According to Odaily, Jon Ma, founder of the institutional cryptocurrency data platform Artemis, shared his journey from traditional finance to the crypto industry. Initially encountering Bitcoin in 2015, Ma did not pay much attention until 2017 when he revisited the cryptocurrency and invested in Bitcoin and other digital assets. Conversations with Erik Voorhees of Shapeshift helped him understand the potential for currency to operate independently of government control.
Although Ma missed the DeFi boom and the rise of NFTs, he re-entered the crypto space in 2021, investing in Solana and its NFTs while exploring DeFi projects. Additionally, he and his girlfriend supported Filipino scholars through Axie Infinity. Ma believes that traditional finance participants will drive the growth of crypto assets from $3.5 trillion to over $100 trillion. He notes that asset management firms like Fidelity and BlackRock are actively launching digital asset ETFs and related products, while major fintech companies such as Stripe and Visa could benefit from crypto payment networks.