Marc van der Chijs

Entrepreneur and Angel Investor

Marc van der Chijs is a Dutch tech and finance entrepreneur in Vancouver, Canada with a strong background in cryptocurrency and blockchain technology. He has founded many companies in his career and is an investor in, and advisor to, a variety of startups. Among the companies he’s founded are First Block Capital, First Coin Capital, Hut 8 Mining, Toudou.com and Spil Games Asia.

After moving to Canada in 2013, Van der Chijs got involved in Bitcoin and started privately investing. He joined venture capital fund CrossPacific Capital as managing partner and led several investments in Bitcoin-related companies.

In early 2017, Van der Chijs started First Block Capital, the first fully regulated crypto asset management company in Canada. He also started Hut 8 Mining, North America’s largest Bitcoin mining company, which was listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange in 2018.

Before becoming an entrepreneur, Van der Chijs worked in finance for Mercedes-Benz. In 2004, he founded Tudou.com, which became China’s largest online video site. Van der Chijs has also invested in several innovative financial tech companies, such as Chinese P2P lending company Dianrong.com; he is on the board of Dianrong and heads its audit committee.

Van der Chijs has a master's degree in business economics from Maastricht University in The Netherlands; he also studied Mandarin Chinese in at Beijing Foreign Studies University in China. He believes that Bitcoin will help the unbanked in the developing world to be part of the financial system and will help to get millions out of poverty.