{"id":"leo-yiyang-li","title":"Leo Yiyang Li","content":"**Leo Yiyang Li** is the Co-Founder and CTO of [AEON Protocol](https://iq.wiki/wiki/aeon), where he focuses on the technical development of its crypto payment infrastructure. His background spans software engineering, search relevance, speech recognition, and advertising technology. [\\[2\\]](#cite-id-s8c60lm3R1v9wrJs) \n\n## Education\n\nLi earned his Bachelor of Science in Computer and Systems Engineering from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and his Master’s in Electrical and Electronics Engineering from Stanford University. [\\[3\\]](#cite-id-SiH7QFoqijgttQdr) \n\n## Career\n\nLi began his professional experience through software engineering internships at Microsoft and Otter.ai. At Microsoft, he interned with the Bing Relevance team in 2017, working on search relevance, before joining Otter.ai in 2018 as an intern on the platform team, where his work involved speech recognition. In August 2019, Li joined Google as a software engineer in Mountain View, California, working in Ads Quality. He remained at Google for more than five years before leaving in October 2024. That same month, he joined [AEON Protocol](https://iq.wiki/wiki/aeon) as Co-Founder and CTO, taking responsibility for the technical side of the company's [cryptocurrency](https://iq.wiki/wiki/cryptocurrency) payment infrastructure. [\\[2\\]](#cite-id-s8c60lm3R1v9wrJs)  [\\[3\\]](#cite-id-SiH7QFoqijgttQdr) \n\n### AEON\n\n​[AEON](https://iq.wiki/wiki/aeon) is a [crypto](https://iq.wiki/wiki/cryptocurrency) payment infrastructure project focused on connecting [blockchain](https://iq.wiki/wiki/blockchain)-based assets with real-world merchant payments, online checkout, and AI-driven transactions. Its [AEON](https://iq.wiki/wiki/aeon) Pay product enables users to spend [crypto](https://iq.wiki/wiki/cryptocurrency) through existing merchant QR codes and local payment networks, while [AEON](https://iq.wiki/wiki/aeon) Checkout provides Web2 and [Web3](https://iq.wiki/wiki/web3) businesses with [crypto](https://iq.wiki/wiki/cryptocurrency) payment processing and [crypto](https://iq.wiki/wiki/cryptocurrency)-to-[fiat](https://iq.wiki/wiki/fiat-money) or [crypto](https://iq.wiki/wiki/cryptocurrency)-to-[crypto](https://iq.wiki/wiki/cryptocurrency) settlement. The project also includes an AI Payment Framework designed to allow [AI agents](https://iq.wiki/wiki/ai-agents) to execute transactions on users’ behalf using agent identities, cryptographic authorization, payment-intent verification, and auditable transaction records. Its broader infrastructure is designed to support cross-chain settlement, with the [AEON](https://iq.wiki/wiki/aeon) token intended for network fees, [validator](https://iq.wiki/wiki/validator) [staking](https://iq.wiki/wiki/staking), governance, liquidity, and fee-based buybacks. [\\[2\\]](#cite-id-s8c60lm3R1v9wrJs) ","summary":"Leo Yiyang Li is a software engineer and co-founder of AEON Protocol, focused on developing crypto payment infrastructure. He has experience across software engineering, search relevance, and AI technology.","images":[{"id":"QmYmcEsKacDcgd5Dbdg44NwVQKDr7bD55ZxSMVCAdb7eZ5","type":"image/jpeg, image/png"}],"categories":[{"id":"people","title":"people"}],"tags":[{"id":"Founder"},{"id":"Developer"},{"id":"Researcher"}],"media":[],"metadata":[{"id":"references","value":"[\n  {\n    \"id\": \"ht37Afrd8NJ7mxjR\",\n    \"url\": \"https://tracxn.com/d/companies/aeon/\\\\_\\\\_ngudqRKVh5daiUaFdTKCd\\\\_ymfFz7qwY3onZPidhY9qk\",\n    \"description\": \"Tracxn profile\",\n    \"timestamp\": 1785420680241\n  },\n  {\n    \"id\": \"s8c60lm3R1v9wrJs\",\n    \"url\": \"https://aeon.xyz\",\n    \"description\": \"AEON Protocol site\",\n    \"timestamp\": 1785420680241\n  },\n  {\n    \"id\": \"SiH7QFoqijgttQdr\",\n    \"url\": \"https://www.linkedin.com/in/yiyang7/\",\n    \"description\": \"LinkedIn profile\",\n    \"timestamp\": 1785420680241\n  },\n  {\n    \"id\": \"3hlaR8ZNaYawNiUb\",\n    \"url\": \"https://www.rootdata.com/member/Leo%20Li?k=MjYyNTA%3D\",\n    \"description\": \"Rootdata profile\",\n    \"timestamp\": 1785420680241\n  }\n]"},{"id":"linkedin_profile","value":"https://www.linkedin.com/in/yiyang7/"},{"id":"website","value":"https://aeon.xyz/"},{"id":"rootdata_profile","value":"https://www.rootdata.com/member/Leo%20Li?k=MjYyNTA%3D"},{"id":"previous_cid","value":"\"https://ipfs.everipedia.org/ipfs/QmfPfguFv5JH45DPks4VuCph2o4yTVJrrBFdBRyLgjq1be\""},{"id":"commit-message","value":"\"Updated