Greetings to the Cardano community!
My name is Jeremy Firster and I have recently joined Cardano Foundation as Project Manager. I have been living in Asia for the past 10 years and am based in Taiwan’s vibrant capital, Taipei. As Project Manager, I help facilitate partnerships and third-party integrations to further expand the Cardano ecosystem. My main focus is to expand market adoption through these relationships, further enabling Cardano as a blockchain-based solution.
My core professional background is in corporate banking, where I completed various project and structured finance deals for major corporations in Asia. I entered this market while working at two different Taiwanese banks, where I covered mostly Asia and emerging markets.
Back in 2012, the bank I worked for (now KGI Bank), was the first bank in Taiwan to open a bank account for a cryptocurrency exchange business. This was my first introduction to Bitcoin and the spark of my interest in this industry. While fintech and blockchain both grew in adoption and use cases, I became further involved, as Taipei is a tech capital of the world.
In 2016, I actively joined local Bitcoin meetups and in 2017 began hosting blockchain events focusing on current trends and innovations. I left the banking world and co-founded an incubation lab which focused on helping startups create blockchain solutions. In efforts to create a larger ecosystem, I began hosting various events which attracted attention to myself as a thought leader in the industry.
Noticed by a government supportive of innovative technologies, I became an advisor to Taiwan’s Government for Crypto Policy Regulations, establishing working groups that produced frameworks for how to regulate crypto assets, security tokens, exchange operations, and utility tokens.
I have had the privilege to work with many exciting projects as the blockchain industry has grown, including advertising networks, non-fungible tokens for video games, payment networks, exchanges, decentralized finance applications, and more!
I was first introduced to Cardano in 2017 and instantly found the solution I felt was needed for real-world adoption. In 2018, I became an ambassador for Cardano before the Ambassador Program existed, promoting Cardano as an enterprise solution and hosting Cardano meetups in Taipei.
I am thrilled to join the Foundation and help make the vision of Cardano a reality. My focus has always been on using blockchain to solve real problems and in my opinion there is no better place to be than here! My time is equally split communicating externally with partners as it is internally to match the roadmap for Cardano development with opportunities chosen by the Foundation for further growth.
Originally from the United States, I graduated from Indiana State University with a Bachelors in Finance and a minor in Economics. I have a Master’s degree in Business Administration from Shih Chien University in Taiwan, and speak conversational Mandarin.
I love to be a part of the wider Cardano Community and see things grow to new heights, and beyond!
