Community, Chains, and the Future of Crypto: Insights from Anndy Lian

Community, Chains, and the Future of Crypto: Insights from Anndy Lian

Dan sat down with Anndy Lian, blockchain strategist and thought leader, to discuss the current state of the crypto industry, the challenges of adoption, and the critical role of community. The conversation, rich with practical wisdom and candid observations, offers a roadmap for both newcomers and veterans navigating the ever-evolving world of blockchain.

The Institutional Chill: Why Retail Users Feel Left Out
The interview opens with a frank assessment of the crypto landscape. Dan notes, “Everything is very institutional, very cold, and retail users can’t get involved with most of this stuff.” Anndy agrees wholeheartedly, highlighting a core issue: the barriers to entry remain high, not just because of technical complexity, but also because the industry often fails to make a genuine effort to include everyday users.

Anndy elaborates, “People are not trying hard enough, that’s number one. The second part is they are actually getting into the wrong kind of projects.” He points out that many newcomers are lured into complex decentralized exchanges (DEXs) or swaps, which are difficult to manage and understand. “How are you going to stick, how are you going to extract from what they are buying? It’s very technical,” he says, emphasizing that the steep learning curve can be discouraging.

Lowering the Barriers: The Role of Meme Coins and Gaming
So, what’s the solution? Anndy suggests that the best entry point for new users might be through “fun meme coins or maybe even gaming stuff.” He believes that starting with simple, accessible projects can help users build confidence before tackling more complex aspects of crypto. “Keep it simple, easy to understand, and then you start going to the higher levels, the higher complexities,” he advises.

This approach, he argues, is essential because “no one’s going to understand swapping and wallets and seed phrases right off the bat, and there’s a huge amount of risk with that.” By making the onboarding process less intimidating, the industry can attract a broader audience and foster genuine engagement.

Choosing the Right Chain: More Than Just Technology
Another recurring theme in the conversation is the importance of choosing the right blockchain. Anndy observes that while there are over 200 blockchains, only a handful have real activity, incentives, and communities. “You’ve got to really choose the right chain, even if you’re going to launch a meme or maybe a utility. You’ve got to choose the right chain that gives you the support,” he says.

He warns that launching a project on a chain without financial or community support is a recipe for failure. “If you are on a chain where there’s no support in terms of money, no support in terms of community, it gets a little bit awkward for the project owner. It’s very difficult for people to enter into that particular chain because no one else is using it.”

Dan summarizes the challenge: “If you don’t build a blockchain that could support [a real community], you’re not going to get any users.” Anndy agrees, noting that the lack of users adds to the barrier of entry. “If the entry is easy, I come to my buddy, ‘Are you on X chain?’ You say, ‘Yes, I am, let’s do it.’ But if you’re on some chain where you couldn’t even find it in the wallet, it’s just going to be useless. We’re on different planets at that point.”

Community First: The Heartbeat of Crypto
For Anndy, the most critical factor in any blockchain project is the community. “Whenever we talk about adoption, whenever we talk about users, it goes back to the community. If you have a blockchain that is just a blockchain, it’s useless. You need people to use it, you need people to keep the network sustainable.”

He continues, “It’s no longer about user experience, how much revenue are they generating. Because no user, no experience.” In his view, the technology is largely commoditized—“the technology-wise, it’s almost the same for everybody”—so the differentiator is the strength and vibrancy of the community.

This is why meme coins, despite their reputation, have found success. “It’s not that I love the meme coins, but I love the community. The community is strong, and if the community is strong, there’s going to be more growth. It has to be always community first and there’s nothing else.”

The Reality of Risk: Learning Through Loss
Anndy doesn’t shy away from the risks inherent in crypto. He acknowledges that losing money is “part and parcel of this whole process,” and that it’s often the fastest way to learn. “It depends on how much you want to screw this up, right? But if you are just thinking about trying out, you really need to go through the whole process of how you’re going to onboard your users, how you’re going to manage all these different swaps. Sometimes it’s not easy, man. I have people crying, saying that they sent to the wrong chain.”

