introduction
With the launch of the 2025 "Top 30 Blockchain Figures" list, (WEB3+) also released the "Top 10 Influential Figures in Blockchain Asia-Pacific" list for the first time this year.
The birth of this list combines the nomination suggestions from the past 30 blockchain figures and third-party reviewers, and integrates the observations of the (WEB3+) editorial team to present readers with industry innovators whose influence has expanded to the Asia-Pacific and even global regions. .
The selected influential figures and projects not only have a leading position in technology or innovation, they are also key figures in promoting the expansion of the entire blockchain ecosystem.
Animoca Brands: A committed advocate of digital ownership
Coin98: The most popular Defi ecological platform in Southeast Asia
CoinGecko: A must-follow data tracking website if you’re in the industry
Etherscan: a good helper for on-chain tracking
Hashed: the driving force behind the famous Web3 project
Holdstation: an efficient and secure decentralized financial trading experience
Jupiter: The leading DeFi aggregator protocol on the Solana chain
Kaia: Asia’s next super app king
Matr1x: Web3 mobile game with over one million downloads
Progmat: a stablecoin issuance management platform that complies with Japanese regulations
A true advocate of digital ownership
Yat-Siu, co-founder of Animoca Brands
Yat Siu is the soul of Animoca Brands. The company started as a traditional game development company in 2014. After the mobile game bonus period declined, Xiao Yi was affected by the "digital ownership" derived from blockchain technology and determined that Web3 would It is the future for everyone.
Animoca Brands transformed in 2018 and acquired the sandbox game The Sandbox, turning it into a blockchain-based Metaverse platform. To date, Animoca has invested in more than 540 blockchain projects, including well-known companies such as Yuga Labs, the parent company of Boring Ape, chain game Axie Infinity, and NFT trading platform OpenSea, which are familiar to users.
Currently, Animoca Brands also owns a number of subsidiaries and projects related to digital ownership, brand IP, and the Metaverse, including GAMEE, nWay, Mocaverse, Motorverse, etc. Mocaverse's goal is to create a cross-project resource sharing network system by integrating the company's investment portfolio, subsidiaries, etc.
In addition, Animoca Brands is considering an initial public offering (IPO) in Hong Kong or the Middle East, and Xiao Yi said that the precise timing of the listing will depend on market conditions in the next few years.
Coin98, the most popular Defi ecological platform in Southeast Asia
Thanh Le, founder of Coin98
Coin98 is a blockchain software company from Vietnam with a large number of users in the Southeast Asian currency circle. In addition to the decentralized financial platform, Coin98 also owns Coin98 Labs, which is responsible for development, Coin98 Ventures, which is responsible for investing and accelerating the incubation of new innovations, and Coin98 Network, which conducts research and analysis to promote the growth and development of the ecosystem.
Thanh, who has an engineering background, founded Coin98's YouTube channel in October 2017, and officially established Coin98 in 2018. Coin98 completed a strategic round of financing of US$11.25 million in May 2021, co-led by Hashed and Spartan Group.
Services on the Coin98 platform include wallets, decentralized exchanges, lending protocols, on-chain governance, cross-chain, games, etc., and support more than 22 networks such as ETH and Solana. Among them, Coin98 cross-chain compatible wallet is the key product that connects blockchain and dApps with all users.
CoinGecko, a must-follow data tracking website
Bobby Ong, co-founder and chief operating officer of CoinGecko
The cryptocurrency data tracking website "CoinGecko" was founded in 2014 by two young entrepreneurs, TM Lee and Bobby Ong. CoinGecko has now become one of the world's leading cryptocurrency data aggregation platforms, tracking more than 14,000+ different crypto assets, spanning more than 1,000+ trading platforms around the world.
The CoinGecko platform will provide real-time currency price tracking information from major institutions and exchanges, and will also regularly publish quarterly cryptocurrency industry reports, e-newsletters, and other products and services. Because the interface and functions are relatively friendly, it is the best helper for cryptocurrency novices and veterans to do research.
Etherscan, a good helper for on-chain tracking
Matthew Tan, founder and CEO of Etherscan
Etherscan was created by Matthew Tan in 2015 and is one of the earliest independent projects on Ethereum.
Due to the transparent and public nature of the blockchain, users can query various data on the Ethereum blockchain, such as transaction records, wallet balances, contract addresses, etc., through a blockchain browser. Etherscan is a neutral platform that is not managed or sponsored by the Ethereum Foundation and operates completely independently.
Many investors use Etherscan to track the addresses of large investors and whales, and many on-chain detectives use Etherscan to track money laundering or the transfer of suspicious financial flows.
The driving force behind the famous Web3 project
Simon Seojoon Kim, CEO and Managing Partner of Hashed
Simon Seojoon Kim is a leader and promoter in the blockchain field in South Korea and has collaborated with Korean technology companies such as Kakao, LINE, Watcha and Spoqa to help promote their blockchain initiatives.
Simon is also a member of the Fourth Industrial Revolution Committee of the South Korean Parliament, a director of the Korean Blockchain Association, and a member of the Busan Blockchain Free Zone Committee.
Hashed, of which he serves as CEO, was founded in 2017 and has invested in many internationally renowned blockchain projects, including public chain Aptos, game chain Ronin, native IP infrastructure Story Protocol, world currency Worldcoin, etc.
