The finalist announcement for the BlockchainNZ Awards 2025
has landed with a sense of optimism, signalling a yearly milestone moment for Aotearoa’s blockchain and digital asset community.There is a wide breadth of nominees, spanning long-time contributors, emerging founders, community educators, and major local legal institutions. The nominees reflect an emerging technology and business sector that is growing through capability, professionalism, and collaboration.
For a country with a small population, limited capital pools, and a technology industry often overshadowed by larger markets, the existence of a national blockchain awards programme carries unusual weight. They offer recognition and validation for an emerging, vibrant tech sector.
They are a visible sign that people are investing time, careers, and resources into Web3 in New Zealand.
BlockchainNZ said the awards, to be presented at an evening event on December 5th, are designed to celebrate excellence across the ecosystem and shine a light on the individuals and organisations shaping the sector’s future. The awards are sponsored by MinterEllisonRuddWatts, a top-tier New Zealand full-service law firm.
The event recognises innovators, leaders, and trailblazers whose work has strengthened Aotearoa’s blockchain environment in ways that benefit businesses, communities, and the public.
Celebrating progress in seven directions
This year’s awards span eight categories:
- BlockchainNZ Icon of the Year
- Entrepreneur of the Year
- BlockchainNZ Man of the Year
- BlockchainNZ Woman of the Year
- Corporate Leader Award
- SME Innovation Award
- Start-up of the Year
- Institutional Impact Award
Together, they map the growth of New Zealand’s blockchain ecosystem from its early grassroots beginnings through to its present-day mix of technical talent, commercial capability, and institutional support. Ōtautahi to Auckland, community groups to law firms, the spread is larger than what would have been possible even a few years ago.
Icons tying the sector together
The nominees for the evening’s flagship Icon of the Year award are Jeremy Muir, Jerome Faury, Jim Thorpe, Paul Quickenden, and Toni Moyes. The awards represent individuals who have helped hold the ecosystem together through market cycles, regulatory uncertainty, and technological shifts.
Nominees like legal professional Muir, who also appear in both leadership-focused and advocacy-focused categories, indicate that legal and policy roles have been crucial in the early development of Aotearoa’s crypto ecosystem.
Meanwhile, nominees like Faury, Thorpe, and Moyes also appear in entrepreneurship, leadership, and community categories. Their inclusion in multiple categories shows how essential multi-role contributors have been to industry cohesion and continuity.
The Entrepreneurs, a category with overlap and momentum
In Entrepreneur of the Year, the same pattern of cross-category recognition appears. Finalists include James Waugh, Jerome Faury, Jim Thorpe, Kodi Dobson-Sinclair, Nathalie Whitaker, Nicolas Turnbull, and Toni Moyes
Several of these ecosystem value builders operate across multiple ventures, rather than staying siloed.
This category shows one of the most gender-balanced mixes of the entire awards program. With 2 female finalists, Whitaker and Moyes, the entrepreneurial narrative in Aotearoa is gaining diversity but remains male-dominated.
Man and Woman of the Year – leadership through different lenses
The Man of the Year finalist list is the longest and most diverse in terms of roles. It includes lawyers, founders, public policy advocates, technical contributors, and community leaders. The nominees for this award are Bryan Ventura, Dechart van der Merwe, Jason Titman, Jeremy Muir, Jerome Faury, Joseph Mooney, Kodi Dobson-Sinclair, Oliver Jenks, Paul Quickenden, Steve Vallas, and Trevor Topfer reflect a category that spans several professional backgrounds.
The list includes individuals connected to regulatory, commercial, governmental, and ecosystem-building work.
The Woman of the Year category mirrors that breadth. The nominees for this award are Dr Alexandra Andhov, Amy-Rose George, Jasmine W., Nathalie Whitaker, Rachel Gerring, Rachael Rimmer, Toni Moyes, and Yvonne Gill.
Women in NZ’s blockchain space appear to be heavily represented in legal, compliance, policy, and strategic leadership roles.
The nominees across both categories evidence how progress in the NZ blockchain ecosystem has been driven by founders, alongside a parallel sector of specialists who helped shape the sector’s legitimacy.
Corporate Leader Award
The Corporate Leader Award honours individuals shaping the strategic direction and cultural foundations of New Zealand’s blockchain and crypto sector. The 2025 finalists are Jason Titman, Matt Poblocki, and Paul Quickenden.
They have been recognised for their executive leadership across enterprise, innovation, and commercial growth. Their efforts help translate blockchain vision into real business outcomes, strengthening Aotearoa’s reputation as a credible, values-driven Web3 market.
A growing middle tier: start-ups and SMEs
The Start-up of the Year and SME Innovation Award categories show something that did not meaningfully exist in New Zealand during earlier crypto cycles: a middle layer of companies.
This is the layer where sustainable job creation often begins: early-stage teams validating new products, SMEs building compliant and locally tailored solutions, and community-focused organisations bridging Web3 concepts to everyday users.
Finalists include education-focused groups, emerging Web3 platforms, and SMEs like Cryptocurrency NZ, Pay It Now, and Squirrel, reflecting a mix of innovators who deliver real services to New Zealanders.
In a country where deep-tech commercialisation can be slow, the appearance of a solid middle market is a promising sign that blockchain activity is extending into operational, revenue-generating organisations.
The Start-up of the Year category celebrates early-stage ventures that push boundaries and bring new ideas to market at speed. Finalists for 2025 include Crypto Consulting NZ, OnChain Education, WoolTraceNZ™, GD1 (Global From Day One), and Avatars Global. Teams delivering innovation across education, infrastructure, traceability, and global investment.
The start-ups nominated reflect the agility and ambition driving New Zealand’s next generation of blockchain businesses, each building tools and services that are shaping how Web3 is experienced locally and abroad.
Institutions Emerge
Perhaps the most symbolic category is the Institutional Impact Award, featuring finalists such as Easy Crypto (powered by Swyftx), Hamilton Locke, MinterEllisonRuddWatts, Zodia Custody, and Lane Neave.
These nominees represent the infrastructure required for blockchain and digital assets to become mainstream:
- Regulated custody
- Legal compliance
- Financial services
- Trading Services
- Operational and risk frameworks
Institutional participation has historically been one of the industry’s biggest gaps. The growing presence of this sector now is a strong indicator that New Zealand’s blockchain ecosystem has entered a more mature phase one where professional services and global-grade custody solutions stand alongside local founders and community organisations.
A snapshot of where Aotearoa’s Web3 sector stands
As voting opens to BlockchainNZ members and the December awards evening approaches, the finalists collectively show a sector stepping into a new stage of growth. Long-term leaders remain deeply involved, emerging founders are more commercially focused, SMEs are gaining traction, and institutions are formally engaged.
For a market that has punched above its weight in Web3 innovation, the awards offer recognition and direction. They show what the sector values, where capability lies, and who is setting the tone for the next stage of blockchain adoption in Aotearoa.