**Introduction**
With the release of the 2025 “Blockchain 30 Influencers” list, “WEB3+” has also published the inaugural “Top 10 Influential Figures in Blockchain Asia-Pacific” list this year.
The creation of this list combines nominations from past members of the Blockchain 30 Influencers and recommendations from third-party judges, along with observations from the editorial team of “WEB3+”, presenting readers with industry innovators whose influence extends throughout Asia-Pacific and even globally.
The selected influential figures and projects not only hold a leading position in technology or innovation, but they are also key players driving the expansion of the entire blockchain ecosystem.
**Animoca Brands: A Loyal Advocate for Digital Ownership**
Yat Siu, Co-Founder of Animoca Brands
Yat Siu is the soul of Animoca Brands, which started in 2014 as a traditional game development company. After the decline in the mobile gaming boom, Siu was influenced by the concept of “digital ownership” stemming from blockchain technology, recognizing that Web3 would be 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 over 540 blockchain projects, including well-known companies such as Yuga Labs, the parent company of Bored Ape Yacht Club, the blockchain game Axie Infinity, and the NFT trading platform OpenSea.
Currently, Animoca Brands also owns several subsidiaries and projects related to digital ownership, brand IP, and the metaverse, including GAMEE, nWay, Mocaverse, and Motorverse. Among them, Mocaverse aims to create a network system for cross-project resource sharing by integrating the company’s portfolio and subsidiaries.
Additionally, Animoca Brands is considering an initial public offering (IPO) in Hong Kong or the Middle East, with Siu stating that the timing for the listing will depend on market conditions in the coming years.
**Southeast Asia’s Most Popular DeFi Ecosystem Platform: Coin98**
Thanh Le, Founder of Coin98
The last time Vietnam hosted an international event of this caliber for the blockchain industry was in 2018, organized by Huobi and gathering nearly 1,000 participants, mostly traders with very few builders.
Five years later, GMVietnam can be considered the largest international event…
Coin98 is a blockchain software company from Vietnam, boasting a large user base in Southeast Asia. In addition to its decentralized finance platform, Coin98 also includes Coin98 Labs for development, Coin98 Ventures for investment and startup incubation, and Coin98 Network for research and analysis, promoting the growth and development of the ecosystem.
Thanh, who has an engineering background, launched the Coin98 YouTube channel in October 2017 and formally established Coin98 in 2018. Coin98 completed a $11.25 million strategic round of financing in May 2021, led by Hashed and Spartan Group.
Services on the Coin98 platform include wallets, decentralized exchanges, lending protocols, on-chain governance, cross-chain, and gaming, supporting over 22 networks including ETH and Solana. Among these, the Coin98 cross-chain compatible wallet is a key product connecting blockchains, dApps, and all users.
**Must-Follow Data Tracking Website: CoinGecko**
Bobby Ong, Co-Founder and COO of CoinGecko
Today we are hosting our first physical GeckoCon at IconSiam, Bangkok. If you are in town for Devcon, come by and say hi to us!
CoinGecko, the cryptocurrency data tracking website, was founded in 2014 by young entrepreneurs TM Lee and Bobby Ong. CoinGecko has become one of the world’s leading cryptocurrency data aggregation platforms, tracking over 14,000 different crypto assets across more than 1,000 trading platforms globally.
The CoinGecko platform provides real-time price tracking information for various institutions and exchanges, and regularly publishes quarterly cryptocurrency industry reports, newsletters, and a variety of other products and services. With its user-friendly interface and features, it serves as an excellent research tool for both beginners and seasoned cryptocurrency investors.
**On-Chain Tracking Assistant: Etherscan**
Matthew Tan, Founder and CEO of Etherscan
Etherscan was established in 2015 by Matthew Tan and is one of the earliest independent projects on Ethereum.
Due to the transparent and public nature of blockchains, users can query various data on the Ethereum blockchain, such as transaction records, wallet balances, and contract addresses, through a blockchain explorer. Etherscan operates as a neutral platform independent of the Ethereum Foundation’s management or sponsorship.
Many investors use Etherscan to track large holders and whale addresses, and several on-chain detectives utilize Etherscan to trace money laundering or suspicious cash flow transfers.
**Driving Force Behind Well-Known Web3 Projects: Hashed**
Simon Seojoon Kim, CEO and Managing Partner of Hashed
What a day. @LandoNorris has finally won F1 Grand Prix. The teary-eyed embrace with his teammates shows why F1 is a team sport. When I met him at the Japanese Grand Prix a few months ago, I told him he’d win a race soon. I’ll get some good energy from him as well… lol
Simon Seojoon Kim is a leading figure and proponent in the South Korean blockchain sector, collaborating with Korean tech companies such as Kakao, LINE, Watcha, and Spoqa to assist in advancing their blockchain initiatives.
Simon is also a member of the South Korean National Assembly’s Fourth Industrial Revolution Committee, a director of the Korean Blockchain Association, and a member of the Busan Blockchain Free Zone Committee.
Founded in 2017 and led by Simon, Hashed has invested in many internationally recognized blockchain projects, including the public blockchain Aptos, the gaming blockchain Ronin, the native IP infrastructure Story Protocol, and Worldcoin.
The founding mission of Hashed stems from the belief in blockchain’s potential to reshape the global financial system and fundamentally change the internet’s infrastructure.
Thus, Hashed’s mission is to leverage its resources to accelerate the blockchain’s adoption by the new wave of entrepreneurs and innovators. In addition to selecting investment projects, Hashed also participates in core technology construction for infrastructure while integrating industry resources to unleash the potential of blockchain technology.