Hashed was founded because the founding team believed in the potential of blockchain to reshape the global financial system and completely change the network infrastructure.
Therefore, Hashed’s mission is to accelerate the popularity of blockchain by investing its own resources into a new wave of entrepreneurs and innovators. In addition to selecting investment projects, Hashed will also participate in the core technology construction of infrastructure, while integrating industrial resources to accelerate the release of the potential of blockchain technology.
Efficient and secure decentralized financial transaction experience
Hoai Nam, Founder and CEO of Holdstation
Hoai Nam is an early active member of the Vietnamese crypto community. He founded the decentralized financial platform Holdstation in April 2022 because he believed in the development potential of DeFi (decentralized finance).
Holdstation provides a variety of encryption products, including non-custodial encryption wallets built on the zkSync ecosystem, and integrates Account Abstraction technology to provide privacy protection and a painless user experience, and is applicable to both iOS and Android systems.
In addition, Holdstation also launched DeFutures, a decentralized perpetual futures exchange that supports a variety of derivatives trading protocols, as well as Holdstation Research, a data analysis service that assists users in trading.
According to Holdstation DeFutures data, its transaction volume has reached $33.469 billion, and a total of 1.1909 million users use its wallet to conduct transactions.
Account Abstraction: A technology on the blockchain that aims to provide more customized functions for user accounts (such as wallets). In addition to improving the user experience, it can also improve security and allow users to pay fees flexibly.
Jupiter, the leading DeFi aggregator protocol on the Solana chain
Jupiter co-founder Meow
Jupiter is the leading DeFi aggregator protocol on the Solana blockchain, with transaction volume exceeding half of the entire Solana chain, and is one of the top 10 decentralized exchanges (DEX) in 2023.
Jupiter announced its currency issuance in early 2024, attracting a lot of community attention and writing the largest airdrop in Solana's history.
Simply put, Jupiter integrates various DeFi functions into one application, allowing users to complete investments and various transactions on the Solana chain.
Jupiter, the DeFi platform on the Solana chain, was founded in October 2021. However, not long after its establishment, major events occurred in 2022, including the decoupling of the LUNA stablecoin, the bankruptcy of Three Arrows Capital and FTX, and each blow caused a lot of damage to the cryptocurrency market. of harm.
Among them, affected by the bankruptcy of the FTX exchange, the price of SOL tokens plummeted, and the Solana ecosystem was almost on the verge of collapse. Most projects failed to survive this deserted bear market and had no choice but to disband or relocate to other chains. However, Jupiter has survived in this way and has made it all the way to its current leading position.
Asia’s Next Super App King
Sangmin Seo, Chairman of Kaia DLT Foundation
In 2024, Klaytn merged with Finschia, a blockchain owned by Japanese technology company LINE, to form "Kaia", with Sangmin Seo serving as the chairman of the Kaia DLT Foundation.
Kaia DLT mainnet integrates the technical advantages of Klaytn and Finschia, aiming to become the fastest and most efficient blockchain. The Kaia Foundation and LINE NEXT launch the "Kaia Wave" plan, allowing developers to use NEXT WEB SDK tools to develop and launch mini Dapps (decentralized applications) directly in the LINE chat page, allowing Asia's huge LINE users to have painless access to Web3 , especially Japan, Taiwan, Thailand and Indonesia.
Through the Kaia Wave program, the Kaia DLT Foundation hopes to connect Web3 partners in Asia and around the world, promote the popularity of Web3, and build Kaia into Asia's leading blockchain platform.
Web3 mobile game with over one million downloads
Matr1x co-founder and CEO Saku (0xsaku.eth)
Saku (0xsaku.eth) has more than 10 years of experience in mobile game development and established Matr1x in 2021. It is an entertainment platform that combines games, AI, e-sports and blockchain infrastructure. The goal of Matr1x is to Blockchain and AI technologies have brought innovation to the global gaming and digital content industries.
Matr1x has currently launched two popular games, namely the first-person shooter (FPS) game (MATR1X FIRE) and the battle royale game (MATR1X BATTLE), which combine e-sports, AI technology, open world metaverse and other concepts to bring players Rich entertainment experience.
Among them, the most popular (MATR1X FIRE) has reached more than one million registered users and downloads during the global test period in 2024. There have been more than one million game-related on-chain transactions, and the NFT transaction amount has even reached 130 million US dollars.
Progmat, a stablecoin issuance management platform that complies with Japanese regulations
Tatsuya Saito, founder and CEO of Progmat Tatsuya Saito / Progmat
Progmat is a blockchain infrastructure for digital securities and completes settlement through stablecoins. It is particularly worth noting that Progmat is owned by Japan’s three major banks (Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group, Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation and Mizuho Bank), as well as Japan’s largest online financial group SBI Holdings and Japan Exchange Group ) supports blockchain startups.
Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group has always had plans to issue a stable currency, Progmat Coin, and has continued to test cross-chain settlement of stable coins in the past. Progmat announced in September this year that it had conducted cross-chain trials and successfully completed transactions for settling digital securities with stablecoins. It is expected to commercialize the platform in 2025.
Currently, Japan's three major banks are jointly conducting a pilot test called "Project Pax" and using SWIFT's bank API framework to guide Progmat to conduct settlement on the blockchain network. This not only allows financial institutions to reduce the cumbersome process of fiat currency transfers and minimize investment costs, but also helps solve anti-money laundering and other compliance challenges.