He sees these challenges as opportunities for education, suggesting that resources like Dan’s podcast can help newcomers avoid common pitfalls. “It’s part and parcel of education, and perhaps they should listen to your podcast.”

The Social Layer: Where Crypto Communities Gather
The conversation shifts to where crypto communities actually gather online. While X (formerly Twitter) is the hub for the latest news and activity among crypto natives, Anndy points out that Facebook remains surprisingly vibrant, especially among older users in places like Hong Kong. “You’ll be so surprised. When I’m in Hong Kong, when I talk to some of the older folks, they are actually super active on Facebook. They showed me their groups—crazy groups, man. That’s something I’ve neglected for a long time, but it’s amazing to see.”

He shares that some Facebook groups have over 140,000 active members, many of whom are highly engaged. “Whenever they post something, you get so many replies below. I’m actually really, really happy to see that.” This diversity of platforms, he suggests, is a strength, and he encourages multi-platform engagement to reach different audiences.

Building Together: Collaboration and the Future
Anndy closes with a call for greater collaboration and unity within the crypto space. “It’s all about interacting with people. For your audiences who are on YouTube, I also strongly suggest that you get yourself on X as well. We could do some shows together and get the ball rolling because we are literally talking to the same kind of target audience and we should start to unite and make some things work.”

He also sees potential in leveraging Facebook and other platforms to reach new demographics, especially those who may be overlooked by the crypto mainstream. “Let’s do more, and since Eddie is here, he knows restaurant business and Facebook, perhaps you could all do something there. Or maybe you can do a multi-social account stream so that we can get the best traction.”

Conclusion: Community, Simplicity, and the Human Touch
Anndy Lian’s insights cut through the hype and technical jargon that often cloud the crypto conversation. His message is clear: technology alone is not enough. The future of blockchain depends on strong, engaged communities, accessible entry points, and a willingness to learn from both success and failure.

As he puts it, “We need more users, and it has to be an easy onboarding experience or something they really want to use.” By focusing on people—meeting them where they are, supporting their journeys, and building together—the crypto industry can move beyond its institutional chill and realize its promise as a truly inclusive, transformative force.

 

Anndy Lian is an early blockchain adopter and experienced serial entrepreneur who is known for his work in the government sector. He is a best selling book author- “NFT: From Zero to Hero” and “Blockchain Revolution 2030”.

Currently, he is appointed as the Chief Digital Advisor at Mongolia Productivity Organization, championing national digitization. Prior to his current appointments, he was the Chairman of BigONE Exchange, a global top 30 ranked crypto spot exchange and was also the Advisory Board Member for Hyundai DAC, the blockchain arm of South Korea’s largest car manufacturer Hyundai Motor Group. Lian played a pivotal role as the Blockchain Advisor for Asian Productivity Organisation (APO), an intergovernmental organization committed to improving productivity in the Asia-Pacific region.

An avid supporter of incubating start-ups, Anndy has also been a private investor for the past eight years. With a growth investment mindset, Anndy strategically demonstrates this in the companies he chooses to be involved with. He believes that what he is doing through blockchain technology currently will revolutionise and redefine traditional businesses. He also believes that the blockchain industry has to be “redecentralised”.

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Chained Together: How Blockchain is Improving Supply Chains

Chained Together: How Blockchain is Improving Supply Chains

Chained Together: How Blockchain is Improving Supply Chains is an online event organized by the Boston Blockchain Association.

Blockchain is radically improving supply chains by making products easier to track, from the raw materials to the finished goods.

Imagine a world where you’ll be able to see not just where your coffee was grown or your iPhone was assembled, but every step in the process, all recorded on a transparent blockchain.

This has huge implications for everything from fair trade and fair wages, to making companies and governments far more efficient.

