# Julian Kwan > Julian Kwan is a Singapore-based entrepreneur, co-founder, and CEO of InvestaX and IXS. His career spans media, real estate, and blockchain, focusing on tokenization of real-world assets. - Canonical URL: https://iq.wiki/wiki/julian-kwan - Categories: People in crypto - Tags: Advisor, Founder, Investor, Speaker - Created: 2026-08-07T16:20:55.111Z - Last updated: 2026-08-07T17:04:33.303Z - Source: IQ.wiki — the world's largest blockchain and crypto encyclopedia (https://iq.wiki) --- **Julian Kwan** is a Singapore-based entrepreneur and executive whose career has included media, real estate, hospitality, and [blockchain](https://iq.wiki/wiki/blockchain)-related businesses. He is the co-founder and CEO of InvestaX and IXS, and has also held mentoring and entrepreneurial roles with organizations including INSEAD and JLL. [\[9\]](#cite-id-pJjiEc1Sj02FswLn) [\[10\]](#cite-id-1nWS01KmmTNwT2uz) ## Education Kwan graduated from the University of New South Wales with a degree in Real Estate Development and from Beijing Language and Culture University with a Bachelor’s in Mandarin in 1999. [\[7\]](#cite-id-pIO1U1ZL9tXsNARH) ## Career Kwan began his career in media and advertising, co-founding Mailman in 2000, where he worked in alternative media. He subsequently worked in television and print advertising production, directing projects for international brands including Sony, Siemens, BMW, Martell, Heineken, Samsung, Ford, and Shui On Property. From 2006, he became involved in real estate development through Space Group, serving as a co-founder, investor, and director and later co-founding Space Group's successor business focused on bringing Chinese capital into U.S. real estate. In 2007, he co-founded URBN Hotel in Shanghai, where he oversaw the conversion of a former factory into a boutique hotel and was involved in fundraising, government approvals, design, and pre-opening operations; the property was sold in 2013. From 2010 to 2012, Kwan served as president of the Shanghai chapter of the Entrepreneurs' Organization. He also served as an Entrepreneur in Residence at INSEAD in Singapore from 2015 to 2023, mentoring MBA participants interested in starting businesses, and as a mentor for the JLL and LendLease PropTech accelerator from 2018 to 2023. In 2015, he co-founded InvestaX in Singapore and became its CEO, focusing on software infrastructure for the tokenization, issuance, trading, and custody of private-market securities. InvestaX subsequently operated under regulatory licenses from the Monetary Authority of Singapore covering capital markets services and recognized market operator activities. In January 2021, Kwan co-founded IXS and became its CEO, with the company focused on infrastructure for institutional [real-world asset](https://iq.wiki/wiki/real-world-assets-rwas) [tokenization](https://iq.wiki/wiki/tokenization) and the IXS token. He remained CEO of InvestaX alongside his leadership role at IXS. In April 2025, his IXS title changed from CEO Co-Founder to CEO, while the company's IXS Swap Launchpad operated as a [decentralized exchange](https://iq.wiki/wiki/decentralized-exchange)-oriented platform associated with [real-world assets](https://iq.wiki/wiki/real-world-assets-rwas) and the IXS token. [\[1\]](#cite-id-zDoANTBHt1bY4SJD) ## Interviews ### Tokenized Finance In a March 2026 interview on the Our Crypto Talk podcast, Kwan discussed the development of tokenized [real-world assets (RWA)](https://iq.wiki/wiki/real-world-assets-rwas) and the role of regulation in expanding their use. He explored the intersection of AI and [RWAs](https://iq.wiki/wiki/real-world-assets-rwas), describing how agentic AI could interact with securities and other assets to enable automated portfolio management and trading. Kwan also discussed the industry's shift from private-market assets toward public-market instruments such as U.S. Treasuries and stablecoins, which he viewed as increasingly important use cases for [tokenization](https://iq.wiki/wiki/tokenization). He reflected on the challenges [RWA](https://iq.wiki/wiki/real-world-assets-rwas) projects had faced in achieving adoption and argued that the emergence of treasury-backed tokens and demand for yield-generating assets had provided stronger product-market fit. Looking ahead to 2026, he predicted a bullish [crypto](https://iq.wiki/wiki/cryptocurrency) market driven by greater U.S. regulatory acceptance, institutional participation, and infrastructure development, with [RWAs](https://iq.wiki/wiki/real-world-assets-rwas) and utility-focused tokens playing a larger role in the market. [\[4\]](#cite-id-7ZUJELFDivdF0LYR) [YOUTUBE@VID](x0hxu7OTT5U) ### RWA Tokenization In a February 2026 interview on the Applied Blockchain podcast, Kwan discussed his career path from working with startups in Australia and China to focusing on the [tokenization](https://iq.wiki/wiki/tokenization) of [real-world assets](https://iq.wiki/wiki/real-world-assets-rwas) in Asia through InvestaX and IX. He examined the growth of [stablecoins](https://iq.wiki/wiki/stablecoin), tokenized treasuries, and private assets, as well as regulatory developments in Singapore, Hong Kong, and the United States that were shaping the [RWA](https://iq.wiki/wiki/real-world-assets-rwas) market. Kwan also addressed challenges around pricing and liquidity for offchain assets, including the need for reliable price [oracles](https://iq.wiki/wiki/oracle), asset management, and liquidity from asset owners, and described efforts to develop decentralized [liquidity pools](https://iq.wiki/wiki/liquidity-pool) for tokenized assets. He discussed the development of onchain infrastructure that could allow [RWAs](https://iq.wiki/wiki/real-world-assets-rwas) to trade through venues resembling [decentralized exchanges](https://iq.wiki/wiki/decentralized-exchange) and argued that [blockchain](https://iq.wiki/wiki/blockchain) could improve capital-market efficiency despite regulatory and technical constraints. The interview also covered emerging applications including [Bitcoin](https://iq.wiki/wiki/bitcoin) real yields, agent-based trading, and onchain privacy, with Kwan discussing how [RWAs](https://iq.wiki/wiki/real-world-assets-rwas) could increasingly intersect with [decentralized finance](https://iq.wiki/wiki/defi), artificial intelligence, and global financial markets. [\[5\]](#cite-id-zad1Xaes1l0lDC37) [YOUTUBE@VID](oPDmsMiPg0g) ## Panels ### RWA Global Trends At the RWA Summit in February 2026, Kwan participated in a panel alongside Scott Thiel of Tokinvest, Terence Ng of EX.IO, and Cathal Donnellan of NexStox, moderated by [Peter Kadish](https://iq.wiki/wiki/peter-kadish) of LynxCap. The panel examined the challenges and opportunities surrounding [real-world asset](https://iq.wiki/wiki/real-world-assets-rwas) [tokenization](https://iq.wiki/wiki/tokenization), including limited retail access to onchain U.S. Treasuries and the need for regulated products that could broaden investor participation. The panelists discussed potential tokenization use cases across commodities, real estate, and private bonds, emphasizing regulation, transparency, liquidity, and market fit as factors in adoption. They also examined changing investor preferences, including a shift from speculative [crypto](https://iq.wiki/wiki/cryptocurrency) yields toward more stable, regulated [RWA](https://iq.wiki/wiki/real-world-assets-rwas) products, and discussed the importance of liquidity and yield in attracting investors from both traditional and onchain markets. The discussion concluded with considerations around scalability, trust, regulation, offchain asset linkages, and global distribution, particularly in expanding access to tokenized assets for retail investors. [\[6\]](#cite-id-2OK42wQNxAUmLtdn) [YOUTUBE@VID](aIFbefgm9A0)