AmCham Tech Week: The Business of Web3

Jenny is the global Head of Legal at Opulous, a company focused on bringing decentralized finance (DeFi) to the music industry and changing how artists access the funding they need by providing a launchpad for the first ever music copyright-backed non-fungible tokens (NFTs).

Prior to joining Opulous, Jenny spent almost 3 years as the Asia Regional Director for IFPI, the organisation that represents the recorded music industry worldwide where she worked in the areas of legal and policy engagement, licensing operations, content protection, market analysis, and charts and certification to support the recorded music industry in Asia Pacific.

And prior to joining the music industry, Jenny spent over 15 years in the film and TV industry, between both legal and public policy roles covering the Asia Pacific region working at Universal Pictures, WarnerMedia (formerly known as Time Warner) and over a decade at Disney.

Jenny received her Bachelor of Laws degree from Osgoode Hall Law School in Canada and is admitted to the Law Society of Ontario. She is also currently in her fifth year on the Board of Governors at the American Chamber of Commerce in Hong Kong.

(Special Presentation)

Szabotage, the renowned contemporary street artist, is the first Hong Kong urban artist in the digital metaverse, minting his first NFT in 2020.

Hailing from Brighton, England, Szabotage – a former architect and designer, is recognised as a prolific contemporary urban artist and designer.

The multifaceted artist relocated to Hong Kong, where he became active in the street art scene and gained notoriety in the local and international urban art world.
The artist is best recognised by his signature Koi fish tag – an iconic symbol of strength, adversity and good fortune – which features frequently throughout his work.

Szabotage has painted for the HKWalls street art festival, was a finalist in the global phenomenon Secret Walls, and has given a TEDX talk ‘Resilience is the Ultimate High.’ The artist held his first London solo exhibition ‘SHHH Women's Erotic Emporium,’ in Shoreditch, London. Since then, he has exhibited internationally, with sold-out exhibitions, solo shows, numerous collaborative projects, and commissions.

Tom Andrews is a Senior Asset Manager at Hongkong Land and oversees BaseHall, the new multi- concept food hall in the Basement of Jardine House in Central, Hong Kong.

Originally from Hong Kong. Tom has been with Hongkong Land for the last 7 years, helping with asset management & investment across South Asia. He spent several years in Singapore before moving to Bangkok where he ran Hongkong Land’s Thailand business and led the acquisition of the British Embassy, Thailand.
Since his return, Tom has been involved in various new projects for Hongkong Land and LANDMARK, including the launch of BaseHall - and more exciting announcements to come. He is particularly passionate about the city’s F&B scene and about creating new concepts for the community at large.

Tom spent 7 years with Swire and has a BA from the University of West England and an MSc in Real Estate and Surveying from the University of Hong Kong.

Tim is responsible for driving the commercial expansion of the Blockchain-based Service Network (BSN) into international markets and oversees Red Date Technology’s Hong Kong office. He has 20+ years of international executive-level experience across multiple roles in general management, business development, product development, marketing, and sales. Tim started his career at Intel Corporation and then subsequently led the expansion of several start-up businesses into new international markets and industry verticals.

Peter is a Partner in PwC Hong Kong and has been part of PwC’s Crypto advisory team since 2017. He is a keen believer that recent developments in Web3.0, NFTs and the Metaverse will remake the internet and open up game-changing value for participants. He has significant experience of advising companies in the blockchain and digital assets sector and has a particular interest in the practical challenges of how businesses adapt and apply this new technology.​

Clients include a number of major crypto spot and derivative exchanges, custodians, token issuers, crypto borrowing and lending providers and crypto funds as well as NFT marketplaces, play-to-earn games and NFT creators. More recently Peter was a key driver of PwC HK’s acquisition of virtual land in The Sandbox has used the experience to learn for himself the issues that company’s face when entering the open metaverse.​

Peter is a member of the tax working group of Global Digital Finance and has contributed to a number of tax policy discussions on crypto assets including with the OECD and Hong Kong Inland Revenue Department.​

Peter is a Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants for England and Wales.​

Kevin leads partnerships for Brinc, a global venture accelerator based in Hong Kong focused on empowering gamechangers. In 2021 Brinc announced Launchpad Luna a USD 100M blockchain and NFT Accelerator in collaboration with Animoca Brands followed by a USD $50M Metaverse Accelerator with The Sandbox in 2022. Kevin is leading partnerships for these flagship programs as well as engaging with ecosystem partners, corporates and investors seeking opportunities in Web3.

Jamie is a serial entrepreneur and co-founder of Blockbusters Lab, a Web 3.0 go-to-market launcher and incubator for APEC market. He is also a university lecturer, published author, TV host and columnist.

