Apeldoorn, April 18, 2025 — **Chhay Lin Lim, founder and CEO of Monflo, has been honored with the Crypto Hero Award 2025 by Dutch investment platform BeursInside.** This award is entirely decided by public vote and recognizes individuals who are driving innovation and contributing to the development of the Dutch crypto sector. Chhay Lin Lim (1986) began his journey in the aftermath of the 2008 financial crisis. As an economics student at the University of Amsterdam, he witnessed firsthand how banks were rescued while many citizens bore the consequences. That experience sparked his interest in alternative financial systems. In 2012, Chhay made his first Bitcoin transaction and became convinced of blockchain’s potential to make finance more fair and accessible. Since then, he has been active in the world of digital innovation, with a focus on accessibility and financial autonomy. > “This award is an honor,” Chhay says. “But above all, it’s a recognition that we need new thinkers and doers who use technology to give people more financial control.” Monflo is a platform that combines traditional banking functionality with the power of blockchain technology – all based on one central principle: building a financial system that serves the user. BeursInside praised Chhay’s vision, perseverance, and ability to bridge innovation and usability, calling him “a pioneer with a forward-looking mindset.” #### About the Crypto Hero Award 2025 The Crypto Hero Award is a new initiative from investment platform BeursInside, launched this year to recognize outstanding leadership in the Dutch crypto sector. Other winners were OKX (best broker), Sjuul Föllings (crypto visionary), and Mahler Capital (best crypto product).

**In 1959, sociologist C. Wright Mills introduced the world to a powerful concept: the sociological imagination.** He saw the mind not as a passive vessel for facts, but as a lens capable of developing refined interpretations of personal experiences in relation to larger social structures. Mills believed that the true power of thought lies in its ability to connect biography with history, self with system, and private troubles with public issues. > Neither the life of an individual nor the history of a society can be understood without understanding both. ###### Today, as we design the next generation of digital systems, such as decentralized finance, we need a new kind of imagination. One that builds on Mills’ legacy but speaks to the ethical responsibilities of innovation. ###### Let's call it: **Ethical Imagination**. Where the sociological imagination reveals how systems shape us, the ethical imagination compels us to question whether the systems we are building are just and how such systems should be built. The ethical imagination calls on technologists, founders, and users to consider: - What values are embedded in this system? - Who benefits, and who is excluded? - What kind of human behavior does this design encourage? - What kind of future will it normalize? This mindset is especially urgent in crypto, where the very promise is to reshape financial, social, and political relationships. The question is: **to what end?** No one has articulated this challenge more clearly than **Vitalik Buterin**, co-founder of Ethereum. While he is best known for his technical brilliance, Vitalik is also one of the few voices in crypto consistently asking philosophical questions about power, purpose, and public good. In a recent interview, he emphasized: > We need applications with a good social philosophy—not just more tech. To Vitalik, technological innovation without a moral compass risks becoming extractive and harmful. The real opportunity of Web3 isn’t just decentralized ledgers, it’s the chance to embed better values into the very infrastructure of digital life. In essence, Vitalik is calling for the **ethical imagination** in Web3: to build not just tools that work, but tools that matter. ###### At **Monflo**, we are listening. We’re not just building another crypto or Web3 platform. We are creating infrastructure for **financial autonomy**, an environment where users can verifiably own their assets, their identity, and their financial future. But more than that, we are building with **intention**. We believe that **code is not neutral**. It expresses values. And every product decision is an ethical one. We carry Vitalik’s vision forward by consciously choosing to build technology that restores agency to the individual, makes financial systems more transparent, and aligns long-term innovation with long-term human dignity.

One of the most impactful moments during this year’s **Dutch Blockchain Week** came from the side events—particularly the panel and podcast discussions that offered space for deeper dialogue. **Chhay Lin Lim**, founder of **Monflo**, joined a panel on the intersection of **AI and crypto**, moderated by **Jaël Rauter**. The discussion focused on how these two technologies are transforming finance, from the personalization of the crypto experience to lowering compliance costs and democratizing access to financial tools—think robo-advisors for everyone. But Chhay raised a critical concern during the panel, one that strikes at the heart of responsible innovation: > **We must be careful that AI, especially when combined with regulatory compliance, doesn’t quietly build financial prison walls.** He explained it like this: Imagine an AI system that monitors all transactions in real time. A user interacts with a privacy wallet or DeFi protocol—not because they're doing anything wrong, but because they value privacy and autonomy. The AI flags them. Their account is restricted. And just like that, they find themselves trapped in a system they never consented to. This led to a much broader philosophical question: > **"Who gets to decide what’s legal—and why? Because what’s legal isn’t always ethical, and what’s illegal isn’t always unethical."** Chhay emphasized that if we blindly encode rules into algorithms without questioning whom they serve or what values they embed, we risk **automating injustice at scale**. Efficiency must never come at the cost of basic human rights. --- Talking Entrepreneurship at Outlier Ventures Following the panel, Chhay joined **Dr. Achim Struve** from **Outlier Ventures** and **Sunny Jiang** for a podcast conversation—this time focused on entrepreneurship in the AI and Web3 space. They discussed: - What early-stage founders should prioritize in an age of rapidly evolving AI - The emotional and operational challenges of building something truly new - And how Chhay’s background in **philosophy** continues to shape his approach to leadership and decision-making --- These conversations reminded us that technology alone isn't enough. It's also the **intention behind it** that matters. Chhay’s reflections are a powerful reminder of why **Monflo** is committed to building financial tools that not only work—but are worth trusting.