Introducing Blockchain Fair Asia 2018 (PH edition) Speakers

Blockchain Fair Asia 2018 (PH edition) aims to separate realistic promise from uncertain probability in as far as blockchain technology is concerned.
Event attendees will have the opportunity to analyze undeniable proof of why it is so much more than a lucrative buzzword. Get the chance to see first-hand the potential of this ingenious innovation to push the world to the next frontier.
Note: Below are Blockchain Fair Asia 2018 (PH edition)’s first 18 speakers. This article will be updated every week once new speakers are added.
Kiana Shek — DigiFinex Co-founder
Kiana Shek is a co-founder of DigiFinex PTE Ltd., a world leading digital asset trading platform. Based on CoinMarketCap, DigiFinex ranks as the top 16 cryptocurrecy exchange based on trade volume (as of September 7, 2018). The company was founded by a robust team of blockchain enthusiasts with backgrounds in key fields. These include finance professionals and technical experts among others. Members of the core team behind the project come from such companies as Baidu, HP, Tencent and Xunlei as well as reputable banks.
The core purpose of the platform is to offer users a more secure, convenient and high quality blockchain platform for exchange services and asset transactions.
Before getting aboard the DigiFinex project, Shek had been working with Baidu for almost two and a half years. Her first role in the company was as a Director of Marketing and Business Development. In this position, she would actively explore new investment opportunities for the company, lead a diversified team in sales service support and market all technical products. She went on to become the Deputy General Manager responsible for business development and government partnerships.
Prior to this, she worked with HKBN Ltd/CVC Capital Partners, first as a Manager of Strategic and New Projects and later as the Senior Manager, Corporate Relationships.
She also worked as a Management Trainee of Future CXO at City Telkom (HK) Ltd for over four years.
Kiana attended the Chinese University of Hong Kong where she got a Bachelor’s in International Business. She also holds a Master’s degree in International Finance from New York University.
Collin Thompson — Intrepid Ventures Co-founder
Collin Thompson is a co-founder at Intrepid Ventures and a blockchain product designer who plays various roles in numerous industry startups around the world. He has worked as the Managing Director for Intrepid Ventures since 2012. It is a studio that designs and develops new companies in blockchain, AI, cybersecurity, the Internet of Things and data science among others.
In order to create the market leading innovations of the future, the company partners with governments, enterprise and founders from diverse backgrounds. It has been in operation since 2012 and is made up of a globally distributed team from all corners of the globe. Thompson’s role at Intrepid involves taking the lead in marketing and product development. He also handles research on bitcoin and Ethereum and their impact on the market.
He also served for almost two years as the General Manager for Community and Innovation at Vectr Ventures, an early stage VC fund. Prior to taking up this role, Thompson founded CIPHER, a designer fashion brand that he operated for more than six years. Its target market was a new class of creative business professionals with global networks.
Collin Thompson has a Bachelor of Arts degree in Liberal Arts and Sciences from York University. He is also a graduate of the Harvard Business School, having successfully undertaken a Program for Leadership Development (PLD) course, which is the school’s alternative to an Executive MBA.
Katsuya Konno — Quoine CFO
Katsuya Konno is the CFO of Quoine, the only licensed global cryptocurrency exchange platform based in Japan. The company has a focus on making financial services accessible to everyone using blockchain technology. In numerous countries around the world, only a privileged few have access to premium financial services.
Quoine has the vision of addressing this anomaly by leveraging the benefits of cryptocurrency. It seeks to offer the services and products needed to bring the crypto world to the mainstream. Aptly named Liquid, Quoine’s crypto exchange platform makes use of cutting edge technology to offer matchless liquidity as well as security to users.
Prior to taking up his current role at Quoine, Konno spent almost eight years with SoftBank Group. During his tenure there, he had roles in venture investments, corporate financing and mergers and acquisitions (M&A).
In that period of time, he played an important part in numerous large venture investment and M&A deals amounting to more than US $60 billion. He participated in the acquisitions of US mobile carrier Sprint and global distributor of mobile devices Brightstar, as well as investments in the largest e-commerce platform in India and in South Korea, Snapdeal and Coupang respectively.
Between 2011 and 2013, he played a lead role in the establishment of SoftBank’s venture capital arm in Southeast Asia and the US. He has also driven a number of financing deals such as the issuance of mandatory exchangeable bonds backed by Alibaba and financing for the acquisition of ARM Holdings Plc, a world-leading chip architecture developer.
