# Hong Gyu Yea

> Hong Gyu Yea is a South Korean entrepreneur and former investment bank trader who co-founded and leads GRVT, a decentralized derivatives exchange built on ZKsync.

- Canonical URL: https://iq.wiki/wiki/hong-gyu-yea
- Categories: People in crypto
- Tags: Ethereum, Founder, Investor, Speaker
- Created: 2026-07-17T22:05:43.033Z
- Last updated: 2026-07-30T17:11:03.167Z
- Source: IQ.wiki — the world's largest blockchain and crypto encyclopedia (https://iq.wiki)

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**Hong Gyu Yea** is a South Korean entrepreneur and former investment-banking professional. He co-founded and serves as CEO of [GRVT](https://iq.wiki/wiki/grvt), a hybrid decentralized exchange built on [ZKsync](https://iq.wiki/wiki/zksync). Before GRVT, he worked at Credit Suisse and Goldman Sachs in Hong Kong. [\[1\]](#cite-id-89b28d4d-a9d1-40cb-ae19-c465f949c290)  [\[2\]](#cite-id-517e3ab9-bf59-495d-a8da-c0e445485b27) 

## Education

Hong Gyu Yea attended Yonsei University, where he earned a Bachelor of Arts (B.A.) in Business Administration and Management, General, from 2006 to 2013.[\[2\]](#cite-id-517e3ab9-bf59-495d-a8da-c0e445485b27)​

## Career Prior to GRVT

Hong Gyu Yea began his career at Credit Suisse in Hong Kong, where he worked as an Associate from June 2013 to October 2018.[\[2\]](#cite-id-517e3ab9-bf59-495d-a8da-c0e445485b27) He then joined Goldman Sachs in Hong Kong as an Executive Director from November 2018 to July 2022.[\[2\]](#cite-id-517e3ab9-bf59-495d-a8da-c0e445485b27) [\[1\]](#cite-id-89b28d4d-a9d1-40cb-ae19-c465f949c290) [\[3\]](#cite-id-KTpP0KJ59hyKv1NQ)​

## Co-Founding of GRVT

In July 2022, Hong Gyu Yea co-founded [GRVT](https://iq.wiki/wiki/grvt) alongside [Aaron Ong](https://iq.wiki/wiki/aaron-ong) and [Matthew Quek](https://iq.wiki/wiki/matthew-quek) and became Co-Founder and CEO, based in Hong Kong, per his LinkedIn profile.[\[2\]](#cite-id-517e3ab9-bf59-495d-a8da-c0e445485b27) Under his leadership, [GRVT](https://iq.wiki/wiki/grvt) launched its mainnet alpha in late 2024 on [ZKsync](https://iq.wiki/wiki/zksync), expanded into spot and options trading in 2026, and closed a $19 million Series A funding round in September 2025. [\[6\]](#cite-id-3ee75bd7-05a9-4070-a33d-7dd68918de81)  [\[7\]](#cite-id-0c54ff51-f3af-4ef5-9d92-261e78a71c17)