Malaysian startups power global crypto infrastructure from price trackers to blockchain explorers

At a recent crypto conference in Kuala Lumpur, speakers highlighted how Malaysian entrepreneurs have created tools that underpin the global digital-asset market. CoinGecko, founded by Bobby Ong and TM Lee, began with just 20 coins and now lists more than 21,000 across 1,000 exchanges, attracting over 10 million users each month and being valued at roughly RM2 billion. Etherscan, created by Matthew Tan, started as an Ethereum search engine and has expanded to support over 50 blockchains, employing more than 70 staff and acquiring Solscan in 2024.

Jupiter, co-founded by Siong Ong, aggregates Solana liquidity, having routed over RM5 trillion in trades to date and issuing a billion JUP tokens in early 2024. Virtuals Protocol, led by Jansen Teng, lets developers launch AI agents and deployed over 30 humanoid robots, with its token briefly topping RM20 billion in market value. Together, these companies demonstrate how a relatively small nation can produce the infrastructure that millions of crypto participants rely on daily.