Henry Wang — SmartMesh Founder
Henry Wang is the founder of SmartMesh and the International Blockchain Application Federation. SmartMesh is a revolutionary network system that offers the protocol underlying the Internet of Things (IoT). Its robust system runs parallel to the internet and has the capacity to self-repair. It also offers higher near-field speeds and bandwidth than those of the traditional internet framework.
The IBAF on the other hand was created to facilitate the application of blockchain technology in practical aspects of life. In order to do so, it promotes the globalization of the technology, accelerates its developments and brings together key industry players.
Wang also acts as the CEO and chairman of Napp Blockchain, Next App, and is a member of the Asia America MultiTechnology Association (AAMA).
Prior to his foray into the crypto sector, he spent four years as the director of business development at Erlang Technology.
He comes with a Master of Physics degree from Peking University, a PHD in Physics from Northwestern University and a Masters in Computer Science from Washington University, St. Louis.
Roy Lai — CEO of Sentinel Chain and InfoCorp Technologies
Roy Lai is the CEO and co-founder of InfoCorp Technologies Pte Ltd and Sentinel Chain. Sentinel Chain is a blockchain based solution for “dead capital” that allows for the tokenization of livestock. Its global B2B marketplace facilitates the use of livestock as collateral to obtain financial services. Its key objective is to allow the unbanked to enjoy financial inclusion and unfettered access to funding.
InfoCorp Technologies is a fintech company which aims to serve the underserved. In addition to offering crypto inclusive financial services for the unbanked, it also assists logistics companies to solve last mile problems in payments. At the same time, it designs Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT) solutions for facilitating inter-bank transfers for small bank consortiums in emerging countries.
Besides these two roles, Lai also serves as a research fellow at the SIM University in Singapore, a position he has held for almost two years now. Prior to taking on his current roles, he worked with BC Information Systems, first as a deputy project director, and later as a business development director.
Moreover, he also previously worked with the Royal Bank of Scotland for four years and 10 months. He has also worked as a solution architect at various firms as well as a disaster recovery manager with Procter & Gamble.
He holds a Bachelor of Science Degree in Computer Science from the National University of Singapore. Lai describes himself as a natural innovator in financial technologies and has a strong background in creating crypto trading systems. He also offers consultancy services in the use of blockchain technology for solving real-world problems.
Pavel Bains — Bluzelle CEO
Pavel Bains is the CEO of Bluzelle Network, a decentralized data storage and management framework built using blockchain technology. Its ecosystem acts a bridge between consumers looking for computing storage space to rent and providers with extra storage resources to offer.
After a $19.5 million ICO, BLZ token, which powers the Bluzelle database, is currently the 148th coin based on market cap according to CoinMarketCap.
In addition to his executive role at Bluzelle, Pavel also serves as an advisor, and provides capital raising and M&A services for technology and digital media companies. He is one of the investors in Bench, a fintech startup and a virtual reality startup known as VR Chat.
Moreover, he is often invited to speak on conferences and panels on the future of finance, technology and digital media industries. He also contributes frequently to The Huffington Post, Forbes, Fast Company and Venture Beat.
Before his tenure at Bluzelle, he co-founded Storypanda, a digital book platform which aimed to encourage young ones to read, write and share books. The platform was a huge success, and secured licensing deals with Warner Bros, DreamWorks, MGM and CBC among others.
As a former NCAA Academic-Athlete Honor Student, he was part of the UCLA track and field team. He is a Level Chartered Financial Analyst and a BBA graduate of Simon Fraser University. He also has a Bachelor’s degree in Political Science from UCLA.
Ashton Addison — EventChain CEO and Founder
Ashton Addison, the CEO and Founder of EventChain SmartTickets is a digital enthusiast who has been part of the cryptocurrency community since 2013. His brainchild EventChain is a decentralized smart ticketing solution built to solve the problems of centralized event ticketing. Integrating the smart contract functionality of Ethereum blockchain, it offers a peer-to-peer market for ticket purchase and sales.
His active participation in the cryptocurrency industry includes research and independent journalism under his own broadcasting networks, EventChain Media and the Crypto Coin Show.
More recently, he presented the opening keynote address at the TechLaw Festival held in Singapore in April this year.