The Boston Blockchain Association has put together a distinguished panel of supply chain and blockchain experts to give all a state of where the industry stands today, including:

Leanne Kemp, CEO and Founder of Everledger: Perhaps the most well-known blockchain + supply chain project in the world, Everledger started as an immutable ledger for diamond identification and transaction verification — and has grown into a platform for measuring the “value chain” of everything from rare earth metals to designer handbags:

https://www.linkedin.com/in/leannekemp/

Kristen Michaud, Managing Director at InBlock: Those of you who attended our “Diversity and Inclusion” event during Boston Blockchain Week raved about Kristen. Now is your chance to hear her talk about her experience driving global business processes and leading large-scale transformation efforts in operations and technology:

https://www.linkedin.com/in/kristen-michaud-5773a0/

Anndy Lian, Author of “Blockchain Revolution 2030”. A seasoned business strategist with 15 years of experience in Asia, Anndy has recently worked with the blockchain division of Hyundai Motors and advised the government of South Korea on its blockchain initiatives. Check out his impressive CV here:

https://www.linkedin.com/in/anndylian/

Moderated by Andrea Frosinini from the Canadian Blockchain Supply Chain Association, who is deeply embedded with the Hyperledger supply chain community:

https://www.linkedin.com/in/andreafrosinini/

Anndy Lian is an early blockchain adopter and experienced serial entrepreneur who is known for his work in the government sector. He is a best selling book author- “NFT: From Zero to Hero” and “Blockchain Revolution 2030”.

Currently, he is appointed as the Chief Digital Advisor at Mongolia Productivity Organization, championing national digitization. Prior to his current appointments, he was the Chairman of BigONE Exchange, a global top 30 ranked crypto spot exchange and was also the Advisory Board Member for Hyundai DAC, the blockchain arm of South Korea’s largest car manufacturer Hyundai Motor Group. Lian played a pivotal role as the Blockchain Advisor for Asian Productivity Organisation (APO), an intergovernmental organization committed to improving productivity in the Asia-Pacific region.

An avid supporter of incubating start-ups, Anndy has also been a private investor for the past eight years. With a growth investment mindset, Anndy strategically demonstrates this in the companies he chooses to be involved with. He believes that what he is doing through blockchain technology currently will revolutionise and redefine traditional businesses. He also believes that the blockchain industry has to be “redecentralised”.

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Local company Linfinity offers supply chains a solution to combat fraud

Local company Linfinity offers supply chains a solution to combat fraud

Supply chains besieged by counterfeit goods may soon find an answer in blockchain.

Finding out your swish designer bag is a fake might lead to outrage. But manufacturing scams can have far more drastic consequences — both for brands and consumers

Economically, around 2.5 per cent of global imports — about US$0.5 trillion (S$0.7 trillion) a year — are counterfeit, reports the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development.

The human cost is higher. In 2008, an estimated 300,000 babies in China fell ill after consuming milk powder tainted with melamine. It led to the deaths of six of them from kidney disease.

A GLOBAL PROBLEM

As global markets open up, supply chains have become more complex.

Before reaching consumers, all types of food and products now go through more suppliers, manufacturing plants, ports-of-call, storage facilities and retailers, adding logistical complexity to their production.

Despite technological advances and digitalisation worldwide, pockets of analogue interfaces still exist. Where they occur along a supply chain, companies can lose track of inventory, making them vulnerable to fraud.

In the era of Industry 4.0, how can new technologies help snuff out risky inefficiencies?

BLOCKCHAIN TO THE RESCUE

One Singapore-based company aims to build an ecosystem for anti-counterfeiting that is sustainable, trusted and traceable.

Linfinity, positioned as the world’s first distributed supply chain platform that harnesses blockchain, IoT (Internet of Things) and Big Data technologies, seeks not only to improve efficiencies from end to end, but enable reliable collection of data.

Mr Anndy Lian, chief executive officer of Linfinity Singapore, notes that rising demand for transparency in the entire production process, from procurement to logistics, has made the application of blockchain critical.

With more accurate data, businesses can make better decisions to reduce waste.

IMPROVE EFFICIENCY AND STAMP OUT FRAUD.

