// Workers AI · dad joke modeWho's Eric Chen? Chen you ask, he's a bonding expert.
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Eric Chen | |
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| Born | August 28, 1998 China |
| Education | New York University |
| Occupations | Entrepreneur, blockchain developer |
| Known for | Co-founder and CEO of Injective Labs |
Eric Chen is an entrepreneur and blockchain developer. He is the co-founder and chief executive officer of Injective Labs, a blockchain technology company focused on decentralized finance.[1]
Education
[edit]Chen studied business and computer science at New York University (NYU). In a 2025 first-person account published by Business Insider, Chen described taking a leave of absence from the university in 2018 to pursue Injective. He subsequently left NYU without completing his degree.[2]
Career
[edit]In 2018, Chen and Albert Chon co-founded Injective Labs. In a 2025 interview with Inc., Chen described an email pitch to Mark Cuban that preceded Cuban's investment in Injective in 2021.[3]
In 2018, Injective received $500,000 through the incubation program of Binance Labs, later renamed YZi Labs.[4][5]
In July 2020, Injective announced a $2.6 million seed funding round led by Pantera Capital. Other participants included QCP Soteria, Axia8 Ventures, Boxone Ventures and Bitlink Capital.[6]
In April 2021, Injective announced a $10 million private token sale that included Cuban and Pantera Capital.[7]
In August 2022, Injective announced a $40 million private token sale led by Jump Crypto.[8]
In 2026, Chen co-authored a paper with Petar Zhivkov in the journal Mathematics on transaction fee mechanisms for blockchains with block times below one second. [9]
Recognition
[edit]Chen and Chon were named to the Forbes 30 Under 30 Finance list for 2024 for their work on Injective.[10]
Media coverage
[edit]Chen has been profiled by Fortune and interviewed by Business Insider and Inc. He has also been covered by Benzinga.[1][2][3][11]
Fortune has quoted Chen on prediction markets, CNBC on pre-IPO trading, and The Block on tokenized equities.[12][13][14]
Chen has appeared on CNBC's Crypto World and Schwab Network's The Watch List.[15][16]
References
[edit]- 1 2 "This Gen Zer dropped out of NYU at just 19 to launch his blockchain—now, his $1.3 billion company is backed by Mark Cuban and he never takes a day off". Fortune. August 5, 2025.
- 1 2 "I dropped out of college at 22 and started a business. Here's how I raised over $50 million and got Mark Cuban to invest in it". Business Insider. 2025.
- 1 2 "This Founder Cold-Emailed Mark Cuban and Landed an Investment From Him". Inc. 2025.
- ↑ "Binance Labs Incubation Program". Binance.
- ↑ "From Binance Labs Incubator to EASY Residency: Seven Years of Backing Long-Term Builders". YZi Labs.
- ↑ "Pantera Capital Leads $2.6M Seed Round for DEX Protocol Injective". CoinDesk. July 29, 2020.
- ↑ "Injective Protocol raises $10 million from Mark Cuban and other investors". The Block. April 20, 2021.
- ↑ "Layer 1 blockchain Injective raises $40 million round led by Jump Crypto". The Block. August 10, 2022.
- ↑ "Dynamic Fee Markets at Sub-Second Timescales: Adapting EIP-1559 for High-Throughput Blockchains". Mathematics. MDPI. 2026.
- ↑ "Injective Labs". Forbes. 2024.
- ↑ "Mark Cuban Cheers NYU Dropout Whose $1.3 Billion-Valued Blockchain Project Is Aiming For A Free And Fair Financial System". Benzinga. 2025.
- ↑ "Polymarket valuation, discount, Kalshi and crypto". Fortune. April 21, 2026.
- ↑ "SpaceX IPO primed for double-digit pop on first day, perpetual futures suggest". CNBC. June 10, 2026.
- ↑ "Wall Street created bitcoin and ethereum ETFs. Now crypto is going after equities like Tesla and Nvidia". The Block. March 24, 2025.
- ↑ "Bitcoin falls after hitting new record high: CNBC Crypto World". CNBC. May 21, 2025.
- ↑ "What Happened With COIN Earnings?". Schwab Network.