Carylyne Chan is a Singapore-born entrepreneur and executive known in the crypto industry for her leadership roles at CoinMarketCap and for her current work as a managing partner at BlockSpaceForce. She has also built consumer-focused brands outside crypto, including Portman Tea and Good Instincts, reflecting a profile that spans market infrastructure, investing, and direct-to-consumer product development.
Overview
Chan’s crypto visibility grew through CoinMarketCap, one of the most widely used market data and information platforms in digital assets. She later expanded her footprint into investment and ecosystem work through BlockSpaceForce, which describes itself as a thesis-driven team focused on “block space” and long-term adoption. In parallel, Chan has positioned herself as an advisor and angel investor, while also pursuing consumer product ventures that apply product, branding, and distribution experience outside the blockchain sector.
History and Background
Chan’s career has combined operating roles in technology startups with executive leadership in crypto-facing businesses. Public bios have described experience across product development, strategy, marketing, and growth, with work spanning multiple markets in Asia and the United States. Prior to her most visible crypto role, she co-founded an AI and automation-oriented startup that was later acquired, and she has emphasized building teams through scale-up phases and acquisition outcomes.
CoinMarketCap
Chan held senior leadership positions at CoinMarketCap from 2018 to 2020, including CEO and Chief Strategy Officer, and she also led marketing and growth initiatives during that period. Her tenure overlapped with a time when CoinMarketCap expanded its influence as a default reference point for token listings, market rankings, and retail discovery. In 2020, CoinMarketCap was acquired, and Chan later departed the company after the conclusion of the transition period.
CoinMarketCap’s role in the ecosystem is closely linked to how retail and professional participants track liquidity, price discovery, and token availability, particularly for high-volume assets such as Bitcoin and Ethereum.
BlockSpaceForce
Chan is listed as a managing partner at BlockSpaceForce, a firm that presents a conviction-oriented approach to investing and operating in crypto. The group’s public positioning emphasizes long-cycle participation and builder support, arguing that category leadership requires coordinated strategy, resources, and execution, not only capital allocation. BlockSpaceForce has also used the term “block space” as a central concept, treating it as an economic resource that can enable consumer and enterprise applications across blockchain networks.
- Managing partner role within a crypto-focused investment and operating team
- Focus on long-term adoption narratives tied to scalable, usable on-chain capacity
- Public-facing ecosystem work that blends investing with operator experience
Portman Tea and Good Instincts
Alongside her crypto and investing work, Chan has built direct-to-consumer brands that sit outside the blockchain category. Portman Tea has been described as a tea brand that applies modern product design and storytelling to tea culture and rituals. Good Instincts is a sun care brand; public materials for the company describe a founder team focused on mineral sunscreen products and usability, and Chan has stated she holds a patent related to a sunscreen applicator concept developed for the brand.
- Portman Tea, a consumer tea brand developed as a standalone venture
- Good Instincts, a sun care brand with product design and usability emphasis
- Cross-domain operating experience spanning consumer retail and crypto markets
Advisory Work and Market Position
Chan has described ongoing advisory and angel investing activity with early-stage teams, reflecting a common trajectory among former platform executives who move into ecosystem support roles. In crypto, this type of work typically includes go-to-market guidance, product positioning, community strategy, hiring, and partner introductions. Her combined experience, market data infrastructure, investing, and consumer brand building, positions her as an operator who can translate between technical ecosystems and mainstream distribution challenges.
Risks and Considerations
Chan’s public profile spans multiple categories that carry distinct execution risks. Crypto investing and ecosystem roles are sensitive to market cycles, regulatory shifts, and reputational spillover from broader industry events. Market data platforms, meanwhile, face ongoing scrutiny around listings, methodology, and incentives, since rankings and information presentation can influence retail behavior. For consumer brands, risks tend to concentrate around supply chain reliability, product safety and compliance, customer acquisition costs, and the difficulty of sustaining differentiation in crowded categories. Evaluating Chan’s work therefore depends on separating her roles across crypto infrastructure, investing, and consumer product execution, each with different performance and risk drivers.
