Joseph Chee is a finance and investment executive known for his work bridging traditional finance with the digital asset sector. He is the Executive Chairman of Solana Company, the founder of the investment firm Summer Capital, and the Vice Chairman of AMINA Bank. ^[7]

Education

Chee began his higher education at the Stevens Institute of Technology, where he earned an Associate of Science degree in Mechanical Engineering in 1993. He then pursued a Master of Business Administration at the NYU Stern School of Business, completing the program between 1996 and 1998. Later in his career, he undertook two advanced degree programs, at times concurrently. From 2017 to 2022, he was enrolled in an Executive MBA program in General Business Administration and Management at Tsinghua University, where he also held the position of class president. During a partially overlapping period, from 2015 to 2023, he completed a Doctor of Philosophy in Accounting and Finance at the University of Geneva. ^[1]​

Career

Chee spent more than 16 years at the investment bank UBS, from 2000 to 2017. Based in Hong Kong, he served as the Head of Investment Banking for Asia, a role in which he was responsible for leading the firm's regional investment banking operations and managing its franchise across the Asia-Pacific. In this capacity, he advised on numerous fundraising and mergers-and-acquisitions transactions and was involved in the establishment of UBS Securities in China.

Following his tenure at UBS, Chee transitioned his focus to digital assets. In August 2017, he founded Summer Capital Limited, an investment firm concentrated on the digital asset space, where he serves as Founder and Chairman. Through the firm, he has led investments in various companies and managed several exits. One of his early investments in the sector was in the cryptocurrency mining hardware company Bitmain. In 2021, Chee reportedly decided that blockchain technology had achieved a level of maturity sufficient for him to make a significant investment, a decision that guided his subsequent focus on the area.

In April 2020, Chee became the Vice Chairman and a non-executive director of AMINA Bank, a fully licensed Swiss bank that services cryptocurrency businesses. An early investor in the bank, he participates in its portfolio management. Chee has publicly discussed AMINA Bank's strategic role as a regulated entity capable of handling crypto-related business for traditional financial institutions, acting as a bridge between the two ecosystems.

Chee was appointed Executive Chairman of Solana Company in September 2025, taking responsibility for the company's corporate strategy and governance. Solana Company is a publicly traded digital asset treasury company listed on NASDAQ under the ticker HSDT. Under his leadership, the company executed a strategic pivot from its previous focus on neurotechnology to become a yield-generating treasury focused on the Solana ecosystem's native asset, SOL. ^[3]

Interviews

Solana Transformation

In a November 2025 interview on Coin Medium, Chee discussed his transition from traditional finance to the crypto sector, highlighting his work founding Summer Capital, an investment firm focused on digital assets, and his early investments in Bitmain. He described blockchain as a technology that enhances efficiency, flexibility, and asset ownership compared with traditional finance, and emphasized the importance of regulatory understanding to support growth in decentralized finance. Chee explored the balance between decentralized and centralized finance across different regions, noted the role of public market capital in scaling crypto markets, and outlined Solana Company’s strategy to attract institutional investment. He concluded with a vision of broader crypto adoption, integration into everyday financial activity, and the importance of ongoing education to foster understanding of the technology. ^[5]

Building Solana

In a November 2025 interview on the 168X podcast, Chee discussed his journey from a marketing background to investment banking and eventually to the crypto sector, highlighting his strategic transition into entrepreneurship. He described Solana as a highly scalable, profitable, and user-friendly blockchain, explaining his decision to back it based on operational metrics and growth potential. Chee drew parallels between traditional investment practices and emerging crypto markets, emphasizing the importance of credible data and verification to attract institutional investors. He outlined Solana Company’s business model as an institutional gateway, detailed plans for disciplined growth and shareholder value creation, and projected substantial expansion in institutional adoption and project development. Chee concluded by positioning Solana as a leading investment opportunity and encouraged ongoing engagement with the company’s initiatives. ^[6]

Presentations

Bridging Web2 and Web3

In December 2025, Chee delivered a presentation at Luohan Academy outlining his journey from over 20 years in traditional banking, including leadership roles at UBS, to founding Summer Capital and transitioning into crypto-focused venture investing. He discussed the strategic role of Amina Bank as a fully licensed Swiss bank handling crypto businesses, and reflected on the broader evolution from Web2 to Web3, drawing parallels between e-commerce disruption and blockchain’s potential in finance. Chee emphasized blockchain’s ability to enable 24/7 trading, improve liquidity, and facilitate peer-to-peer transactions, tracing his initial encounters with Bitcoin in 2008 through the growing acceptance of crypto technology. He highlighted the emerging role of Digital Asset Companies in bridging traditional finance with crypto markets and discussed the importance of Real World Assets, regulatory clarity, and liquidity in driving institutional adoption and integrating blockchain into mainstream financial systems. ^[4]