Luc is Global Head of Digital Assets Solutions at Fidelity International. He has been working with the World Economic Forum on serval initiatives related to distributed ledger technology, guest lectured Master students on cryptocurrencies and advised start-ups in the crypto hedge fund and tokenisation space.

Lucy is the Founder and Managing Partner of Token Bay Capital, a Hong Kong based early-stage venture fund that invests in digital assets and blockchain companies. She is also a Board Member of the FinTech Association of Hong Kong and Founder of Women in Crypto, Hong Kong.

Prior to founding Token Bay Capital, Lucy was a senior leader of PwC’s Global Crypto team where she advised entrepreneurs, start-ups and financial institutions on their crypto and blockchain projects. She also worked with many central banks and other regulatory bodies around the world to help formulate their crypto asset policies. Lucy was named a Top 10 Rising Women in Crypto in 2020 (FinTech Times and Wirex) and #22 Top 100 Women in FinTech in 2021 (FinTech Magazine).

Prior to working in FinTech, Lucy spent 16 years in banking with Goldman Sachs, Credit Suisse, Schroders and Kleinwort Benson. She holds a Type 9 (asset management) license with the Securities and Futures Commission of Hong Kong and became a Chartered Wealth Manager in the UK in 2015. Born and raised in Hong Kong and educated in the UK, she graduated from the University of Oxford with a degree in Modern History.

Melissa Gecolea has over 20 years experience as a broadcast journalist. She’s worked in the Philippines, Hong Kong and London covering politics, technology, and business. She currently works in Hong Kong as an anchor for the evening news and hosts 2 weekly current affairs shows where she is also supervising producer.

She started as a TV presenter and daily news reporter covering defense at GMA-7 in the Philippines and later as a producer for the award winning investigative show ‘Assignment’ on the Philippines’ top network ABS-CBN. Since then Melissa has worked as producer and host for various shows in London and Hong Kong covering the telecoms industry, politics, technology and business. From 2011 she worked on several shows at ABS-CBN News Channel (ANC) including the science and technology show ‘Future Perfect’ as executive producer, as well as co-host and producer of the award-winning personal finance show ‘On the Money’ before moving to Hong Kong to take a job with a major local network.

Laura Hawxhurst is a skilled business leader with a breadth of experience across strategic communications, government affairs, and employee engagement. Laura is currently the Chief of Staff to BCW Consulting based in Hong Kong SAR and has worked for membership-based organizations, corporations, and NGOs across the USA and Hong Kong with local, regional, and global responsibilities.

Laura has more than 12 years of experience in providing strategy development, change delivery, and regulatory compliance. As a change agent, she has been at the cutting edge of numerous large-scale change and technology programs, including the end-to-end development of an award-winning advocacy program for a US Fortune 10 company. In her most recent consulting role, Laura established and managed a large-scale change management program in digital security for a multinational company. Laura has an MBA from the University of Hong Kong.

Yannick is originally from France, and after starting his career in Mainland China went on to leadership roles in tech as Director of Engineering and CTO of startups in Europe. He holds MBAs from Columbia Business School and the London Business School. After joining Meta in Paris, Yannick currently leads the Business Engineering function for Meta in the Greater China Region, which puts him at the intersection of business and technology.

Malik is a globally recognized Fintech expert, author and keynote speaker. He has been recognized as a global thought leader at various forums and regularly featured in the media.

He is currently the Co-founder and Chairman of Finnovation Labs, a Singapore based global Fintech consulting company working in the areas of Digital transformation, Digital financial inclusion, policy initiatives etc. He is also a partner at Payment Genes, a global payments and fintech consulting company, with presence in the Netherlands, Canada, UK etc. As a global consultant, Malik has worked with Fortune 500 companies, Fintech unicorns, progressive Banks, Regulators, multilaterals like ADB and Policy makers across the globe.

Malik also sits/has been on Board and Advisory Board of global fintech entities, innovative banks and leading conferences across APAC, Africa and the MENA region.

Before this, he spent nearly 14 years at Citibank in varied roles in Digital Banking and E-payments, and was last SVP- Global Digital Transformation till 2016, based out of Singapore, where his group helped drive digital engagement for the bank in 42 countries.

Prior to that, he headed Citi’s Merchant payments business in the Philippines and India, as also Digital Marketing for Citi’s Global Consumer Bank, India.

Chris Perera is a Senior Director of International External & Regulatory Affairs, where she advances AT&T’s international market entry regulatory strategy and public policies across Asia Pacific. Chris works closely with AT&T’s diverse business units, and the team of international external affairs and global public policy advocates around the world. AT&T is a diversified, global leader in telecommunications, media and entertainment, and technology.

