Korean web3 tech entrepreneur Yuree Hong was in her teens when she started coding, which gave her an early insight into the nature of technology. As a self-described ‘Happiness Advocate’ and based in Germany, she’s the Founder of shechain.co, a platform showcasing women-led startups in web3.
Yuree already gained recognition in 2019 from the Women in IT Awards and in 2017 for establishing the first Women in Blockchain (WIB) community − for her contribution to diversity and inclusion in Asia.
While living in Singapore – where many tech innovators pitch their startups − Yuree began studying blockchain technology, attending daily seminars and university courses (University of Nicosia, Singapore University of Social Science) to learn from industry experts.
A seed was sown during one seminar in 2017, when she looked around and realized she was the only woman among about 100 people. It prompted her to start SHE Blockchainers Asia from scratch, with zero marketing budget. This non-profit online community, which increased to around 2,000 members within a year, aims to ‘gather and educate likeminded people, share blockchain knowledge with others, especially ladies new to this technology.’
Being in Singapore during the Initial Coin Offering (ICO) boom gave Yuree access to ‘super early-stage blockchain startups with high potential.’ The next step, as a visionary innovator, was founding shechain.co in 2022.
Being ‘on a mission to make the web3 industry more inclusive,’ she’s convinced ‘startups with a gender-balanced team have a greater chance to succeed.’
Berlin, Germany Enormous growth in cryptocurrency economy Aside from blockchain, this growth-oriented entrepreneur is passionate about many things − artificial intelligence, quantum computing and technologies enabling mass adoption such as NFTs and Metaverses.
Describing herself in an interview as ‘a very curious person especially in deep technology’ (singaporefintech.org), Yuree admits she always enjoys ‘exploring new ideas that solve the problems in the current system by applying state-of-the-art technologies.’
Yet she’s unassuming about her achievements. These include a bachelor’s in Multimedia Engineering, Master of Science in International Business from Manchester Business School and additional qualifications in AI from the University of Oxford. In addition, she has more than 15 years’ experience in technology and data-driven marketing in diverse industries (e.g. investment, digital identity, fintech, energy, food tech, health tech, and cyber security), working with early stage startups as well as large corporations and government agencies.
She’s been a guest speaker at various conferences featuring top IT leaders and government officials, sharing her views on the real-life impact of blockchain technology and tech women empowerment.
Technologically speaking, Yuree says we can see the Metaverse as a next generation of the 3D world, where users are no longer just users; they’re taking part in creating value within the Metaverse world, driving the community-driven platform advancement.
“In the Metaverse, you can exchange value between cryptocurrency and anything you’d imagine you would pay for in real-life, like houses, pets, cars, and even opening your businesses. It opens not only innovative and economically viable opportunities, but also possibilities to introduce new cultural transformation to people’s lives utilizing emerging technologies that never existed during the web2 era.”
As for progress in web3 over the past decade, Yuree says web3 technological inventions like cryptocurrency have reshaped the status quo in the economic and political spectrum.
“The size of the economy that cryptocurrencies have brought into the world is enormous. We will see regulatory reform adopting cryptocurrency as a new form of asset class or even national currency in many countries in the near future.”
“Bitcoin and Ethereum each represent one generational development of web3. We’re at the beginning of the third generation of web3, which focuses more on mass adoption driven by scalable blockchain protocols that makes Metaverse and NFT experience more efficient.”
And with an expected NFT market size growth to USD 13.6 billion by 2027, Yuree says together, NFTs and the Metaverse applications are pushing the entire web user experience beyond the limit.
The Metaverse economy could also bring limitless synergy into various technology markets. For example, she says one of the keys to the success of Metaverse is the Virtual Reality (VR) device adoption status, therefore, it’s an important driving force in accelerating the VR industry growth and vice versa.
With her love of embracing innovation and doing more to help others, Yuree plans to launch an exciting new initiative with shechain.co later this year, to solve critical problems women entrepreneurs face in web3.
With her view that blockchain is the future of decentralized networks and alternative financing methodologies, she’s enthusiastic ‘about the convergence of technology’ that reshapes people’s everyday life experiences.
By following her gut and her belief to ‘never hesitate to initiate anything you see as value,’ Yuree has every reason to look forward to seeing what’s more to come.
YUREE HONG’S METAVERSE & WEB3 TIPS AND RESOURCES
Website: shechain.co | yureehong.com
