About Me
Bio
I’m Ryan Zhou, a full-stack software engineer and finance geek based in Melbourne, Australia. In 2013, I co-founded CoinJar alongside Asher Tan, fueled by my fascination with Bitcoin and the broader potential of digital currencies.
That passion carried CoinJar from a humble incubator pitch into Australia’s longest-running cryptocurrency exchange. Today CoinJar has nearly a million users around the world. We’ve also expanded beyond simple buy/sell, offering products like CoinJar Card and CoinJar Bundles to help people spend and manage their digital currencies seamlessly. I was listed in Forbes 30 Under 30 Asia in 2018.
Building CoinJar from the ground up taught me the value of a seamless user experience in an emerging, trust-driven market. Navigating the ups and downs of cryptocurrency also meant prioritising robust risk management -- ensuring compliance, liquidity, and operational resilience at every turn. These insights continue to guide my work as both an engineer and a founder, driving me to refine product vision and deliver better, more secure solutions for our users.
When I’m not refining our backend architecture or exploring new ways to make crypto more accessible, you’ll find me travelling, dabbling in investments, or trying out the latest LLMs.
Credentials
- Bachelor of Commerce (Finance) and Master of Science (Computer Science), University of Melbourne
- CFA® Charterholder (awarded 2017)
Skills
Programming Languages
- Elixir
- Ruby
- JavaScript
Databases
- MySQL
- Redis
- Postgres
- DynamoDB
- ClickHouse
DevOps
- Kubernetes
- Terraform
- Ansible
- Linux
- AWS
Business
- Product
- Corporate Finance
Finance
- Portfolio Management
- Derivatives
- Macro