Joichi “Joi” Ito is a venture capitalist, entrepreneur, writer, and scholar focusing on the transformation of society and technology. He served as director of the MIT Media Lab from 2011 to 2019 where he lead the establishment of the Digital Currency Initiative in 2015. He has served on numerous boards, including at The New York Times Company and Sony Corporation. He was a senior independent advisor to Japanese Financial Services Agency from 2016-2019. He is a member of The Digital Society Council and the Web 3.0 Study Group of the Digital Agency of Japan