WAGER ON A DECENTRALISED LEDGER

At the core of Linfinity’s solution offering is the blockchain, a decentralised, distributed ledger that lives in the cloud and records contracts, transactions and events in an encrypted form.

While the most oft-cited use of blockchain technology currently is Bitcoin, blockchain has the potential for much wider application across industries.

Blockchain has been touted as a “transformational” or “foundational” technology — a game changer akin to how the Internet revolutionised information, the economy and society in the late 1990s.

Specifically, the use of blockchain technology in the supply chain industry offers these advantages:

· Enhanced transparency: A product’s journey can be documented from origin to destination, increasing trust among players in the ecosystem.

· Scalability: Any number of users can participate in the supply chain and transfer information to one another.

· Better security: A ledger, such as the blockchain, would self-regulate the system, improving on previous internal audit inefficiencies.

· Engaged stakeholders: Using an incentive model (e.g. tokens, cryptocurrency and a system of smart contracts that automates payments), it allows automation of payments and quick transactions, actively benefiting all parties involved.

· Increased innovation: Once a blockchain system is in place, smart contracts can be used to increase efficiency, integrating with the rest of the system.

PROTOTYPING THE FUTURE

As companies push ahead in a fast-changing environment, an agile, test-and-learn approach is key. Early this year, Linfinity commenced its Linfinity blockchain project, published a White Paper and started testing its service platform.

The firm also established Linfinity Talks, a global roadshow platform that demonstrates blockchain projects, and sought out strategic collaborations with various companies.

It has signed Memorandums of Understanding with companies in Singapore, the United Kingdom and Taiwan, with more lined up. These partnerships span different industries from finance and legal to logistics and fast-moving consumer goods. They will see Linfinity’s implementation of blockchain technology improving efficiency and transparency of supply chains.

This month, the company launched its own digital currency, Linfinity tokens (LFT) on Chinese-based exchange CoinEx.

Says Mr Lian: “We are serious about asserting ourselves as a player within the blockchain industry. With our launch on the market, we hope to be able to foster and encourage inter-platform trading with Linfinity tokens.”

TOWARDS INFINITE POSSIBILITIES

As hype about blockchain grows, so have the number of questions about its usage, limitations and potential applications. Even so, it is likely that the technology will take years — even decades — to mature, and its deepest implications may not be immediate.

The adoption of new technologies takes time, and needs the buy-in of policy makers, industries, corporations and end users.

Mr Lian notes that while blockchain remains a relatively new approach to supply chain management, companies need to anticipate government challenges and regulations ahead.

Nonetheless, blockchain’s decentralised nature makes it difficult for governments to intervene. They cannot totally ban access to blockchain, as they did with Facebook in China.

Mr Lian adds that even as Singapore’s government fine-tunes its registration processes and taxation, companies can rest assured that Singapore would embrace technological advancement, rather than preven t it.

After all, a future with greater transparency, efficiency and authenticity is a future worth building.

 

https://www.straitstimes.com/business/local-company-linfinity-offers-supply-chains-a-solution-to-combat-fraud

Anndy Lian is an early blockchain adopter and experienced serial entrepreneur who is known for his work in the government sector. He is a best selling book author- “NFT: From Zero to Hero” and “Blockchain Revolution 2030”.

Currently, he is appointed as the Chief Digital Advisor at Mongolia Productivity Organization, championing national digitization. Prior to his current appointments, he was the Chairman of BigONE Exchange, a global top 30 ranked crypto spot exchange and was also the Advisory Board Member for Hyundai DAC, the blockchain arm of South Korea’s largest car manufacturer Hyundai Motor Group. Lian played a pivotal role as the Blockchain Advisor for Asian Productivity Organisation (APO), an intergovernmental organization committed to improving productivity in the Asia-Pacific region.

An avid supporter of incubating start-ups, Anndy has also been a private investor for the past eight years. With a growth investment mindset, Anndy strategically demonstrates this in the companies he chooses to be involved with. He believes that what he is doing through blockchain technology currently will revolutionise and redefine traditional businesses. He also believes that the blockchain industry has to be “redecentralised”.

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