Pavlo Chabanov (born July 2,ÃÂ 1986) is a Ukrainian motorsport athlete, IT entrepreneur, developer, startupper, investor, and philanthropist. He is an FIA-accredited circuit and drift driver, owner of the Huragan racing team, and co-founder of the humanitarian foundation Huragan Heals.
Chabanov is best known for being the first Ukrainian professional racing driver to represent the country in the TCR class at the FIA Motorsport Games in 2022, held in Marseille. He also founded Huragan, Ukraine's first racing team, which took part in the Formula Drift Pro Championship in 2023.
Pavlo is the founder of the blockchain network Gliesereum and the CEO of the IT company Gliesereum Ukraine. He specializes in cybersecurity, neural networks, and big data.
In 2010, Pavlo joined the BTC development community, deploying 45 technology nodes within a few months. He earned his first bitcoins as a reward for supporting the system.
Since 2019 Chabanov's entrepreneurial and innovative career has been closely associated with Gliesereum Ukraine, blockchain network Gliesereum and various startups.
He has been a speaker at creative meetups in Kyiv, sharing his experiences as a startup founder and businessman.
He has also commented in the Ukrainian press on topics such as the creation of the national CBDC (e-hryvnia), the legal regulation of the virtual assets market, and cybersecurity.
In 2022, at the Web Summit in Lisbon, Pavlo presented his new startup, Simia, an audio and video P2P platform.
He is included in the "40 Under 40 Notable Blockchain Entrepreneurs" ranking as the founder of Gliesereum Ukraine, Simia, and one of Europe's largest crypto liquidity providers. Chabanov is also known for creating automated market-making systems used by the top-10 global crypto exchanges.
Pavlo began his motorsport career in 2021, competing in three disciplines: circuit racing (Touring), drifting (Pro-Am/Pro), and time attack (R2 Pro). He founded the Huragan racing team.
Chabanov brought Ukraine its first TCR car, the Seat Leon Cupra, marking a milestone in the country's motorsport history. He competed in several racing series, and took 2nd place in the 4rd round of the Ukrainian Circuit Racing Cup, Touring Car Racing.
Pavlo Chabanov started his preparations for the Formula Drift Pro Championship in 2021.
In 2022 â during the year when the Russian full-scale invasion of Ukraine began â Pavlo was selected for the national motorsport team.
From October 29âÂÂ31, he made history as the first Ukrainian in the TCR class at the FIA Motorsport Games, held at Circuit Paul Ricard. Chabanov competed in an Audi RS3 LMS TCR.
Throughout the 2022âÂÂ2023 seasons, the Huragan racing team's cars were wrapped in Ukrainian-themed liveries featuring blue and yellow colors, and the trident.
In 2023, Huragan became the first Ukrainian team to compete in the Formula Drift Pro Championship. The team raced with the Toyota Supra A90 âÂÂAspidaâ and the Toyota GT86.
As part of the 2023 "Battle On Two Continents" World Racing Tour, the team participated in three rounds of Formula Drift: Long Beach, Atlanta, and Orlando, as well as various American and European racing series, including Gridlife, HyperFest, FuelFest, HotPit AutoFest, Drift Kings, and Drift Open.
Pavlo Chabanov is featured in the TCR World Ranking.