Ashton serves as an advisor to several blockchain companies including Syscoin, Coinpayments, Phoneum, Pundi X and CryptoCanucks. He is also the chief marketing strategist for the SmartMesh Foundation and BitNautic Official.
As the lead guitar in a rock band known as the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Ashton and his band mates volunteered to play at The Benefit Show, a rock concert for the BC Cancer Foundation.
He has a BBA degree in Accounting and Finance from the University of the Fraser Valley and an MSc in Digital Currency (Intro), Bitcoin and Blockchain Technology.
His company, EventChain, is an official media partner of Blockchain Fair Asia 2018.
Stanley Diao — Senior Investment Professional at DFJ Dragon Fund
Stanley Diao serves as a Senior Investment Professional at DFJ Dragon Fund, a fund initiated by Tim Draper. DFJ came into existence in 1985 by virtue of the cooperative efforts of third generation venture capitalist Tim Draper, and his former colleague, John Fisher. The fund has the objective of working with big thinkers to bring their ambitious ideas to life.
Over the years, it has invested in such breakout companies as Skype, Hotmail and Baidu. Within the crypto industry, the fund has backed such successful projects as the Sentinel Protocol, Telegram, and Aelf. In his current role, Diao focuses on AI, blockchain, cloud computing and big data among other areas.
Diao is one of the super voting members for token listing on Huobi Global. As a Super Node on the platform, he participates in voting for candidates looking to get listed on HADAX and Huobi Pro.
He is a co-founder of BlockchainThrone, which has been in existence since October 2017. It is a blockchain and crypto community that offers project rating, education, valuation and investment advisory services.
Moreover, he is the founder and president of SRC, a global networking forum for professionals from the greater China region and overseas. Prior to founding SRC, he worked with KPMG Deal Advisory as an Assistant Manager. Before that, he was a Senior Assurance Associate at Pricewaterhouse Coopers.
Diao has a Master’s Degree in Philosophy, Politics and Economics from Shanghai University of Finance and Economics. He is currently undertaking an Innovation and Entrepreneurship program at Stanford University Graduate School of Business.
Xinyi Chen — General Partner at ChainVC
Xinyi Chen is a General Partner at ChainVC, a TV presenter and a founder of HEDGE Education. ChainVC is a leading Asian cryptocurrency venture capital firm based in Singapore. The fund has a resource pool tailored towards education and investment activities associated with cryptocurrencies and blockchain technology.
In addition to her position at ChainVC, Chen is also a financial news TV anchor. In this role, she acts as a host for Dialogue with Lifen Wang, a weekly business round table. On the show, she has the opportunity to host entrepreneurs, leaders, celebrities, industry experts and newsmakers from all facets of the economy. Discussions revolve around current business affairs in all aspects of the economy ranging from latest trends and developments to economic policy making among other things.
In 2011, she founded HEDGE Education Consulting, an organization that focuses on strategic consulting about the overseas market. Additionally, the firm explores potential cooperation and business development opportunities for companies in specific industries in China.
Additionally. Chen serves as a Fellow of Chinese Entrepreneur Organization at Stanford University, a position she has held since 2011. In 2015, she offered volunteer services at the Kenya Elephant Orphanage. She was also a volunteer at the Education Advancement Fund International in China.
She holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from Shangai University of Finance and Economics. She also had an opportunity to participate in the International Relations programs in Harvard University as an exchange student.
Jeremy Berger — Portfolio Director at Life.SREDA
Jeremy Berger is a portfolio director at Life.SREDA and a chief operating officer at Arival Bank. Life.SREDA is among the first South East Asian Venture Capital funds with a focus on financial technology. Since its inception, it has made more than 20 investments and seven exits.
Arival Bank is a Singapore-based digital banking startup in the digital banking sector, with a focus on small and medium-size enterprises.
In addition to his roles at Arival and Life.SREDA, he is also serving as an advisor for Goldbell Investments in Singapore.
Before this, he was working as a strategic ops analyst at Fintech Mortgage Association in Tampa Florida. Prior to that, he helped co-found a P2P lending startup and served as a founder and president of USF St.Petersburg Baseball Association.
His educational background includes a Bachelor of Science degree in Global Business from the University of South Florida, certification in Business Administration from Illinois Institute of Technology and International Negotiations/Project Management from ISM University of Management and Economics.