wiki content and events (3 -> 3 items)\""},{"id":"previous_cid","value":"QmfPfguFv5JH45DPks4VuCph2o4yTVJrrBFdBRyLgjq1be"}],"events":[{"id":"512cd59a-aa6d-4a98-849a-0475df9b50ca","date":"2024-10-01","title":"Joined AEON Protocol as Co-Founder and CTO","type":"DEFAULT","description":"Leo Li joined AEON Protocol where he leads the development of crypto payment infrastructure.","link":null,"continent":null,"country":null},{"id":"7d461239-4a63-4118-aed9-adf980042731","date":"2020-01-01","title":"Graduated from Stanford University","type":"DEFAULT","description":"Completed a Master's in Electrical and Electronics Engineering.","link":null,"continent":null,"country":null},{"id":"4a010d76-079e-4a4b-af52-377600fc3bad","date":"2017-06-01","title":"Interned at Microsoft","type":"DEFAULT","description":"Worked on the Bing Relevance Team enhancing search relevance.","link":null,"continent":null,"country":null}],"user":{"id":"0x8af7a19a26d8fbc48defb35aefb15ec8c407f889"},"author":{"id":"0x8af7a19a26d8fbc48defb35aefb15ec8c407f889"},"operator":{"id":"0xacb6c5AD52b8f605299B0d774CE97F26e3DB80c2"},"language":"en","version":1,"linkedWikis":{"blockchains":["aeon"],"founders":[],"speakers":[]},"recentActivity":"{\"items\":[{\"id\":\"dfde8ee8-1a6a-4573-ab62-8142111d89e4\",\"title\":\"Leo Yiyang Li\",\"description\":\"Leo Yiyang Li is a software engineer and co-founder of AEON Protocol, focused on developing crypto payment infrastructure. He has experience across software engineering, search relevance, and AI technology.\",\"timestamp\":\"2026-07-30T17:15:11.923Z\",\"category\":\"people\",\"status\":{\"icon\":\"RiGlobalLine\",\"label\":\"Wiki Updated\",\"iconClassName\":\"text-green-500\"},\"user\":{\"name\":\"0x8af7a19a26d8fbc48defb35aefb15ec8c407f889\",\"address\":\"0xacb6c5AD52b8f605299B0d774CE97F26e3DB80c2\"},\"button\":{\"label\":\"View Summary\",\"icon\":\"RiFileTextLine\"},\"summarySections\":[{\"title\":\"Lead\",\"subtitle\":\"Added an internal wiki link to AEON Protocol in the opening sentence.\",\"variant\":\"modified\",\"changeCount\":1,\"changes\":[\"Added internal wiki link for 'AEON Protocol' in the opening sentence [[2]](#cite-id-s8c60lm3R1v9wrJs)\"]},{\"title\":\"Career\",\"subtitle\":\"Added internal links in the career section (AEON Protocol and cryptocurrency).\",\"variant\":\"modified\",\"changeCount\":2,\"changes\":[\"Added internal wiki link for 'AEON Protocol' in the sentence about joining AEON Protocol [[2]](#cite-id-s8c60lm3R1v9wrJs) [[3]](#cite-id-SiH7QFoqijgttQdr)\",\"Added internal wiki link for 'cryptocurrency' in the sentence describing the company's payment infrastructure [[2]](#cite-id-s8c60lm3R1v9wrJs) [[3]](#cite-id-SiH7QFoqijgttQdr)\"]},{\"title\":\"AEON\",\"subtitle\":\"Expanded the AEON section by adding multiple internal wiki links to terms and product names.\",\"variant\":\"modified\",\"changeCount\":9,\"changes\":[\"Added internal wiki link for 'AEON' (references to the project/name) [[2]](#cite-id-s8c60lm3R1v9wrJs)\",\"Added internal wiki link for 'crypto'/'cryptocurrency' where the text refers to spending or processing crypto [[2]](#cite-id-s8c60lm3R1v9wrJs)\",\"Added internal wiki link for 'blockchain' in the description of blockchain-based assets [[2]](#cite-id-s8c60lm3R1v9wrJs)\",\"Added internal wiki link for 'AEON Pay' / mentions of AEON Pay referencing the AEON page [[2]](#cite-id-s8c60lm3R1v9wrJs)\",\"Added internal wiki link for 'AEON Checkout' / mentions of AEON Checkout referencing the AEON page [[2]](#cite-id-s8c60lm3R1v9wrJs)\",\"Added internal wiki link for 'Web3' in describing supported businesses [[2]](#cite-id-s8c60lm3R1v9wrJs)\",\"Added internal wiki link for 'fiat' (fiat money) in settlement descriptions [[2]](#cite-id-s8c60lm3R1v9wrJs)\",\"Added internal wiki link for 'AI agents' in the AI Payment Framework description [[2]](#cite-id-s8c60lm3R1v9wrJs)\",\"Added internal wiki links for 'validator' and 'staking' in discussion of token uses and staking [[2]](#cite-id-s8c60lm3R1v9wrJs)\"]},{\"title\":\"Metadata\",\"subtitle\":\"Reformatted several date fields to remove day precision and added an 'action' field with value 'CREATE'.\",\"variant\":\"modified\",\"changeCount\":4,\"changes\":[\"Changed date from '2024-10-01' to '2024-10'\",\"Changed date from '2020-01-01' to '2020-01'\",\"Changed date from '2017-06-01' to '2017-06'\",\"Added metadata field 'action' with value 'CREATE'\"]}]}]}"}