The Council 2023-2024
Loretta Joseph
Co-Chair
Chair, Australian Digital Finance Standards Council
Loretta is a virtual asset consultant at the Commonwealth Secretariat and Vanuatu Financial Services Commission, and regularly advises a number of global organizations on the responsible adoption of financial technology, specifically blockchain. She has previously advised OECD and OSCE on digital assets and their impact in AML/CFT.
As the MD of Lo-Jo Consulting, Loretta has provided fintech and regulatory consulting to the Government of Bermuda, FSC Mauritius, SEC Serbia, and the Premier office of South Australia. She also sits on the papal council of Humanity 2.0, a consortium of leaders and luminaries.
Loretta holds various advisory positions globally and was the recipient of the Fintech Australia “Female leader of 2016” award. She holds a Bachelor of Economics degree from the University of Sydney.
Dr. James (Jung-Hweon) Jeon
Korea Blockchain Association, South Korea
Co-Chair
Dr. James leads Asia Emerging Technology business for Smart-city initiatives & Blockchain initiatives through digital transformation including IoT, AI, Big Data, Cloud, Blockchain, Mobility Business as the opinion leader in the industries, governments, communities with his 23 years global business leadership and acts as the bridge between tradition business & emerging business, traditional economy & digital economy, traditional assets & digital assets. He is the Chair of the Global cooperation Committee of Korea Blockchain Association. He served as the representative Director of Hewlett-Packard Enterprise Services (DXC) Korea and Asia-Pacific Regional Leadership, one of the IT leading Fortune 500 company for 20 years. He has been providing his insight as the OECD BIAC Korea Representative in Digital Economy, Technology Innovation working group and deeply involving the digital strategy with government & big group companies how to adopt the technology into a real life & businessIan Taylor
CryptoUK, United Kingdom
Vice Chair
A highly experienced finance and FinTech professional with significant experience within financial markets and disruptive technologies. Previously, Ian had led teams in many investment banking divisions and industry specialisms ranging across Rates, FX and Fixed Income markets, global treasury management, funding, capital allocation and liquidity management.
Ian participates in many blockchain and crypto committees and partners with other industry bodies such as Blockchain for Europe, Global Digital Asset Current Association, Blockchain Association, Access, IDAXO, and AIMA.
He is a frequent editorial contributor and speaker at industry events.
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Mel Songco
IDAXA Services Limited, Singapore
Secretary General
Mel Songco has held a variety of global and regional leadership positions for MNCs and startups within the Creative Industries and Technology sectors – advising governments, regulators, industry leaders and innovators on building and scaling business ecosystems as well as the platforms, applications and services to enable and support their respective strategies.
Mel is the Asia Pacific Head of Operations for Amber, a global game development agency led by industry veterans across all disciplines, platforms and genres, including blockchain and enterprise solutions. Most recently, he has been appointed as the General Manager for Amber’s expansion into the Philippines. He’s held similar roles with Electronic Arts (EA), Activision Blizzard, Vivendi Games and InMobi.
Concurrently, he holds board positions with International Digital Asset Exchange Association (IDAXA) as its Secretary General, Asia Blockchain and Crypto Association (ABACA) as its Executive Director and LAB.PH as its Vice-Chair. He is also an advisor for a tech fund, an impact fund and several of their investments.
Frederick Fung
Singapore Cryptocurrency and Blockchain Industry Association (ACCESS), Singapore
Council Member
Frederick is the Chairman of Association of Crypto Currency Enterprises and Starts-ups Singapore (ACCESS). He was part of the core team in the development of the Code of Practice facilitated by the Monetary Authority of Singapore and developed in consultation with The Association of Banks in Singapore and conducted the Independent Assessment Report for Virtual Asset Service Providers (VASP) 3rd party solutions provider. As the Director of ACCESS NODE, he developed the first Diploma in Blockchain in Singapore with PSB Academy launching in Q2 2022.
Jason Hsu
Taiwan Fintech Association, Taiwan
Council Member
Jason Hsu currently is Senior Advisor at the Centre for Strategic Cyberspace + International Studies (CSCIS).From 2016 ~ 2020, Jason Hsu served as legislator at-large in Taiwan’s parliament overseeing technology developments, entrepreneurship and innovation. Among the crucial legislations he introduced and passed include FinTech Regulatory Sandbox Act, Self-driving Vehicle Act, Angel Investment Law, Cybersecurity Management Act and Virtual Currency Guidelines (Security Token Offerings) and Artificial Intelligence Principle Law. Jason is a proponent for cryptocurrency and blockchain. Known as Crypto Congressman, Jason is credited for setting up Asia Blockchain Alliance (ABA),Taiwan Parliamentary Coalition for Blockchain(TPCB) and Self-Regulatory Organization(SRO).
Harpeet Singh Maan
Council Member
Asih Karnengsih
Council Member
She strongly believes that innovation does not start with technology, does not start with blockchain, but innovation must start with Empathy.
Bryan Ventura
BlockchainNZ, New Zealand
Council Member
Bryan Ventura is a New Zealand based senior lawyer specialising in FinTech, virtual assets, NFTs, DeFi and VASP regulation. His crypto & blockchain clients include a NZ Dollar stablecoin issuer, VASPs, token and NFT issuers, a metaverse operator, an online gaming platform, a carbon trading platform, a data monetization platform, a supply chain provenance consortium and DAOs.
Bryan’s ‘traditional’ practice area also covers capital markets, financial regulation, startups, investment funds, financial institutions, payments, commercial law and M&A.
Bryan is the Chair of BlockchainNZ (which is part of the New Zealand Tech Alliance). He has been an investor in the crypto ecosystem since 2016 and is a regular speaker on crypto and blockchain.
Bryan graduated with a Bachelor Commerce (finance) and a Bachelor of Laws (hons) from the University of Auckland.