{"id":"eric-chen","hidden":false,"ipfs":"Qmc2txMU7ff9acrVBmt2azHZaeWbfFVPHxxQQUfi2Fnmfq","language":"en","transactionHash":"0x91f41364ea208300b441f29204431561ae1662d634175dcc69f0e6457484758e","created":"2022-08-24T09:49:46.123Z","updated":"2026-08-29T22:53:46.592Z","title":"Eric Chen","summary":"Eric Chen is the CEO and co-founder of Injective Labs, the core development company behind the Injective Layer 1 blockchain, with a background in finance, research, and crypto market infrastructure.","content":"**Eric Chen** is the co-founder and CEO of Injective Labs, the core development company behind Injective, a finance-focused, interoperable [layer1](https://iq.wiki/wiki/layer-1) [blockchain](https://iq.wiki/wiki/blockchain). He is also described as CEO of the Injective Foundation, working on trading strategies and protocol research in decentralized finance, and was named to the Forbes 30 Under 30 list in 2024 for his work on Injective.[\\[5\\]](#cite-id-4ls3utzchu)​[\\[7\\]](#cite-id-8sbnhlz3nu)​[\\[6\\]](#cite-id-wl6rdoehkm) Prior to Injective, he was a researcher at Innovating Capital working on trading strategies and protocol research.[\\[1\\]](#cite-id-zo9apkmkufk)​\n\n[YOUTUBE@VID](GaVPs_Yl-0g)\n\n## Early Life & Education\n\nEric Chen attended New York University, where he studied business and computer science, before leaving to work on Injective full time.[\\[5\\]](#cite-id-4ls3utzchu)​\n\n## Career\n\nChen was a research fellow at Huizhou Desay Sv Automotive Co, Ltd between June and August 2014. After this, he was involved in risk analysis and algorithmic trading while working with Sino Partners Fund for about three months in 2014. He subsequently assisted with the construction of mutual fund products in Essence Fund Management (located in China) as a researcher between December 2016 and January 2017. He later worked at Innovating Capital as a researcher between September 2017 and October 2018, focusing on protocol and strategies research. During this period, he was also part of the NYU [Blockchain](https://iq.wiki/wiki/blockchain) Labs, working in roles between an analyst and researcher before co-founding Injective Labs.[\\[5\\]](#cite-id-4ls3utzchu)​\n\n### Injective\n\nEric Chen began engaging with [crypto](https://iq.wiki/wiki/cryptocurrency) and [blockchain](https://iq.wiki/wiki/blockchain) technology in high school, when he first mined [Bitcoin](https://iq.wiki/wiki/bitcoin) around 2012. He has stated that he became more formally involved in crypto in 2017 by contributing development work to open-source projects, including becoming interested in [Filecoin](https://iq.wiki/wiki/filecoin) after hearing [Juan Benet](https://iq.wiki/wiki/juan-benet) describe it.[\\[4\\]](#cite-id-ih2tk04k2lb)​[\\[5\\]](#cite-id-4ls3utzchu)​[\\[3\\]](#cite-id-fot5oterobe) After his research roles at NYU [Blockchain](https://iq.wiki/wiki/blockchain) Labs and Innovating Capital, Chen co-founded Injective Labs with [Albert Chon](https://iq.wiki/wiki/albert-chon) in 2018, and Injective Labs went on to launch Injective as a finance-focused, interoperable layer-1 [blockchain](https://iq.wiki/wiki/blockchain) for decentralized finance applications.[\\[2\\]](#cite-id-fyi7d6i002g)​\n\nChen has described [Injective Protocol](https://iq.wiki/wiki/injective-protocol) as an end-to-end decentralized protocol that enables decentralized perpetual swaps, futures and spot trading, characterizing it as a layer-2 protocol for fast and secure trading on top of [Ethereum](https://iq.wiki/wiki/ethereum).[\\[3\\]](#cite-id-fot5oterobe) He has said that it aims to improve the usability and security of [DeFi](https://iq.wiki/wiki/defi) by addressing issues such as latency, liquidity and user experience, and that his goal is for [DEX](https://iq.wiki/wiki/decentralized-exchange) users to have a trading experience closer to that of centralized exchanges.[\\[2\\]](#cite-id-fyi7d6i002g) According to Chen, the Injective protocol is designed so that its components are fully trustless, censorship-resistant, publicly verifiable and resistant to front-running.[\\[1\\]](#cite-id-zo9apkmkufk) The protocol received incubation from [Binance Labs](https://iq.wiki/wiki/binance-labs), and a funding round was raised and led by [Pantera Capital](https://iq.wiki/wiki/pantera-capital).[\\[1\\]](#cite-id-zo9apkmkufk)​\n\n[YOUTUBE@VID](03KJjIWgzzU)\n\n## Recognition\n\nChen has been listed as CEO of the Injective [Foundation](https://iq.wiki/wiki/foundation) and featured as a speaker at conferences such as [CoinDesk](https://iq.wiki/wiki/coindesk)’s Consensus 2025.[\\[6\\]](#cite-id-wl6rdoehkm)​ In 2024, he was named to the Forbes 30 Under 30 list for his work on Injective, as noted in his speaker profiles with industry organizations.[\\[7\\]](#cite-id-8sbnhlz3nu)​[\\[6\\]](#cite-id-wl6rdoehkm)​\n","recentActivity":null,"operator":{"id":"0x1E23b34d3106F0C1c74D17f2Cd0F65cdb039b138"},"categories":[{"id":"people","title":"People in crypto"}],"tags":[{"id":"Founder"}],"images":[{"id":"QmazyboG6Qss7spkDe8wbQvQTe3HrMvaMLyUnBScLhy9bh","type":"image/jpeg, 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