain=uk\"}]"},{"id":"twitter_profile","value":"https://x.com/declan_hannon"},{"id":"linkedin_profile","value":"https://www.linkedin.com/in/declanhannon/"},{"id":"references","value":"[{\"id\":\"83ENzELZiscPhUtf\",\"description\":\"Declan Hannon's Official X Profile\",\"timestamp\":1771899597514,\"url\":\"https://x.com/declan\\\\_hannon\"},{\"id\":\"tvK7zWcRQAmx0d4e\",\"description\":\"Hackernoon - Revolut Lists $AURORA as Aurora Unveils Leadership Transition to Drive Mass Adoption\",\"timestamp\":1771899617232,\"url\":\"https://hackernoon.com/revolut-lists-$aurora-as-aurora-unveils-leadership-transition-to-drive-mass-adoption\"},{\"id\":\"H8uwKnRBo5eZfotE\",\"description\":\"CryptoNews - No Code, No Complexity: Declan Hannon on How Aurora Labs Is Making Blockchain Accessible for All\",\"timestamp\":1771899632117,\"url\":\"https://cryptonews.net/news/blockchain/30951123/\"},{\"id\":\"HC7nxR65TLZPEOTa\",\"description\":\"LinkedIn: Declan Hannon\",\"timestamp\":1771899585962,\"url\":\"https://www.linkedin.com/in/declanhannon/?originalSubdomain=uk\"}]"},{"id":"references","value":"[{\"id\":\"83ENzELZiscPhUtf\",\"description\":\"Declan Hannon's Official X Profile\",\"timestamp\":1771899597514,\"url\":\"https://x.com/declan\\\\_hannon\"},{\"id\":\"tvK7zWcRQAmx0d4e\",\"description\":\"Hackernoon - Revolut Lists $AURORA as Aurora Unveils Leadership Transition to Drive Mass Adoption\",\"timestamp\":1771899617232,\"url\":\"https://hackernoon.com/revolut-lists-$aurora-as-aurora-unveils-leadership-transition-to-drive-mass-adoption\"},{\"id\":\"H8uwKnRBo5eZfotE\",\"description\":\"CryptoNews - No Code, No Complexity: Declan Hannon on How Aurora Labs Is Making Blockchain Accessible for All\",\"timestamp\":1771899632117,\"url\":\"https://cryptonews.net/news/blockchain/30951123/\"},{\"id\":\"HC7nxR65TLZPEOTa\",\"description\":\"LinkedIn: Declan Hannon\",\"timestamp\":1771899585962,\"url\":\"https://www.linkedin.com/in/declanhannon/?originalSubdomain=uk\"}]"},{"id":"commit-message","value":"\"Added page for Declan Hannon\""}],"events":[{"id":"7114bf51-f842-46c3-b911-6180d2fb8538","date":"2025-05","title":"Became VP of Growth at Aurora Labs","type":"DEFAULT","description":"Joined Aurora Labs as Vice President of Growth, focusing on making blockchain accessible through no-code solutions and strategic product development.","link":"https://cryptonews.net/news/blockchain/30951123/","multiDateStart":null,"multiDateEnd":null,"continent":null,"country":null},{"id":"0f8cdee4-dec5-475d-918c-0938cf09c63d","date":"2025-12","title":"Appointed CEO of Aurora","type":"DEFAULT","description":"Took over as CEO of Aurora to shift the company's focus from infrastructure development to commercial execution, user growth, and mass adoption.","link":"https://hackernoon.com/revolut-lists-$aurora-as-aurora-unveils-leadership-transition-to-drive-mass-adoption","multiDateStart":null,"multiDateEnd":null,"continent":null,"country":null},{"date":null,"title":"Led Strategic Partnerships at Revolut","type":"DEFAULT","description":"Served as the Global Head of Business Strategic Partnerships at Revolut, Europe’s highest-value challenger bank, where he was instrumental in scaling consumer products.","link":null,"multiDateStart":null,"multiDateEnd":null,"continent":null,"country":null,"id":"52fe9005-8f2a-4857-ae6a-504414c07a54"}],"user":{"id":"0x8af7a19a26d8fbc48defb35aefb15ec8c407f889"},"author":{"id":"0x8af7a19a26d8fbc48defb35aefb15ec8c407f889"},"operator":{"id":"0x4a2bC97afBF41a2Cbf4b4628F63420682Ff4CF2a"},"language":"en","version":1,"linkedWikis":{"blockchains":[],"founders":[],"speakers":[]}}