Berger has many years of experience in the Venture capital sector, digital banking, financial technology and compliance.
In view of this, you can count on the fact that he will have a treasure chest of practical knowledge to share with conference attendees.
Joel John — Analyst at Outlier Ventures
Joel John has been working with blockchain technology and related companies since 2012. He first found his way into the industry when he attempted to create a remittance/exchange system. His target market was blue collar workers in the Middle East who needed a cost-effective way to send money home.
He is a research analyst at Outlier Ventures, a venture firm that invests in companies using decentralized technology to build Web 3.0. The company has invested in such reputable projects as IOTA, Botanic, uVue, Moneycircles and Buyco among others.
Before joining Outlier Ventures, Joel served as a blockchain analyst in Traxcn. During his tenure there, he analyzed and published information on upwards of 500 companies in a span of four months.
Moreover, he worked an intern analyst with Rebright Partners, analyzing Internet of Things (IoT), artificial intelligence (AI) and smart city projects emerging in India. Joel was also selected as one of four students to join GSM India, an accelerator program for outstanding performers.
As a student of business, he is always looking for innovative ways to leverage technology to create a lasting impact on people in emerging economies. He has a BBA in International Business from the Symbiosis Centre for Management Studies in Pune, India.
Tushar Aggarwal — Golden Gates Ventures Crypto Arm LuneX Ventures
Tushar Aggarwal is an associate at LuneX Ventures, which is the crypto arm of traditional venture capital firm Golden Gate Ventures. Golden Gate has in the past had some exposure to the blockchain industry as it backed OMG. LuneX will be the very first crypto fund in Southeast Asia backed by a traditional investor.
Tushar is also popular for his role as a host on Decrypt Asia podcast whose objective is to demystify the Asian blockchain space.
Prior to becoming a podcaster, he worked as a mentor in two organizations, Muru-D and Supercharger Fintech Accelerator. He has also been a volunteer consultant for Grow Movement in Malawi.
His background also includes consultant and senior consultant roles with Sia Partners, as well as an almost two year stint as an associate at Pricewaterhouse Coopers.
He graduated from Nanyang Technological University with a Bachelor of Business Administration, Finance and Marketing. He is currently undertaking a Master of Science degree in digital currency and blockchain.
Akanshu Jain — KaizenVC
Akanshu Jain is a principal at Kaizen Venture Capital and a co-founder of Hooklabs. Kaizen is a venture fund that supports promising blockchain startups in the emerging Asian market. The company has been managing digital assets and making investments in blockchain for more than four years. In that time, it has created a track record of offering acceleration and consulting services to successful companies all over the globe.
Jain is also a co-founder and managing partner at Hooklabs, an international team of tech enthusiasts. The company seeks to support ambitious and daring visionaries globally to bring their ideas to life.
Before his current roles at Kaizen and Hooklabs, Akanshu Jain worked as a consultant with NearGroup Chatbot and a growth analyst at Iflix. Prior to these, he had the opportunity to co-found the Future of Hospitality Summit, Europe’s first conference organized by students.
He has a Bachelor of Business Administration with Distinction, with a major in Business Management and Entrepreneurship.
Ahmed Abdulla — Digipharm Founder/CEO
Ahmed Abdulla is the founder and CEO of Digipharm, the world’s first blockchain platform using smart contracts for innovative pricing. The company also offers value based reimbursement as well as the world’s first Real World Evidence (RWE) repository that rewards patients for their data input.
In this role, he participates in the creation and implementation of transformative digital health solutions and the application of blockchain technology within the pharmaceutical industry.
In addition to his role at Digipharm, he serves as a healthcare blockchain expert at the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UN/CEFACT). Previously, he was a global health economist at Roche, where he was in charge of global pricing and market access.
Abdulla’s background also includes a research associate role at the University of Liverpool and the University of Swansea and the role of pricing consultant at International Healthcare Limited.
He has a Master of Pharmacy (Hons) degree from the University of Wales, Cardiff, and a Masters in health Economics and Decision Modeling from the University of Sheffield.
With hands-on experience in the practical application of blockchain technology, Abdulla will have lots of gems for all of the sector’s enthusiasts in attendance.
