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

Japan’s Zweispace to automate wills with smart inheritance contracts
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16 January, 2020

Japan’s Zweispace to automate wills with smart inheritance contracts

Zweispace, known for its work in the real estate technology industry, has devised a Bitcoin-based smart contract structure to handle...
BSV flips BCH, reaches new all-time high in process
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15 January, 2020

BSV flips BCH, reaches new all-time high in process

Bitcoin SV overtook BCH in both unit price and market cap, while reaching an all-time-high price at the same time.
Tokenization is Bitcoin’s big deal in 2020 and beyond
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13 January, 2020

Tokenization is Bitcoin’s big deal in 2020 and beyond

Tokenization on the Bitcoin SV (BSV) blockchain will be a featured track at CoinGeek London conference, coinciding with the Genesis...
Final Genesis specs released—bye P2SH
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10 January, 2020

Final Genesis specs released—bye P2SH

The Bitcoin SV Node team has finalized specifications for February's Genesis upgrade.
HEX Token Scam claims dog Richard Heart’s scheme
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10 January, 2020

HEX Token Scam claims dog Richard Heart’s scheme

Concerns are growing over the fate of ETH investments in a crypto token project known as HEX.
One step closer to Genesis: Bitcoin SV Node team releases second beta
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9 January, 2020

One step closer to Genesis: Bitcoin SV Node team releases second beta

Beta2 includes new features such as 1GB default mempool size, parallel block validation, and changes the default transaction fee.