# Ken Kodama

> Ken Kodama is the Singapore-based founder and chairman of EMURGO, a founding commercial entity of Cardano. A former financial planner who entered cryptocurrency in 2013, he led EMURGO as CEO before becoming chairman in April 2025. His work has included wallet infrastructure, developer education, investment and asset tokenization. He also founded Synapse Capital, a Singapore family office.

- **Role:** Founder and Chairman at EMURGO
- **Organizations:** EMURGO, Cardano, Synapse Capital, Taisu Ventures
- **Education:** Business studies; a 2020 Xangle report describes a bachelor’s degree., St. Andrew’s University (Japan)
- **Known for:** Founded EMURGO, one of Cardano’s founding entities., Led EMURGO during the 2018 launch of Yoroi Wallet., Oversaw an organization whose work included developer education in India and Indonesia, startup investment and merchant adoption.

## Career timeline

- **2010-2012** — Founder and CEO of K2 G.K., according to his CryptoSlate biography.
- **2013** — Entered the blockchain and cryptocurrency industry after working in financial planning, according to his own retrospective.
- **2014-2015** — Founder and CEO of Attain Corporation, according to his CryptoSlate biography.
- **2015** — Became involved in the Cardano project alongside Charles Hoskinson and other early participants.
- **2017** — Established EMURGO in Japan; official company history dates registration to June 2017.
- **2018** — EMURGO launched Yoroi Wallet and registered in Singapore in May.
- **2019** — EMURGO expanded education operations in India and Indonesia and hosted a Tokyo partner showcase.
- **2022** — Outlined a plan to invest more than $200 million in the Cardano ecosystem over three years.
- **2023** — Discussed a venture studio approach addressing 21 missing Cardano ecosystem categories in a Cointelegraph interview.
- **2025-04** — Became chairman on April 16; Phillip Pon succeeded him as EMURGO CEO.
- **2025-10** — Milken Institute Asia Summit biography listed him as founder and CEO of Synapse Capital.
- **2026-04** — Listed as EMURGO founder and chairman for TEAMZ Summit 2026 in Tokyo.

## Achievements

- Founded EMURGO, one of Cardano’s founding entities.
- Led EMURGO during the 2018 launch of Yoroi Wallet.
- Oversaw an organization whose work included developer education in India and Indonesia, startup investment and merchant adoption.
- Completed an eight-year CEO tenure before the April 2025 chairmanship transition.
- Founded Singapore-based family office Synapse Capital.

## Latest updates

- **2026-10** — SecondFi’s official wind-down guidance says its asset recovery tool launched on October 7. This is an EMURGO-related product update, not a personal announcement by Kodama.
- **2026-06** — A June 21-23 security incident affected the wallet business associated with Yoroi and SecondFi; official guidance subsequently announced a wind-down.
- **2026-04** — TEAMZ Summit 2026 listed Kodama as EMURGO founder and chairman; EMURGO promoted his panel on Japanese companies moving Web3 from demonstrations to deployment.
- **2025-10** — Listed as a speaker on Global Investors’ View: Japan at the Milken Institute Asia Summit, with roles at EMURGO and Synapse Capital.
- **2025-04** — Transitioned from EMURGO CEO to chairman on April 16, with Phillip Pon appointed CEO.

## Links

- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kenkodama/
- Twitter/X: https://x.com/Emurgo_Ken

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Profile page: https://yespress.io/ken-kodama
Published by YesPress — https://yespress.io
Last updated: 2026-10-22