**Efficient and Secure Decentralized Financial Trading Experience: Holdstation**
Hoai Nam, Founder and CEO of Holdstation
Hoai Nam is an early active member of the Vietnamese crypto community and founded the decentralized financial platform Holdstation in April 2022, believing in the development potential of DeFi.
Holdstation offers a variety of crypto products, including a custodial crypto wallet built on the zkSync ecosystem, incorporating Account Abstraction technology to provide privacy protection and a seamless user experience, compatible with both iOS and Android systems.
Additionally, Holdstation launched the decentralized perpetual futures exchange DeFutures, supporting various derivatives trading protocols and providing data analysis services for users through Holdstation Research.
According to Holdstation DeFutures data, its trading volume has reached $33.469 billion, with a total of 1.1909 million users utilizing its wallet and conducting transactions.
**Account Abstraction**: A technology on the blockchain aimed at providing users’ accounts (such as wallets) with more customization features. Besides improving user experience, it can enhance security and allow users to pay transaction fees more flexibly.
**Leading DeFi Aggregator Protocol on Solana: Jupiter**
Meow, Co-Founder of Jupiter
Jupiter is the leading DeFi aggregator protocol on the Solana blockchain, accounting for over half of the trading volume on the Solana chain and ranking among the top 10 decentralized exchanges (DEX) in 2023.
In early 2024, Jupiter announced its token launch, attracting significant community attention and marking the largest airdrop in Solana’s history.
In simple terms, Jupiter integrates various DeFi functionalities into one application, allowing users to complete investments and various transactions on the Solana chain.
Founded in October 2021, Jupiter faced significant challenges shortly after its establishment in 2022, including the LUNA stablecoin collapse, the bankruptcy of Three Arrows Capital, and FTX, each event severely impacting the cryptocurrency market.
The bankruptcy of FTX caused a massive drop in the price of the SOL token, nearly leading to the collapse of the Solana ecosystem. Most projects were unable to survive the bleak bear market and either disbanded or moved to other chains, while Jupiter managed to persevere and rise to its current leading position.
**Asia’s Next Super App King: Kaia**
Sangmin Seo, Chairman of Kaia DLT Foundation
It’s always exciting to introduce @KaiaChain, LINE NEXT, and Kaia Wave to those hearing about it for the first time.
Great vibes in #Devcon2024 so far! We’ll be holding our main event ‘Ride the Kaia Wave: BKK Edition’ tomorrow, come meet the team in-person 🙂
In 2024, Klaytn merged with Finschia, a blockchain under Japan’s LINE, to form “Kaia,” with Sangmin Seo serving as the Chairman of the Kaia DLT Foundation.
The Kaia DLT mainnet integrates the technological advantages of Klaytn and Finschia, aiming to become the fastest and most efficient blockchain. The Kaia Foundation and LINE NEXT launched the “Kaia Wave” program, allowing developers to use NEXT WEB SDK tools to directly develop and launch mini DApps (decentralized applications) within the LINE chat interface, providing Asia’s vast LINE user base with seamless access to Web3, especially in Japan, Taiwan, Thailand, and Indonesia.
Through the Kaia Wave program, the Kaia DLT Foundation hopes to connect Web3 partners in Asia and globally, promoting the widespread adoption of Web3 and establishing Kaia as Asia’s leading blockchain platform.
**Web3 Mobile Game with Over a Million Downloads: Matr1x**
Saku, Co-Founder and CEO of Matr1x
Saku (0xsaku.eth) has over 10 years of experience in mobile game development and founded Matr1x in 2021, which is an entertainment platform integrating gaming, AI, eSports, and blockchain infrastructure. The goal of Matr1x is to bring innovation to the global gaming and digital content industry through blockchain and AI technology.
Matr1x has released two popular games, the first-person shooter (FPS) game “MATR1X FIRE” and the battle royale game “MATR1X BATTLE,” combining concepts of eSports, AI technology, and open-world metaverse to provide players with a rich entertainment experience.
Among these, the most popular “MATR1X FIRE” achieved over a million registered users and downloads during its global testing period in 2024, with over a million on-chain transactions related to the game, and NFT trading volumes reaching as high as $130 million.
**Stablecoin Issuance Management Platform Compliant with Japanese Regulations: Progmat**
Tatsuya Saito, Founder and CEO of Progmat
Hello, I’m Tatsuya Saito, the representative of Progmat. Today, our new company has started. First, I have explained “what it is.” We will be actively communicating going forward, so please stay tuned!
Progmat is a blockchain infrastructure for digital securities, facilitating settlement through stablecoins. Notably, Progmat is backed by Japan’s top three banks (Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group, Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation, and Mizuho Bank), along with Japan’s largest online financial group SBI Holdings and Japan Exchange Group.
Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group has long had plans to issue the stablecoin Progmat Coin and has been continuously testing cross-chain settlements for stablecoins. In September of this year, Progmat announced it conducted cross-chain trials and successfully settled transactions for digital securities using stablecoins, with commercialization of the platform expected in 2025.
Currently, the three major banks in Japan are conducting a pilot test named “Project Pax,” utilizing SWIFT’s banking API framework to guide Progmat in settlements on the blockchain network. This initiative not only reduces the cumbersome processes of fiat currency transfers for financial institutions and minimizes investment costs but also helps address anti-money laundering and other compliance challenges.