For all its promises of decentralization and openness, the Web3 landscape remains shaped by many of the same patterns that have long defined the broader technology sector. Women remain underrepresented in leadership roles, particularly in Asia, where the region’s rapid digital transformation has not always translated into equal participation. Yet the push toward a more mature version of Web3 is beginning to reveal a different kind of leadership, one that is less concerned with speculation and more invested in the long-term health of communities, real utility, and the social impact that emerging technologies can enable.

Among the figures driving this shift are two leaders whose work reflects a clear departure from the market-first instincts that have dominated the sector. Dr. Chengdiao Fan, founder of Pi Network, and Lee Lin Liew, founder of DogLibre, are applying their expertise to build systems that rely on broad participation and transparent, mission-driven frameworks. Their projects illustrate how Web3 can evolve into an ecosystem that serves everyday users rather than only those positioned to benefit from early access or financial leverage.

Dr. Chengdiao Fan and the Push for Real Utility in Web3

The path Fan has taken into Web3 is unusual in a field known for engineering-heavy backgrounds. As a Stanford PhD in Anthropological Sciences, she has focused on how people behave, collaborate, and solve problems when using digital platforms. Those insights became central to her role in building Pi Network, a project that approaches cryptocurrency not as a trading instrument, but as a platform for enabling utility, collaboration, and equitable access.

In speaking engagements worldwide, including a recent session at TOKEN2049 in Singapore, Fan has consistently emphasized a core principle. Web3 will matter only if it creates real utility for people and if the systems underlying it increase, rather than diminish, human agency.

Pi Network’s design reflects that stance. Rather than launching quickly and relying on financial incentives to attract early adopters, the team spent six years building the infrastructure and community before opening the network in early 2025. Mining happens on smartphones with minimal financial and knowledge barriers, and participation depends on contributions to the network rather than hardware resources or capital.

Fan views mass adoption as a structural challenge rather than a marketing exercise. Until blockchain applications deliver tangible utility for users in their everyday lives, Web3 will struggle to progress beyond speculation and short-lived cycles of enthusiasm. She argues that the next phase of innovation must demonstrate how decentralized technologies can support real production, identity verification, and the equitable distribution of production, especially as artificial intelligence reshapes global labor and economic structures.

Lee Lin Liew and the Rise of Tech-for-Good in Web3

Where Fan approaches the future of Web3 from the perspective of societal-scale systems, Lee Lin Liew enters from a different direction. Her background includes helping to build two multi-billion-dollar Web3 startups and guiding adoption efforts at Decentraland, an experience that demonstrated how decentralized platforms depend on underlying structures, incentives, and governance frameworks that enable communities to emerge and sustain themselves over time.

Liew’s latest venture, DogLibre, reflects a personal mission shaped by her lifelong connection to animal welfare. After rescuing abandoned dogs for years and witnessing the strain shelters faced during and after the pandemic, she set out to build a platform that could bring transparency, funding, and coordinated support to the global dog care ecosystem.

DogLibre combines blockchain, AI, and IoT technology to address long-standing challenges in animal welfare, including inconsistent funding, limited trust, and fragmented oversight. Its token model, data systems, and decentralized structure are designed not as speculative tools but as mechanisms for documenting the health, care, and adoption journeys of dogs, while empowering supporters to participate in decision-making.

Through her work at Decentraland, Liew saw how digital communities can create meaningful value when they are given influence and responsibility. DogLibre extends that lesson to a sector that rarely benefits from technological innovation, presenting a distinct view of what real-world utility in Web3 can entail.

A Shared Vision for Community-Driven Web3 Innovation

Despite their different domains, Fan and Liew share the view that the strength of any Web3 ecosystem derives from the people and communities within it. Both focus on participation models that reward contribution, trust, and transparency, and both prioritize long-term sustainability over short-term gains. Their work challenges the idea that Web3 must choose between technological sophistication and social impact. Instead, they are developing systems that demonstrate how decentralization can support equitable access and address problems that traditional frameworks have struggled to address.

Their leadership also points to something larger taking shape across Asia’s innovation landscape. As the region continues to define its role in global technology development, women founders who center community and purpose are showing what the next evolution of Web3 may require. It is not simply more infrastructure or new financial instruments. It is a shift in perspective that values participation over speculation and real utility over rapid cycles of hype.

If Web3 is to fulfill its early promise, the work of leaders like Dr. Chengdiao Fan and Lee Lin Liew suggests that its growth will depend on ecosystems built with intention, transparency, and a clear understanding of the people they aim to serve. Their approaches differ, yet they share a common principle. Community is not an added feature of Web3; it is the foundation that determines whether the technology can support meaningful and sustained impact.