Chris works with Governments, National Regulatory Authorities (NRAs) and users, to advocate open market policies and best practice regulatory frameworks to promote competition and efficient investment in telecommunications and media markets.

Ms Perera is also a Board Member and previousVice President of the Asia Pacific Carriers’ Coalition (APCC), an industry association of global and regional telecommunications carriers operating in the Asia Pacific region.

Prior to joining AT&T in 2014, Ms. Perera was theSenior Director, Spectrum Policy and Regulatory Affairs for the Asia Pacific Region, GSMA,the Chair of the New Zealand Radio communications Sector and an adviser to the Ministerof ICT and Minister of Broadcasting in New Zealand. Ms. Perera was also thePrincipal Wireless Advisor on the evaluation panel for the New Zealand Government's Rural Broadband Initiative.

Ms. Perera has a Masters (Thesis) Degree from the Department of Electrical & Electronic Engineering, University of Auckland, New Zealand, and holds a Management Accounting Degree from the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants, United Kingdom.

Benjamin Quinlan is the CEO and Managing Partner of Quinlan & Associates. He is also the Chairman of the FinTech Association of Hong Kong (FTAHK), an Adjunct Professor at the AIT School of Management, a Conference Ambassador for the Hong Kong Tourism Board (HKTB), sits on the Advisory Committee for Hong Kong Science and Technology Park’s (HKSTP) Technology Validation Initiative, is a member of the Asian Financial Forum Steering Committee for the Hong Kong Trade and Development Council (HKTDC), and sits on the Finance, Tax & Legal Steering Committee of the Australian Chamber of Commerce (AustCham) and the Finance & Treasury Committee at the Hong Kong General Chamber of Commerce (HKGCC). In addition, he is a Senior Advisor for a number of leading startups, a Mentor for PingAn’s Cloud Accelerator, a Guest Contributor for eFinancialCareers and Regulation Asia, and has been widely recognised as one Asia's leading FinTech influencers.

Benjamin has an extensive track record advising many of the world’s leading multinational companies, financial services organisations, SMEs and start-ups on a variety of high-profile strategic engagements. He is quoted extensively in the global financial press and is frequently interviewed by leading media outlets, including Bloomberg, CNBC, Reuters, and Channel New Asia. He is also a regular keynote speaker at leading financial services industry conferences across the world.

Prior to founding Quinlan & Associates, Benjamin was the Head of Strategy for Deutsche Bank AG’s Equities business in Asia Pacific and its Investment Bank in Greater China and sat on a number of the bank’s global and regional executive committees. He was also the global strategy lead for several of Deutsche Bank’s landmark projects executed out of London and New York.
Prior to Deutsche Bank, Benjamin worked as a Management Consultant at Oliver Wyman, a leading international strategy consulting firm. As part of the firm’s Corporate & Institutional Banking practice, Benjamin advised a variety of global and regional financial institutions on a range of strategic matters. He was also actively involved in the firm’s thought leadership publications and was widely regarded as one of Oliver Wyman’s global subject matter experts in investment banking and capital markets strategy.
Before joining Oliver Wyman, Benjamin worked at UBS AG in the bank’s Asia Pacific Client Coverage and Group Strategy departments, reporting into the regional President and CEO. He began his career in M&A and Capital Markets Advisory at PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) in Sydney.

Benjamin holds a Bachelor of Commerce / Bachelor of Laws (Honours) and a First-Class Honours Degree in Economics (on scholarship) from Macquarie University, Sydney.

Kelvin manages the Adobe Digital media business in Hong Kong and Taiwan region, helping enterprises to stand out from the crowd, unlocking creativity and productivity by innovations from Adobe.

Max Song is cofounder of the world’s largest sustainability standard for Bitcoin: www.sustainablebtc.org/ to drive institutional adoption, and Carbonbase (carbonbase.co), a HK based climate tech startup leveraging data science and blockchain for enterprise solutions for measuring, managing and reducing carbon emissions. Previously, he worked in investments for HK family offices, where he invested in TMT, AI, blockchain, and healthcare. He worked as a data scientist in Silicon Valley for Ayasdi, where he helped with data analysis applications for finance, biotech and healthcare. He received a Masters degree from Schwarzman College, Tsinghua University, and Bachelor of Science from Brown University, where he majored in Applied Math. He is passionate about mobilizing the capabilities of technology and finance to realize the promises of UN Sustainable Development Goals. He is a recipient of the 2021 Generation T Tatler List, and a 2021 Forbes 30U30 recipient.

