Michael Sung

Michael Sung is a technology venture builder and investor, having founded various companies over the years in various high-tech industries spanning across the digital finance, AI, blockchain, semiconductor, electronics, and new materials industries. Prof. Sung is the Chairman of CarbonBlue Innovations, a holding company with diversified interests in cross-border tech transfer, private equity investment, AI/cloud/telecommunications infrastructure, and digital finance venture building. He is the Chairman of HorizenDigital, a cross-border digital finance venture building and investment ecosystem that is focused on rapidly commercialising and scaling blockchain and digital finance innovation to institutions and developing countries.

Prof. Sung has recently been selected to become an expert for the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), spearheading a new digital finance and AI research center at the CAS Shanghai AI Industrial Research Institute focused on Real World Assets innovation (RWA). He is also the Chief Scientist for the Frontier Institute of Regulation and Supervision Technology, a Fintech think tank founded in partnership with the Beijing government focused on Regtech technologies. Over the years, Prof. Sung has been involved with advising high level regulatory bodies such as the PBOC, HKMA, and BIS on digital currency topics such as CBDC settlement and interoperability, institutional DeFi innovation, and RegTech solutions.
On the research and teaching sides, Prof. Sung is also the founding Director of the Institute of Digital Finance Innovation at the Zhejiang International Business School. He is also faculty at HK University of Science and Technology, where he teaches executive and overseas MBA/EMBA groups on high-tech entrepreneurship, technology transfer, innovation thinking, business model innovation, commercialisation scaling, and doing business in China. Previously, Prof. Sung was also the founding Co-Director of the Fudan Fanhai Fintech Research Center at the Fanhai International School of Finance at Fudan University. Prof. Sung’s applied research includes digital finance, Fintech policy & regulation, Regtech, AI and Blockchain innovation, digital asset investment banking, asset-backed securitisation, tokenomics systems, digital economy business model innovation, and cryptoeconomics. Prof. Sung was also faculty at the Chinese Institute of Economics and Finance, a national-level think tank focused on thought leadership for finance innovation and Fintech policy and best practices.
Prof. Sung has served in numerous advisory roles over the years for the governments in Greater China (HK/Taiwan/Mainland China) on international tech transfer, innovation ecosystem building, AI, blockchain, and Fintech policy for various top city and minister-level officials. He is a world-recognised expert on digital currencies and digital securities, in particular the digital RMB/e-CNY and digital green bonds. He is frequently invited to speak at high-profile international events including at the UN, OECD, Vatican, C100, Economist, Money20/20, Official Monetary Financial Institutions Forum, Global Blockchain Business Council, etc. and has been interviewed by top media outlets such as Wall Street Journal, CGTN, Brooking Institute, Bloomberg, Time, FT, SCMP, Coindesk, etc. Prof. Sung also curates content for Crypto Finance Conference and has organised and hosted high-profile forums including the One World Blockchain Forum and an annual Future of Fintech and Finance Forum at Davos. Prof. Sung serves as a member of the CBDC Committee for the World Digital Economy Council, China Digital Finance Advisory Group for the United Nations Task Force on Digital Financing of the Sustainable Development Goals, China Ambassador for the Global Blockchain Business Council, and is also working with the UN Economic and Social Commission for Asia Pacific on various digital finance and digital economy initiatives. He was also the chairman of the steering committee for MIT Tech Review’s Emtech HK Conference. Prof. Sung has received various awards for technology entrepreneurship, including MIT Enterprise Forum’s Most Visionary Technology Award and Google’s Solve for X Prize. Prof. Sung received his Ph.D. in EECS at the MIT Media Lab/Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory as well as a graduate financial engineering degree from MIT Sloan Business School.