Steve

Payments and fintech communications professional with eight years spanning PR strategy, editorial leadership, and media relations across regulated financial services and blockchain infrastructure. Proven track record placing coverage in mainstream business and financial press while serving as primary spokesperson for a leading Southeast Asian payments platform.

Deep fluency in the payment infrastructure layer: cross-border settlement, stablecoin rails, compliance communications, and the language that bridges crypto-native products to traditional financial audiences. Co-founded CoinLens PR, a B2B communications firm serving Web3, fintech and payments clients. Source network built across European regulators, exchange operators, institutional investors, and financial journalists through newsroom and in-house experience in Europe and Southeast Asia.

Co-founder & Communications Lead at CoinLens PR (2024-02 – Present)

• Co-founded and operate a PR and communications firm serving fintech, payments infrastructure, and RWA protocol clients
• Develop earned media strategies that include press outreach, thought leadership positioning, spokesperson preparation, and journalist relationship management
• Draft press releases, bylines, and executive Q&As targeting business and fintech press
• Managed crisis communications response for a DeFi client following an $8.85M security exploit; coordinated official X disclosures, drafted holding statements and ongoing community updates, advised on disclosure timeline with security researchers, and managed the public announcement of a $500K recovery bounty
• Manage LinkedIn and X communications for clients, building organic presence among B2B and institutional audiences

PR & Communications Manager at Coins.ph (2022-03 – 2023-06)

• Joined Coins.ph as part of the incoming leadership team following the company's $200M acquisition by ex-Binance CFO Wei Zhou; served as primary PR and communications lead through the ownership transition and subsequent $30M Series C financing
• Served as primary media spokesperson; managed international wire coverage of the acquisition and fundraise, and placed ongoing coverage across national and regional business press
• Developed press strategies for payment product launches, cross-border remittance milestones, regulatory filings, and licensing announcements
• Built and maintained ongoing journalist relationships in the fintech and payments beat across Southeast Asia and global wire services
• Led crisis communications during market volatility periods, including managing reactive media inquiries under time pressure
• Increased share of voice vs. regional competitors through proactive pitching on payment volume data, user growth, and regulatory developments

News Writer & Editorial Lead at CoinGeek (2019-09 – 2025-12)

• Produced coverage of crypto markets, payments regulation, and blockchain infrastructure for a global audience; built and maintained an extensive source network across regulators, exchange executives, and institutional investors
• Broke time-sensitive regulatory and market-moving stories requiring rapid media strategy and editorial judgment under deadline
• Conducted on-site interviews with founders, regulators, and investors at events like the London Blockchain Conference, Digital Nigeria, Philippines Blockchain Week and more

Editor-in-Chief at Crypto News Flash (2021-01 – 2021-10)

• Led editorial operations for a global cryptocurrency publication, growing it to over one million monthly readers
• Defined editorial strategy, publishing standards, and content quality guidelines across a distributed team

PR Manager at Ferrum Network (2020-07 – 2021-01)

• Managed PR and communications for DeFi protocol launches and ecosystem integrations
• Secured consistent coverage across crypto and fintech media for the Crucible product launch

PR Account Executive at EAK Digital (2018-11 – 2019-12)

• Managed PR campaigns for blockchain and fintech clients, including Theta Network and Elixxir; secured coverage on tier 1s like Forbes and coordinated media strategy around Theta's Samsung NEXT-led funding round and Elixxir's launch events at Money 20/20 and CoinDesk Consensus Singapore
• Conducted media outreach, pitch drafting, press release distribution, and journalist follow-up across both crypto-native and mainstream business publications

Staff Writer / Assistant Editor at BeInCrypto (2020-01 – 2020-09)

• Covered breaking crypto and fintech stories for a global audience; edited articles for accuracy, clarity, and SEO performance

African Correspondent at Cointelegraph (2018-06 – 2018-07)

• Reported on blockchain adoption and fintech developments across Africa for the world's largest crypto media outlet

BSc in Economics – University of Nairobi (2015-01 – 2019-05)

Specialization in Digital Marketing – University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (2025-01 – 2025-02)

Associate Certificate in PR & Communications – Microsoft (2022-02 – 2022-06)

Course in Content Development and Management – Microsoft (2023-10 – 2023-11)