Jeffrey is a Partner at BCW Group, a boutique fintech strategy consulting & technology firm focused on DLT & digital asset transformation advisory for Fortune 500 & enterprise clients. Prior to this he was Head of AI and Analytics for the Greater Bay Area at Cognizant and a Principal for Cloud and Enterprise Transformation at Hitachi Vantara and Infosys helping listed companies design and execute their digital infrastructure initiatives. Jeffrey is originally from Los Angeles and completed his MBA from China Europe International Business School (CEIBS), postgraduate studies from Stanford University and undergraduate degree from Loyola Marymount University.

Jeffrey currently leads an advisory program to deploy an institutional grade multi-jurisdictional digital asset tokenization platform called TOKO for a DLA in Hong Kong with built in security and assurance from the blockchain. The engagement covers the critical areas of go to market strategy, business development planning, technology architecture & development, and organizational change management. He is also the director of a Partnership Development Program for a large layer one DLT network to ensure integration adoption and scalability for the platform offering from ecosystem participants such as broker/dealers, qualified custodians and ATS exchanges. He also an advisor for the innovation division of DLA Piper called DLS Labs, an internal accelerator for disruptive decentralised applications.

Ben manages and drives the strategy of Eureka Nova, a leading open innovation platform that empowers technology startups to co-create within the New World Group ecosystem of culture, creativity and innovation. Through Eureka Nova’s accelerator programs, open competitions and sandboxes, participating startups work with New World Group’s business units and corporate partners to design innovative technologies that solve real business problems. Ben also co-founded Impact Kommons, the first UN SDG accelerator in APAC focused on accelerating impact with purpose-driven startups.

Prior to Eureka Nova, Ben founded Startup Launchpad, now Asia’s largest I.o.T. startup trade event. He has helped startups raise more than $2 million on Kickstarter and Indiegogo. He is an angel investor and regularly mentors in startup support programs.

Ben graduated from Dickinson College in Carlisle, Pennsylvania and holds a Masters in Business Administration from the Chinese University of Hong Kong.

Gillian is the founder and Fair Director of Digital Art Fair. Founded Digital Art Fair in2020, with the vision to advance art and culture through the use of technology. Prior to founding Digital Art Fair, Gillian is accomplished in fine galleries and museum management, she has managed private museum collections and international galleries in Hong Kong and London and consulted art institutions and international organisations on activating art & culture.
Studied Global Art Business with the Sotheby's Institute of Art in London, with an extensive knowledge of digital art, she is now leading the Digital Art Fair Asia team and curators on creating a brand new art experience combining art and technology such as NFT & blockchain, 3D mapping, VR and AR.

Johnny Wijaya is Director and Head of BNY Mellon APAC Innovation Center. The BNY Mellon Innovation Center Network is an integral pillar of the organization’s digital transformation providing an environment to rapidly experiment with emerging technologies and capabilities such as AI and DLT, incubate new capabilities, products and services, change the way the organization works. The center collaborates closely with our APAC based clients and partners and is the digital window into our capabilities and thought leadership.

He has more than 18 years of international experience in digital transformation within financial services, consulting, telecommunications industry as well as the public sector, delivering digital transformation through the adoption of new technologies, capabilities that have resulted in revenue growth, operational efficiency, and risk reduction. Within his tenure at BNY Mellon, he has held multiple senior roles in Digital and Technology delivering services in APAC, Latin America and North America.

Ben manages and drives the strategy of Eureka Nova, a leading open innovation platform that empowers technology startups to co-create within the New World Group ecosystem of culture, creativity and innovation. Through Eureka Nova’s accelerator programs, open competitions and sandboxes, participating startups work with New World Group’s business units and corporate partners to design innovative technologies that solve real business problems. Ben also co-founded Impact Kommons, the first UN SDG accelerator in APAC focused on accelerating impact with purpose-driven startups.

Prior to Eureka Nova, Ben founded Startup Launchpad, now Asia’s largest I.o.T. startup trade event. He has helped startups raise more than $2 million on Kickstarter and Indiegogo. He is an angel investor and regularly mentors in startup support programs.

Ben graduated from Dickinson College in Carlisle, Pennsylvania and holds a Masters in Business Administration from the Chinese University of Hong Kong.

Michael Wong is Bullish’s Head of Business Operations where he oversees the operational flows among custody, finance, compliance and client facing teams.

Mike previously served as Chief Operating Officer and Chief Commercial Officer of Atom Asset Exchange (AAX), a crypto exchange offering spot, futures and savings products across a variety of digital assets. He also held the role of Vice President of Technology at the time of AAX’s founding.

Prior to AAX, Mike served as IBM’s Blockchain Business Development Lead and was the Global Director of Engineering at Integration Systems.

A strong advocate of technology as a solution for real world problems, Mike serves as an advisor for NGOs in micro-finance and anti-human trafficking.

Mike earned a Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science from the University of Portsmouth as a sponsored IBM student.