Ioana Surpateanu, a web3 entrepreneur and founder of Strategy W, a crypto and emerging tech advisory firm, is steadily positioning herself at the helm of emerging technology. Involved in multiple web3 projects from gaming, P2P marketplaces, gamified NFT trading through to digital fashion, she is helping to shape the frontier of industries across the Metaverse and DeFi 2.0 ecosystems. She also sits on the board of CryptoUK, the United Kingdom’s largest pro-crypto trade association, and the Multichain Asset Managers Association. Her diverse roles underscore her belief that the frontier of every industry holds the promise of the future.
The Power of Emerging Tech: Impacting Lives and Creating Opportunities
With an intellectual curiosity and passion for crypto, Ioana sees vast potential for emerging tech to create a positive impact. She states: “Crypto, more generically, is an industry where developers and people with substantial technical and financial knowledge run the show. I feel lucky to be constantly interacting with incredible founders who use technology to change the world.” Her conviction is not blind optimism but a result of her experience in the field. Her firm, Strategy W, leverages crypto to create educational opportunities, fostering a “thirst for knowledge and wisdom.” “The positive impact of creating education and improving people’s knowledge is a no-brainer to me. I am fascinated by the multitude of ways in which crypto generates an unparalleled thirst for knowledge,” Ioana shares. One project she is particularly passionate about is The Common Ground, a women-led web3 marketplace which she is in the process of co-founding. The Common Ground is a peer-to-peer marketplace designed to revolutionise decentralised commerce and support female entrepreneurs. The ultimate goal is to enable the creation of an ecosystem founded on shared values and powered by a novel currency designed to unleash economic freedom.
A New Era: Financial Inclusion through Emerging Technology
With a focus on DeFi 2.0, Ioana sees the potential of emerging technologies for the future. “People outside the financial system can today – via crypto – have access to a variety of sophisticated financial instruments that they were unable to access before,” Ioana explains. This disruption of the current financial system is, according to her, one of the best things that can happen to humanity. However, she stresses the need for continuous learning and understanding the risks associated with these instruments. Ioana’s optimism isn’t just about the potential wealth but, more importantly, the empowerment that comes with knowledge and individual responsibility. When asked who would benefit from her work, Ioana passionately replies: “As many people as possible, I hope.”
Championing Women in Crypto
Beyond her contributions to emerging technology, Ioana also ardently advocates for women in the crypto industry.
A Vision for the Future
A conversation with Ioana feels like a glimpse into the future. Her perspective on the promise of emerging tech for social good underscores the potential of the digital frontier. She views these technologies as vehicles for economic empowerment and financial inclusion. But her vision doesn’t stop there. Ioana sees the increasing integration of crypto into our everyday lives as a catalyst for continuous learning and personal growth. She believes in the power of emerging tech to foster intellectual curiosity and cultivate individual responsibility. “Emerging technology is about more than just code and algorithms,” she states. “It’s about people, opportunities, and the promise of a better future.” For the pioneers of the future, the motto could well be a quote from Ioana herself: “Crypto generates this thirst for knowledge and wisdom and continually having to upgrade oneself intellectually.” As we push the boundaries of what is possible, this thirst for knowledge and wisdom will carry us forward.
Breaking the Mould
Ioana’s journey is far from conventional. Starting her career as a high-profile head of cabinet in the European Parliament for one of the vice presidents of the European People’s Party Group, Ioana found herself at the center of Europe’s political machinery, handling complex negotiations and setting priorities for the European Union budget allocations totaling over 1 trillion Euros. Focusing on innovation and infrastructure investments, she played a significant role in paving the way for a more modern, digital Europe. In 2016, she championed the release of the first research report on virtual assets by any European institution, marking the start of her journey in the crypto space. Following her work in the European Parliament, Ioana moved to Citigroup, taking on a hybrid role that allowed her to straddle traditional finance and the burgeoning world of crypto. Even as she worked within a traditional financial institution, she seized opportunities to promote and encourage engagement with crypto. Beyond her work in government affairs, she made inroads into Citigroup’s markets infrastructure investments team, where she strove to advocate for investments in crypto infrastructure projects, although it was early days in the industry. The pandemic significantly shifted Ioana’s career as she set up her own crypto consultancy. One of her first roles through her consultancy was as Chief Strategy Officer for a decentralized oracle provider, a position that deepened her understanding of crypto infrastructure and decentralized finance. Now, Ioana is fully immersed in a portfolio career, interacting with various projects across the crypto space. As a mentor for Outlier Ventures’ Base Camp Accelerator, she guides over 200 startups annually.
A Career Guided by Curiosity and Integrity
According to Ioana, the current state of technological and financial development has already significantly altered society. She sees financial innovation as an opportunity for positive transformation, encouraging society to be more intellectually informed and challenging existing systems, prompting questions and debates about finance, the role of central banks, commercial banks and the meaning of fiat money. Crypto, in particular, has initiated debates and demands for transparency, shifting the balance of power from centralized entities to individuals and communities. This shift, she believes, is “critical to avoiding manipulation and fostering a society that controls and benefits from technology.” In Ioana’s vision for the future, both the crypto industry and women’s roles within it, one sentiment stands out: embrace the unknown, challenge the status quo, and remember that the journey is just as important as the destination. This, she suggests, is the key to forging a path in the ever-evolving world of crypto.
