EMURGO Appoints New CEO; Ken Kodama Becomes Chairman
EMURGO’s April 2025 newsletter features a monthly recap of product updates and announcements to drive the commercial adoption of blockchain technology and real-world asset (RWA) tokenization.
Stay informed with the latest news and developments from EMURGO:
- Phillip Pon is appointed as EMURGO CEO. Ken Kodama becomes Chairman.
- EMURGO’s RWA tokenization engine enables Kinka to issue tokenized gold on Cardano.
- Cardano Governance: Intersect Elections voting is now open.
- EMURGO wraps up a busy week at TEAMZ Web3 Summit 2025 in Tokyo.
- EMURGO hosts workshops across Japan to promote partners’ proposals to commercialize Cardano’s DeFi ecosystem and onboard RWAs.
- Yoroi Wallet unveils a how-to guide to utilize its one-click DRep delegation feature.
EMURGO Appoints Phillip Pon As CEO of EMURGO Group
EMURGO, a co-founding entity of the Cardano blockchain, announces Phillip Pon as its new CEO, effective immediately.
Leadership Transition
Founder Ken Kodama transitions to Chairman after 8 years as CEO, following the completion of Cardano’s original roadmap milestones, including full decentralization and community governance.
Focus on Growth & Innovation
Phillip Pon brings extensive experience in blockchain, DeFi, and emerging markets to lead EMURGO into its next chapter of commercial growth.
Strategic Vision Ahead
Under Phillip’s leadership, EMURGO will prioritize real-world asset tokenization, stablecoins, and decentralized wallet infrastructure, and commit to reshaping financial services and advancing blockchain global adoption.
Ongoing Commitment to Cardano
EMURGO remains dedicated to the Cardano ecosystem while expanding through strategic investments and partnerships.
Read More.
EMURGO Integrates Its RWA Tokenization Engine With Kinka
Its Significance:
- Enables the issuance of physical gold-backed XNK tokens on the Cardano blockchain.
- Marks a major milestone in making traditional RWAs secure, accessible, and programmable on-chain.
- The integration showcases EMURGO’s institutional-grade tokenization infrastructure and expands the Cardano ecosystem with tokenized gold assets and the potential for other tokenized RWAs.
Leadership Insights
- Ken Kodama, Chairman of EMURGO: “EMURGO strongly believes tokenized RWAs are the future of financial services, and today’s announcement underscores our commitment and ability to bridge real-world assets with blockchain on an institutional scale.”
- Chris Lane, Director at Kinka: “By tokenizing it on Cardano, Kinka makes gold programmable—ready to power lending, yield, and looping strategies across DeFi.”
Industry Trends
- The RWA tokenization market is booming, with a total value nearing $250 billion.
- Tokenized gold hit a record $1.4 billion market cap in March 2025.
Cardano Governance — Intersect Committee Elections Are Now Open!
In our continued commitment to fostering a strong and decentralized governance ecosystem for Cardano, EMURGO is proud to nominate three exceptional candidates for the upcoming Intersect Election.
Representing EMURGO, Nikhil Joshi (COO) stands for the Budget Committee, Shunsuke Murasaki (Chief of Staff) for Membership & Community (MCC), and Anuj Chaudhary (Content Lead at Yoroi) for Growth & Marketing (GMC).
Each brings deep expertise and dedication to Cardano’s mission, and we believe their leadership will be instrumental in guiding the network’s future.
The voting period for the Intersect committee elections has officially begun!
If you became a member before noon UTC on April 11, now’s your chance to help guide the future of Cardano governance. Cast your vote through the Intersect member portal anytime between April 16 and May 7 (noon UTC).
Need help? Read Intersect’s blog post that walks you through the voting process step-by-step.
Intersect committees play a key role in delivering expert advice across critical areas, so your participation is essential.
Let’s build a more inclusive and decentralized future—make your voice heard!
EMURGO at TEAMZ WEB3/AI Summit: Driving the Future of Finance
During the two-day TEAMZ WEB3/AI Summit, EMURGO had the incredible opportunity to engage with the Cardano community, foster meaningful connections across the ecosystem, and share key insights on Real-World Asset (RWA) tokenization and stablecoin adoption with industry peers and enthusiasts.
As part of our mission to shape the future of blockchain-powered finance, EMURGO also co-hosted the exclusive “RWA Tokenization and the Future of Finance” event alongside Taisu Ventures and partners at Saison Capital, OpenEden, Secured Finance, HELIX, Kinka, SeaSeed Network, and Iagon.
This invite-only gathering brought together top minds from TradFi, fintech, and blockchain to discuss how institutions prepare to embrace the potential of RWAs and stablecoins.
Expanding Institutional Access and Awareness for Cardano’s DeFi and RWA Ecosystems
EMURGO continues its mission to expand the commercialization of Cardano’s DeFi ecosystem. Through a series of Cardano Commercialization Workshops in Japan, we’ve been raising awareness about current limitations and presenting partner-driven solutions.
In these blogs, we explore our partners’ proposals, which focus on bringing external capital to Cardano’s DeFi ecosystem, expanding institutional and mainstream awareness of the Cardano network, and onboarding RWAs.
From Wachsman’s strategic communications and media campaigns, to educational content and unified event strategies by EMURGO, and innovative proposals from Killer Whales, OpenEden, Fineqia, Haus, and DigiFT, these initiatives aim to position Cardano at the forefront of DeFi commercialization and the RWA revolution.
- 1st set of partner proposals (DeFi): Read More.
- 2nd set of partner proposals (Marketing, RWAs): Read More.
A Guide on How to One-Click Delegate to Yoroi as a Selected DRep
Participating in Cardano’s on-chain governance is now more accessible than ever with Yoroi Wallet versions 5.6.0 for desktop (or later) and 5.3.1 for mobile (or later).
Through a streamlined, one-click feature, users can delegate their ADA voting power to Yoroi as a Delegated Representative (DRep) directly within the wallet interface.
To utilize this feature, simply navigate to the “Governance” tab in your Yoroi Wallet and follow the intuitive prompts to delegate your vote.
This update underscores Yoroi’s commitment to fostering community participation and transparent governance within the Cardano ecosystem.
Follow our official links below for all official news and updates.
About EMURGO
- Official Homepage: emurgo.io
- X (Global): @EMURGO_io
- YouTube: @EMURGO
- LinkedIn: @EMURGO_io
About Yoroi Wallet
- Yoroi Homepage: https://yoroi-wallet.com/
- X: @YoroiWallet
Disclaimer
You should not construe any such information or other material as legal, tax, investment, financial, or other advice. Nothing contained herein shall constitute a solicitation, recommendation, endorsement, or offer by EMURGO or other mentioned entities to invest.
