Jon Southurst is Associate Editor, Asia-Pacific at CoinGeek, the BSV blockchain news publication. Based in Tokyo, Japan, he covers Bitcoin and blockchain technology, artificial intelligence and agentic AI, and the digital economy — including stablecoins, central bank digital currencies (CBDCs), and asset tokenization — with particular attention to developments across Asia.

Jon has worked as a technology writer since 1994, beginning with geographic information systems (GIS), digital mapping, and statistical data for Australian telecommunications company Telstra, and technology articles for print newspapers in Australia and Canada.

He turned to Bitcoin full-time in 2013 as a reporter for CoinDesk, remaining there until 2015. Based in Tokyo during the collapse of the Mt. Gox exchange in 2014, he covered the story at close quarters and produced several now-iconic images from that period of Bitcoin’s history. He went on to report for Bitcoin.com and Bitcoinist (2015–16), then co-founded Bitsonline, serving as Senior Editor from 2016 to 2019. He joined CoinGeek in 2019.

Alongside his writing, Jon has presented and hosted video interview programs including BitcoinSVtrain and MetaNetTV on YouTube, and CoinGeek’s “The Bitcoin Bridge.” His interview subjects over more than a decade of reporting include venture capitalist Tim Draper, economist Steve Keen, entrepreneurs Halsey Minor and Michael Terpin, Lyn Ulbricht, Roger Ver, Craig Wright, and musician Perry Farrell.

His CoinGeek article marking the anniversary of Bitcoin’s Genesis Block from January 2020 was cited in “Strengthening American Leadership in Digital Financial Technology,” a digital assets report published by the White House in 2025.

Jon has reported from blockchain and finance conferences around the world, including Beijing, Tokyo, Hong Kong, Singapore, Seoul, Bangkok, Tbilisi, Dubai, London, Los Angeles, Las Vegas, and Denver. He has appeared as a presenter and panelist at conferences in Seoul (2014) and Changsha (2016), and served as a panel moderator at the London Blockchain Conference in 2023 and 2024.

His areas of expertise include Bitcoin and blockchain systems, digital currencies, central banking and financial regulation, and the intersection of artificial intelligence with blockchain and digital payments. His current reporting focuses on BSV software and application development, agentic AI, and the emerging digital economy.

Article by Jon Southurst

The ILO: Does someone want to tokenize Kleiman vs Wright lawsuit?
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16 December, 2020

The ILO: Does someone want to tokenize Kleiman vs Wright lawsuit?

Win or lose, an ILO token could potentially be traded on the open market, with price speculation creating profits far...
Theory of Bitcoin – the White Paper: Saving disk space and simplified payment verification
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15 December, 2020

Theory of Bitcoin – the White Paper: Saving disk space and simplified payment verification

Dr. Craig S. Wright and Ryan X. Charles talk about simplified payment verification, blockchain data pruning, and ways potential problems...
How to use Streamanity—a basic guide
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14 December, 2020

How to use Streamanity—a basic guide

Streamanity is an exciting new video platform that changes the way content creators can make money from their work.
Ella Qiang: Only Bitcoin SV has the scaling capacity for ‘serious business’
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14 December, 2020

Ella Qiang: Only Bitcoin SV has the scaling capacity for ‘serious business’

In a PDAX webinar, Bitcoin Association’s Ella Qiang explains BSV's main advantages for both data processing and small-scale digital payments,...
Bitcoin script is Turing Complete: sCrypt’s ‘Game of Life’ is Proof
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11 December, 2020

Bitcoin script is Turing Complete: sCrypt’s ‘Game of Life’ is Proof

Contracts platform sCrypt has published code to a Bitcoin Script version of Conway's Game of Life, as a demonstration that...
MetaStreme proposes ‘RouterSV’ for more secure network traffic logs on Bitcoin
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11 December, 2020

MetaStreme proposes ‘RouterSV’ for more secure network traffic logs on Bitcoin

Publishing traffic logs to the Bitcoin blockchain could help sysadmins share information to keep their networks more secure, says MetaStreme...