Organizer: ISEAS – Yusof Ishak Institute
Type/Location: Virtual
Description:
Crypto scams are a growing crisis across Southeast Asia, with victims losing billions annually through investment fraud, romance scams, and pig butchering schemes. Crypto exchanges sit at the center of this problem — serving as the primary on-ramps where victims send funds and the off-ramps where scammers cash out. Yet these same exchanges also hold keys to prevention. This panel brings together three perspectives on this challenge: a journalist documenting the devastating human toll of crypto fraud, an academic tracing the scale and flow of scam proceeds on-chain, and an industry leader building the tools exchanges need to detect and stop scams in real time.
This webinar will explore how blockchain tracing can expose the full reach of scam networks, what regulatory measures Southeast Asian jurisdictions should be adopting, and what practical solutions exchanges can deploy today. The discussion will examine how crypto’s much-touted transparency can be put to practical use — and what it might take to make exchanges part of the solution rather than part of the problem.
About the Speakers:
Cezary Podkul is an award-winning investigative reporter with over a dozen years of experience producing ambitious, data-driven stories for news outlets including Reuters, The Wall Street Journal and, most recently, ProPublica.
Kevin Mei is a financial economics researcher at the University of Texas at Austin and will be joining the finance faculty at the University of Kentucky in 2026. His research focuses on financial intermediaries and digital platforms.
Tom Luo is a crypto solutions leader with over 15 years of experience in enterprise regtech and blockchain solutions. At Merkle Science, he has played a key role in the company’s growth from seed round through post-Series A, building strategic partnerships with major crypto exchanges, law enforcement agencies, regulators, financial institutions, and Big 4 auditing firms.
Registration:
To attend the event virtually, please register here.