Dave Shin is a business development executive, author, and strategist in the Web3 and blockchain industry. Before transitioning fully into blockchain, Shin worked in traditional finance, with roles at major financial institutions like TD, Barclays, Standard Chartered, Morgan Stanley, and Lehman Brothers. In November 2025, Shin joined KRWQ as their Chief Operating Officer and is also an Advisor to LayerZero.

He had previously held roles at several prominent blockchain organizations, including Bitcoin.com, Klaytn, Tezos, Immutable, and most recently Layer Zero. Shin is also the author of the book The Web3 Era: NFTs, the Metaverse, Blockchain, and the Future of the Decentralized Internet, which provides a guide to the technologies shaping the decentralized internet. ^{[1] [2]}​

Education

Shin attended the University of Waterloo. He graduated with a Bachelor of Art degree in Economics. ^[1]​

Career

Shin's professional career began in traditional corporate finance and advisory, where he built extensive experience before pivoting to leadership roles within the Web3 and blockchain industry. ^[5]​

Blockchain and Crypto

KRWQ

Dave Shin is a leader in the global blockchain industry with extensive experience across stablecoins, interoperability, gaming, and enterprise Web3 adoption. In November 2025, he joined KRWQ as their Chief Operating Officer. In this role, he leads operational strategy, liquidity partnerships, institutional integrations, and cross-border settlement initiatives to position KRWQ as high-speed digital currency infrastructure. ^[1]​

LayerZero

Shin also contributes to the multi-chain ecosystem as an Advisor to LayerZero Labs, a position he has held since September 2025. Prior to becoming an advisor, he served as APAC Business Development Lead at LayerZero from May 2024 to September 2025, driving enterprise integrations, ecosystem partnerships, and adoption efforts across key Asian markets. ^[1]​

Immutable

Earlier, Shin served as Head of Business Development for Asia and EMEA at Immutable (December 2022–May 2024). At Immutable, he led commercial strategy and partner onboarding for studios, publishers, and infrastructure teams deploying on ImmutableX and the broader Immutable ecosystem. ^{[1] [3]}​

Klaytn

Before joining Immutable, Shin held leadership roles at Klaytn Foundation, first as Head of Global Adoption (August 2021–September 2022) and later as Head of Global Group (September–December 2022). He guided global ecosystem growth, managed the US$500M Klaytn Growth Fund, and drove adoption across gaming, metaverse, and enterprise partners. ^{[1] [4]}​

Krust Universe

In parallel, he was a Founding Member of Krust Universe (August 2021–December 2022), Kakao’s global technology incubator for blockchain and AI ventures. ^[1]​

Tezos

Earlier in his blockchain journey, Shin led Tezos’ Asia-Pacific expansion as Head of TZ APAC (May 2020–August 2021). During this period, he was also a Founding Member of TZ APAC and briefly served as Asia Advisor to the Tezos Foundation (February–May 2020), overseeing regional ecosystem development across governments, enterprises, and developer communities. ^[1]​

Bitcoin.com

His early operational leadership in crypto includes serving as Head of Exchange at Bitcoin.com (August 2019–January 2020), where he directed the product, operations, and commercial strategy for the platform’s exchange business. ^[1]​

Investment & Advisory Work

Beyond his operating roles, Dave Shin is an active investor and advisor across global Web3, fintech, and emerging-market payment systems. Since 2024, he has advised BitSafe, providing strategic guidance on institutional-grade digital asset products, including the CBTC wrapped Bitcoin initiative on the Canton Network. He has been an investor in Ex Populus since 2021, supporting the development of Xai, a Layer 3 blockchain optimized for gaming.

Shin is also an advisor to the Bantu Blockchain Foundation (since 2020), focusing on financial inclusion and cross-border payment systems across Africa, and serves as an investor/advisor to Interstellar Inc. (since 2019), contributing to innovations such as PAPSS, the Pan-African Payment and Settlement System.

He has been a Founding Member of the Bitcoin Association of Hong Kong since 2014, supporting one of Asia’s earliest crypto-education and community-building hubs. ^[1]​

Authorship

In addition to his industry leadership, Dave Shin is an author with Wiley Publishing, where he released Web3 Era: NFTs, the Metaverse, Blockchain, and the Future of the Decentralized Internet in April 2023. The book synthesizes insights from his Web3 career dating back to 2012, covering NFTs, digital identity, decentralized infrastructure, and long-term trends shaping the future of the internet. ^[1]​

Traditional Finance (TradFi) Career

Before transitioning fully into blockchain, Shin built a strong foundation in global financial markets across equity derivatives, market access, and prime brokerage. From 2016 to 2019, he served as Director and Asia Head of Equity Derivatives & Repo Sales at TD (Toronto-Dominion Bank) in Singapore, overseeing regional institutional sales and derivatives strategy.

Previously, he spent several years at Barclays Investment Bank, where he held two director-level roles: Asia Head of Client Coverage for Agency Derivatives Services (2014–2016) and Asia Head of Product Management for Prime Services (2013–2014). Before Barclays, he worked at Standard Chartered Bank, first as Director of Institutional Equity Derivatives & Market Access Sales (2012) and earlier as Director and Business Manager for Equity Derivatives & Convertible Bonds (2008–2012), operating across Hong Kong and Singapore.

Shin’s early financial career included roles at Morgan Stanley Japan, where he served as Vice President of Product Management for Equities Sales & Trading (2007–2008), and Lehman Brothers Japan, where he was Assistant Vice President for Equity Derivatives Business Analysis (2006–2007).

He began his professional journey in business and technology roles at Butterfield Group as a Project Lead/Business Analyst (2005–2006), IBM Canada as a Consultant (2004–2005), and Manulife Financial as a Senior Business Analyst (2000–2004). ^{[1] [5]}​