PANONY Partner Sunny Ng
Experience in the Crypto Circle: 7 years
- PANONY Partner
- Former Partner at marketing consultancy Primer Consulting, responsible for executing the company’s promotional plans, maintaining media relations for clients, and organizing comprehensive media activities for clients.
- Former CMO at Bithumb Global, South Korea’s largest exchange, responsible for global marketing strategy formulation and brand building.
- Formerly at OKEx, responsible for marketing and public relations.
PANONY is an incubation, investment, and consultancy institution in the blockchain and digital asset field, dedicated to providing market growth planning and strategic development advice in the blockchain and fintech sectors for Fortune Global 500 companies and technology unicorns, having served brands like Amazon and Zhiqi Automotive. It also operates the blockchain media platform PANews, a leading media platform in the Chinese-speaking world for blockchain and fintech, providing valuable information for industry entrepreneurs and innovators, and has co-produced the Blockchain Daily with Tencent News and the blockchain video interview program “Pan Talks” with the well-known O2O platform PPTV.
How Did You Enter the Circle?
In the summer of 2017, Sunny was busy running around in the familiar financial circle for her clients. At that time, her life trajectory and the fluctuating Bitcoin price on the screen were two parallel worlds that did not interfere with each other. Blockchain? Cryptocurrency? These terms were merely fleeting, unfamiliar words that occasionally appeared in news headlines.
However, a phone call from a headhunter was like a stone thrown into a calm lake, stirring up ripples. The headhunter exhaustively explained this emerging technology called “blockchain,” which quickly overturned Sunny’s accustomed world with its novel concepts.
Sunny expressed that during her university years, she had a strong interest in community economics and ecological economics. Thus, the ideas of decentralization, resource sharing, and value flow mentioned by the headhunter awoke her deep-seated ideals.
That night, Sunny found it hard to fall asleep. The headhunter’s description echoed in her mind, igniting her long-dormant curiosity and thirst for knowledge. The next day, she began to frantically search for all information about blockchain, from white papers to news reports, from technical principles to application cases, trying to understand this world better.
During that period, Sunny described herself as a student returning to university, learning various new concepts and terminology with a sense of urgency. She realized that this was not just a technology but a revolution that could potentially disrupt the existing order.
With a strong interest and thirst for knowledge, Sunny studied a wealth of related information and soon seized the opportunity to join the already well-known cryptocurrency exchange OKX, diving headfirst into this new world.
Challenges and Insights for Newcomers: Precise Learning Amid Information Overload
Recalling her experience when she first entered the crypto space, Sunny admitted that the vast amount of professional terminology and complex operational processes indeed deterred newcomers.
During her early work experience at OKX, she participated in creating popular science articles that translated overseas information into Chinese, helping users understand. She spent a lot of time grasping these concepts, continuously learning through Google searches, media information, and user guides provided by the exchange.
Sunny believes that the speed of market changes today far exceeds those of the past. Previously, completing a token cycle might take six months to a year, while many projects now experience a cycle of explosion to decline in just two weeks.
Therefore, for today’s newcomers, she advises focusing more on the timeliness and accuracy of information, learning to precisely find effective tools and platforms to obtain comprehensive market information on one platform, understand concepts like DeFi and NFT, and discover hot projects on various chains.
What Apps Are Installed on Her Phone?
Exchanges: Bybit, Binance, OKX, Uniswap
Wallet: Tonkeeper
Information Sources: PANews, TradingView, X, CoinMarketCap
Current Investment Philosophy?
“I actually consider myself to be somewhat conservative.” Sunny candidly analyzes her investment style, noting that this conservativeness did not come inherently but was shaped by the harsh realities of the market.
She recalls the DeFi boom in 2020, where she made a “blind rush” into a seemingly well-backed, actively discussed yield farm project, only to experience the painful lesson of the project team running away and her funds going to zero in less than a month, “that was my first experience of what it means to ‘go to zero’.”
This experience deepened her understanding of market risks and shaped her current investment configuration, which is primarily focused on spot trading. Sunny disclosed that about 70-80% of her funds are allocated to the spot market. She believes that in the highly volatile crypto space, “stability means keeping as much capital in hand as possible.”
Sunny humorously mentioned that she has been telling herself since last year to invest more funds into Bitcoin, “I thought that once I put all my money into Bitcoin, I wouldn’t mess around anymore.” However, she also admitted, “But I still haven’t done that.”
Regarding high-risk, high-community-hype investment targets like meme coins, Sunny does not completely reject them but approaches them with extreme caution. She indicated that she still occasionally invests a very small proportion, with the mindset of “putting in a little investment to seek big returns,” while being fully aware that the success rate of such investments is really low.
As for risk control, Sunny clearly stated that she does not engage in leveraged trading. She believes that the current market is greatly influenced by macro factors (policies, regulatory statements, international situations, etc.), and using leverage undoubtedly amplifies potential risks, “after all, it’s really too affected by news.” Sunny emphasized.
Differences in the Development of the Chinese-speaking Crypto Circle
Sharing the same Chinese-speaking cultural sphere, Taiwan, Hong Kong, and China have developed different differences in the cryptocurrency field and community culture. Leveraging her years of experience and observation in the industry, Sunny shared her insights on the varying focuses and characteristics of communities in these three regions.
China: Focus on Token Value and On-chain Data Analysis
According to Sunny’s observations, Chinese cryptocurrency community users focus on “the value and volatility of tokens.”
In other words, the primary driving force of the community often comes from the potential for token price fluctuations. Therefore, discussions and research within the community tend to focus more on actual trading and profit opportunities.
Sunny noted that Chinese users spend a lot of energy on “on-chain analysis, numerical analysis, and how to draw their line charts.” They are enthusiastic about mining potential “golden dogs” (high-potential early projects) from on-chain data and are particularly sensitive to volatility that can bring significant wealth effects.
At the same time, Sunny also mentioned that at the macro level, China may focus more on promoting the development and practical applications of blockchain “technology” itself, such as integrating it with physical industries and establishing industry standards, which forms an interesting contrast to the grassroots community’s focus on token “value.”
Taiwan and Hong Kong: Community Connection and Offline Interaction Led by NFTs
In contrast, Sunny observed that the community culture in Taiwan and Hong Kong displays more diversity and a greater emphasis on community connection, particularly evident during the NFT explosion period.
She described that users in Taiwan and Hong Kong “like to use NFTs as a central theme and then derive a multitude of offline activities.”
NFTs are not only digital collectibles or investment targets but also serve as a social medium and identity recognition. Holders are eager to showcase their NFTs, participating in various gatherings, exchanging ideas with like-minded individuals, and establishing strong “belonging.”
Additionally, the Taiwan and Hong Kong communities are more focused on how blockchain technology integrates with life to create novel application scenarios, rather than merely concentrating on token price fluctuations. They also exhibit a strong interest in participating in building and development and community governance (such as participating in DAOs).
In terms of regulation, Sunny observed that China focuses more on the development of blockchain technology and application within the industrial chain, such as promoting the landing and standardization of technology in fields like pharmaceuticals and supply chain management, whereas Taiwan and Hong Kong are more actively constructing blockchain financial systems, promoting the development of regulatory sandboxes and virtual asset trading platforms.
At the end of the interview, Sunny offered three pieces of advice for newcomers wanting to enter the crypto space:
- Beware of FOMO: Stay calm during market frenzy and do not blindly follow trends.
- Verify Information Personally: Independently think through and verify all data and information.
- Respect Market Cycles: Do not expect the myth of getting rich overnight; understand the development rules of the market.