FigureAsia 35 Under 35 · Finance
Sota Watanabe
Age 30 · Digital-asset infrastructure · Japan
A founder building public blockchain infrastructure at the junction of Japanese industry and digital finance.
- Age at the edition eligibility date
- 30
- Field
- Finance
- Country or region
- Japan
- FigureAsia U35 Assessment
- 93.0 / 100
Profile
Career and documented record
Sota Watanabe has moved from founding a blockchain network to building digital infrastructure with one of Japan's largest technology groups. Startale Group and Sony Group formed Sony Block Solutions Labs to develop Soneium, a public blockchain intended to support consumer-facing applications and digital transactions. The network went live on 14 January 2025. Watanabe's relevance is not derived from the Sony name alone: he founded Startale, sits on the joint venture's board and had an operating role in the organisation that designed and delivered the network.
Before launch, the test network recorded 15.4 million active wallet addresses and more than 50 million transactions. Those are first-party testnet measures rather than evidence of sustained mainnet use, but they show that the product had been exercised at scale before release. Startale also opened an investment arm after the launch, extending Watanabe's remit from technical infrastructure into the financing of applications expected to use it. The durability, governance and economic value of that ecosystem remain to be demonstrated.
FigureAsia selection
Why Sota Watanabe is on the list
FigureAsia selected Watanabe for a completed infrastructure launch with a clear chain of personal agency. He did not merely advise a large organisation or announce a financing plan: his company was one half of the joint venture, he served as a director, and the venture put a functioning public network into production during the assessment period. His earlier creation of Astar adds evidence that the result was part of a sustained building record rather than a single corporate appointment.
The selection is deliberately narrower than a claim that Soneium has transformed finance. Public blockchains face unresolved questions about governance, transaction controls, regulation and demand, and early test activity cannot be treated as adoption. Watanabe is recognised for delivering a piece of market infrastructure with international reach and for joining Japanese industrial capacity to a Singapore-based venture platform; subsequent usage and economic impact must be judged on later evidence.
Verified work
The 2025–26 record
Soneium public mainnet launched
Sony Block Solutions Labs released Soneium to the public after an extended test phase. Watanabe served as a director of the joint venture and led Startale, its venture partner.
Startale Ventures opened
Startale established an investment arm following the mainnet release, adding a capital-allocation function intended to support projects building on the wider ecosystem.
Field context
The work in its field
Digital-asset finance is shifting from speculative token issuance toward infrastructure that can process identity, ownership, payments and programmable transactions. The consequential work is therefore less about publicity around a chain and more about whether a team can ship reliable systems, attract developers and operate under credible governance.
Soneium matters as an attempt to connect a public blockchain with a Japanese consumer and entertainment group. Its launch gives the project a completed record, but the proper tests are still ahead: durable mainnet activity, useful applications, transparent rules and compliance across jurisdictions.
FigureAsia U35 Assessment
Assessment breakdown
93.0out of 100
Completed financial consequence
29 / 30
Soneium public mainnet launched is treated as a delivered financial outcome. The score is confined to the completed result described in the record and excludes projections or paper valuation.
Individual agency and execution
24 / 25
The documented role—Founder and Chief Executive; Director—and the attributed actions in the profile establish accountable execution. Institution-wide results are not assigned to the person alone.
Verified reach and significance
18 / 20
Digital-asset finance is shifting from speculative token issuance toward infrastructure that can process identity, ownership, payments and programmable transactions. The consequential work is therefore less about publicity around a chain and more about whether a team can ship reliable systems, attract developers and operate under credible governance.
Innovation and field influence
14 / 15
The record combines digital-asset infrastructure with the completed work described in Startale Ventures opened. Credit reflects demonstrated practice, not a claim of novelty by itself.
Stewardship, access and Asian relevance
8 / 10
The Asian connection is explicit: A Japanese founder whose companies operate between Japan and Singapore, and whose principal 2025 project was developed through a joint venture with Sony Group. Stewardship credit is limited to the regulatory, governance, access or stakeholder evidence described in the profile.