Gerb Reign B. Inajada — UnionBank of the Philippines
In spite of having a background in IT, Gerb has spent almost a decade in the banking industry. He rapidly worked his way through the ranks after having joined the UnionBank’s business solution development department in 2009.
Within this period, he has accrued experience in developing and managing products as well as services that cater to top corporates and retail clients on the bank.
His current roles in the bank include Assistant vice president, head of the emerging technologies development unit and the Blockchain Center of Excellence lead at UnionBank of the Philippines.
In his present positions, he manages the innovative portfolio of the bank’s emerging technologies. As an agilist who specializes in financial technology, Gerb enjoys being a catalyst and being part of change and big ideas.
His educational background includes a BSc in Information Technology from the University of San Carlos. He also attended a 12-week long class in Future Commerce, Financial Technology in MIT.
Yang Yang Zhang — PDAX Co-Founder
Yang Yang Zhang is a co-founder and chief strategy officer of the Philippine Digital Asset Exchange. PDAX is a virtual currency exchange platform which facilitates trading and settlements against the Philippine peso. Following its launch, crypto users in the country will no longer have to trade pesos for foreign currencies such as the USD so as to trade digital assets.
Before joining PDAX, Zhang was a global strategy director at JIOS Aerogel. Prior to this, she had served as the chief marketing officer for BKT Co. Ltd., leading the development of Tomorrow Water initiative. She also spent almost two and a half years as the vice president of Edu4U+Academy, an educational consultancy and tutoring firm.
Among other initiatives that she has helped to co-found was Oomami Inc. which got $1 million in angel funding.
Zhang has an impressive and inspirational educational background. She graduated from high school Magna Cum Laude at only fifteen years of age.
During her final two years of high school, she joined a special university program for academically advanced high school students, attending math and science courses at UCI.
She graduated with a Bachelor of Science degree in Economics and Management Science from MIT.
Zhang is among the most highly anticipated speakers at Blockchain Fair Asia Philippines edition, given her hands-on experience in the local crypto market.
Rafael Padilla — Co-founder of Blockchain Association of the Philippines
Rafael Padilla is one of the founders of Blockchain Association of the Philippines (BAP), an organization that aims to facilitate mass adoption for blockchain technology in the Philippines. As part of its vision, it plans to establish the Philippines as a thriving blockchain hub. To this end, it encourages knowledge sharing between various players of the economy. It also sets up workshops centered around DLT to educate Filipinos in the technology.
UnionBank and Coins.ph are among its founding members while its key partners include the Ethereum Enterprise Alliance and Consensys.
Padilla comes with years of experience in the legal sector. He has been serving as the legal counsel for Farcove Network Ltd. since 2011. As a legal advisor in the legal sector, he focuses on public policy issues as well as the legal implications of blockchain technology and cryptocurrencies. He handles the regulatory, licensing, compliance and legal requirements for numerous crypto-based businesses and blockchain projects. In view of the rapid evolution in the space, he guides clients on the latest developments. As their advocate, he champions sensible regulatory frameworks.
Rafael has also been a Professor of Law at the San Beda Alabang School of Law since 2010. Prior to this role, he worked as an associate attorney with Del Rosario and Del Rosario Law. Additionally, he had been a lecturer in De La Salle University — Dasmarinas.
Interestingly, he earned his Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science at the same university, later joining San Beda College for his Bachelor of Law (LL.B) degree. He came out as the class Valedictorian in the Alabang Campus.
Mark Vernon — Owner and Founder of Tagcash
Mark Vernon is the founder of Tagcash, a platform that seeks to build a digital economy by facilitating transactions. It was born out of the need to reward members of the public for sharing coupons and offers on social media. It currently serves as a payments hub as well as a social sharing and loyalty programs platform.
Using the platform which integrates transfers and payments with social media, users can transact using their favorite social networking channels. In his own words, Vernon’s objective is to tokenize anything of value, ranging from fiat currency and rewards to virtual currency as well as non-fungible tokens.
In addition to making users’ lives easier by offering a robust set of services, Tagcash is also working on a peer-to-peer lending option.
His knack for founding startups started way back in 1994 when he established Virtual Training Company Ltd. Besides being a training CD publisher, the company also offers online delivery of video IT lessons.
He also founded ProofCore in 2017 which makes use of multichain technology based on Bitcoin Core to offer blockchain solutions. Banks, consortiums, government departments and individual companies are among its key clients.
