Most Influential 2021: Serey Chea

Project Bakong stands apart from other nation digital currency experiments. Chea brought Cambodia’s moonshot into being.

(Adam B. Levine/Pixelmind.ai)
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Serey Chea is deputy director general at the National Bank of Cambodia, which is taking a unique approach to a central bank digital currency (CBDC), with its Project Bakong. Chea is adamant that the nation’s digital currency, built on the Hyperledger distributed ledger, isn’t a CBDC, but is working to bring basic financial services to Cambodia, where nearly 80% of the population is unbanked.

The Complete List: CoinDesk’s Most Influential 2021

Read more: Meet the Woman Behind Cambodia’s Moonshot Blockchain Project - Leah Callon-Butler

(Kevin Ross/CoinDesk)
ER June 2026 Image

CEX trading volumes rose for the first time in five months in June, with spot climbing 15.3% to $1.11T and RWA perpetual volumes surging to a record $311B.

Why it matters:

CEX trading volumes rose for the first time in five months in June, with spot climbing 15.3% to $1.11T and RWA perpetual volumes surging to a record $311B.