Crystal Rose Pierce
Crystal Rose Pierce is a technologist and entrepreneur known for founding and leading blockchain, communications, and digital art ventures, including Make Sense Labs (Sensay), shEOS, and Lighthouse NFT Gallery, and for her roles as a partner at Vidar and a board member of the Integro Foundation.[6][12][10]She founded and previously served as CEO of Make Sense Labs, also known as Sensay, a communications platform built on the blockchain.[1]
Early Life
Crystal has been coding for most of her life. She initially learned how to code at the age of 11, through an old AOL chatroom anonymously. From then on she began to learn more programming languages.[2]
Career
In 2002, Onvi, a web consultancy and digital interactive agency that she operated for 8 years, was founded by Crystal. In 2010, she founded Hyype, a Software as a Service (SaaS) platform aimed to help brick-and-mortar businesses utilize social media and geo-targeted marketing.[1][6][8]
In March 2012, Crystal became the Executive Producer and Head of Creative Technology for PHENOMENON, where she worked on multi-million dollar projects for Fortune 500 companies and spearheaded creative technological development in the organization.[1][6][8]
In March 2014, just two months after leaving PHENOMENON, Crystal became the Co-Founder of Make Sense Labs, Sensay – a blockchain communications company. In August 2014, Crystal became the full-time CEO of Sensay and led the company in building Sense Chat, a private messaging and decentralized application on the blockchain along with the SENSE token. Make Sense Labs (Sensay) raised over $16M in funding across venture and product crowdfunding rounds, including at least $10M through a product crowdfunding sale associated with the SENSE token.[13][5]
In November 2017, Crystal joined the Board of Directors and leadership of the Integro Foundation, a non-profit organization that supports the efforts of other non-profits in Puerto Rico by connecting them to resources and funding. They prioritize capacity-building and ecosystem-building partnerships that have the potential to bring about systemic change in the community.[6][7]
She then co-founded yet another company, in June 2018 called shEOS, a female-run block producer on the EOS network and the shEOS Foundation. The company provides computer science scholarships to young women and she is also one of the board members of shEOS as well.[6]
Crystal later founded Lighthouse NFT Gallery, also referred to as Lighthouse NFT Smart Gallery, in Old San Juan, Puerto Rico. The gallery, which opened in December 2021 during Puerto Rico Blockchain Week, focuses on exhibiting NFT-based digital art in a physical space in Old San Juan and in a parallel virtual gallery, and has hosted events such as NFT art exhibitions, workshops, and community fundraisers.[12][14][15][16] Third-party professional directories list her as founder of Lighthouse NFT Gallery beginning in 2021, with the role continuing through around 2025.[6][10]
According to a third-party professional contact listing, by 2025 Crystal Rose is listed as a partner at Vidar, an investment firm based in Puerto Rico. The same listing reports that her executive roles at Make Sense Labs and shEOS concluded by 2023, and that her work with Lighthouse NFT Gallery ran from 2021 to 2025. These dates and positions come from RocketReach, which is an external employment directory rather than a primary résumé, so they may not reflect the precise timing of her transitions.[10]
Crystal was named as a "Top ICO Influencer" by LimeICO. She serves on the board of the ICO Governance Foundation and advises companies across several sectors.[5][6]
Awards and Recognition
- 2014 – LAUNCH Hackathon, API 1st Place Winner (BitPay) – Recognized for an anonymous marketplace project funded with peer-to-peer Bitcoin transactions at LAUNCH Hackathon.[6]
- 2013 – Hollywood Hack Day, API Category 2nd Place (Mashery) – Awarded second place for use of the Mashery API (Rotten Tomatoes) in an application combining media APIs.[6]
- 2013 – API Hack Day SF, API Category Winner (Mashery) – Recognized for best use of the Klout API and related services at API Hack Day San Francisco.[6]
- 2012 – TwilioCon Hackathon, API Category Winner (SoundCloud) – Received an API category award for an application integrating the SoundCloud API alongside other developer tools.[6]
- 2011 – American Web Design Award (GDUSA Magazine) – Honored with an American Web Design Award from Graphic Design USA magazine.[6]
- "Top ICO Influencer" (LimeICO) – Named a "Top ICO Influencer" by LimeICO, as cited in her CoinAgenda biography.[5]
Speaking Engagements
Crystal has given many talks about the importance of securing one's information from centralized servers used as they are used by corporations and other marketers to sell information. In these presentations she has emphasized using the Sense/Sense Chat platform to reduce reliance on centralized, data-harvesting services and to expand the creative potential of internet users.[4]
Philanthropy
Crystal is on the Board of Directors of the Restart Foundation and is the founder of Restart Week which she created to carry out her philanthropic work. Along with this mission, she previously founded LA Startup Week, a 5-day series of events celebrating entrepreneurs and startups in Los Angeles. Crystal supports open government and previously spearheaded the Code for America Brigade in Los Angeles (Code for LA).[2]
She also holds leadership roles with Integro Foundation, a Puerto Rico–based 501(c)(3) non-profit organization that supports other charities and community projects on the island. Integro Foundation’s IRS Form 990 filings for tax years 2022 and 2023 list her as vice president, and filings for 2024 and 2025 list her as vice president and later as a board member, with all of these roles reported as uncompensated board service.[11]
Personal Life
Crystal is married to Brock Pierce. Their marriage is upheld in an online smart contract that can be dissolved, changed or renewed annually. In March 2019, they had their first child Aurora Rose Pierce.[1] In 2022, their second child, Athena Evey Pierce Rose was born.[9]
Crystal built a Facebook Messenger application called BrockBot, named after her husband Brock Pierce. She presented the application to him for his birthday.[1]
