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SPEAKER

Backpack Exchange

Can Sun

Co-Founder

Can Sun, J.D., Ph.D., is the co-founder and general counsel of Backpack Exchange, a fully regulated global cryptocurrency exchange. Prior to this position, Can served as general counsel at FTX International, where he oversaw legal operations and regulatory strategies across all non-US jurisdictions, seeking licensure and managing interactions with international regulators such as the Dubai Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority, the Japan Financial Services Agency, the Monetary Authority of Singapore, and others.

Prior to FTX, Can co-founded and co-chaired the Blockchain Practice Group at Fenwick & West LLP, where he played a pivotal role in structuring and launching cryptocurrency projects globally and advising major exchanges (such as Coinbase, Binance, and Kraken, and more) on regulatory compliance. Can holds a Juris Doctor from Yale Law School, a Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering from Princeton University, and has authored numerous policy papers, and presented at many blockchain conferences worldwide.

Laser Digital Japan

Hideaki Kudo

Representative Director, Head of Japan

Laser Digital Japan, Representative Director.

He holds a Ph.D in Physics and had worked at research institutes in Japan and abroad.
In 2007, he worked at Nomura Asset Management, where he had been involved in research analysis, quant/analytics, and equity investments in Japanese and foreign equities.
From 2019, he started a project at Nomura Holdings to commercialize digital assets, mainly security tokens.
In 2022, he assumed responsibility for business development in all digital assets, including crypto assets.
He is in his current position at Laser Digital Japan, which was established in 2023.

Bittensor

Ala Shaabana

Co-Founder

Ala Shaabana is the Co-Founder of the Opentensor Foundation, the organization behind the groundbreaking decentralized AI protocol, Bittensor—a $2 billion open-source network pioneering a new frontier where machine intelligence is trained, validated, and rewarded on-chain. Under Ala’s leadership, Bittensor has become one of the most technically ambitious and philosophically pure expressions of Web3 ideals, merging blockchain infrastructure with distributed AI collaboration.

With over a decade of expertise in machine learning, embedded systems, and distributed computing, Ala has previously led engineering efforts at leading tech companies including VMware and Instacart, where he specialized in large-scale system design, predictive scaling, and AI productization. He holds a Ph.D. in Computer Science from McMaster University, with research spanning wearable sensors, pattern recognition, and human-centric sensing platforms. Ala is also a published academic with numerous IEEE and ACM contributions, and a holder of multiple patents in applied AI and cloud computing.

Ala’s current work at Crucible Labs—an ecosystem product studio for TAO—focuses on building high-performance crypto wallets and staking infrastructure for large-scale decentralized participation. He is also a vocal advocate for the sovereign ownership of compute, data, and capital in the age of artificial intelligence.

Animoca Brands

Yat Siu

Co-Founder & Executive Chairman

Co-Founder and Executive Chairman, Animoca Brands
Founder and CEO, Outblaze

Veteran technology entrepreneur/investor Yat Siu is the co-founder and executive chairman of Animoca Brands, a global leader in blockchain and gaming with the goal to provide property rights for virtual assets. Yat began his career at Atari Germany, then established Hong Kong Cybercity/Freenation, the first free web page and email provider in Asia. In 1998 he set up Outblaze, an award-winning pioneer of multilingual white label web services. After selling one of its business units to IBM, he pivoted Outblaze to incubate digital entertainment projects. One of those projects is Animoca Brands.

Yat has numerous accolades, including Global Leader of Tomorrow at the World Economic Forum, Young Entrepreneur of the Year at the DHL/SCMP Awards, and recognition as one of Cointelegraph's top 100 notable people in blockchain.

Hashed

Simon Kim

CEO & Managing Partner

Simon Kim is the CEO and Managing Partner at Hashed, a prominent blockchain investment firm. As South Korea's leading blockchain thought leader and evangelist, he has spearheaded blockchain initiatives with major IT companies.

Before founding Hashed, Simon co-founded Knowre, an innovative ed-tech startup in the US and Korea, where he served as Chief Product Officer. Under his leadership, Knowre was recognized by Fast Company as one of the World's Top 10 Most Innovative Companies in Education and was later acquired by Daekyo, South Korea's largest education company.

Kim's expertise extends to policy-advising, having served as a member of the 4th Industrial Revolution Committee of the South Korean Parliament. He also held a position as a Director of the Korea Blockchain Association and a member of the Busan Blockchain Free Zone committee.

With a strong technical background, Kim studied Computer Science and Engineering at Pohang University of Science and Technology (POSTECH).

B Dash Ventures

Ryuichi Nishida

Director

Director, B Dash Ventures

Ryuichi joined B Dash Ventures in 2013. He led the growth and management of B Dash Camp, while also engaging in investment activities. He is now focused on blockchain-related investments, having stepped away from B Dash Camp operations.
Prior to joining B Dash Ventures, he served as Editor-in-Chief at technology media outlets such as TechCrunch Japan and CNET Japan, where he was involved in media management and event planning.

Berachain

Ella Qiang

APAC Lead

Ella Qiang is the APAC Lead at Berachain, an EVM-identical Layer 1 blockchain powered by innovative Proof of Liquidity.
She is responsible for expanding Berachain’s presence across the APAC region, driving ecosystem growth, strategic partnerships, and community engagement.

Ella has been a veteran in the web3 industry since 2016. Prior to Berachain, she was Head of Ecosystem at Cronos, where she played a key role in the blockchain’s rapid adoption and growth. She also served as Director of Partnerships at Stellar Development Foundation and has held various roles in investment, advisory, and DeFi.

Ella has a background in banking and corporate finance and holds an M.B.A. from UCLA Anderson School of Management.

Hashed

Baek Kim

General Partner

Baek Kim is the General Partner of Hashed, a leading global crypto VC fund and a team of blockchain experts and builders based in Seoul, Singapore, Bengaluru, Silicon Valley, and Abu Dhabi.

Prior to his journey with Hashed, he was a software engineer at AWS working on IoT and Robotics. He was also the founder of a last-mile logistics startup. He graduated from CMU where he studied robotics and computer engineering.

World

Tomoe Makino

General Manager, Japan

General Manager, Japan

Since September 2024, Tomoe Makino has served as the Head of Japan at Tools for Humanity, the technology company supporting World.
Prior to joining Tools For Humanity, he held leadership roles at Google, YouTube, and Twitter, and served as country manager for TripAdvisor and Activision Blizzard Japan. With over 20 years of experience in the US tech industry, Tomoe has a proven track record in innovation, growth strategy, and business leadership. He has also served as an advisor and committee member for various government and local government bodies.

DeFimans

Taishi Sato

Co-founder & CEO

Co-founder & CEO , Messari Japan Lead

After designing derivative products at Mitsubishi UFJ Morgan Stanley Securities, Taishi worked at EY Tax Co., providing international tax consulting related to finance before moving to Deloitte Tohmatsu where he handled similar services focused on financial institutions and funds. He was involved in launching and marketing the blockchain game JobTribes and NFT marketplaces, listing DEAPcoin on Japanese and foreign CEXs, supporting several DeFi projects through development of on-chain liquidity and alliances/economic structuring.
In 2022, he founded DeFimans Co. Ltd. and is currently providing consulting services to various web3 projects, including those associated with publicly listed companies and global DeFi projects.

SMBC Nikko Securities Inc.

Taisuke Isono

Head of Innovation

Taisuke Isono leads open innovation efforts at SMBC Nikko Securities and is currently focused on driving Web3 initiatives.
In 2023, as part of his role at Nikko, he founded Proof of Japan Inc., a joint venture with the firm utilizing AI and Web3 technology to support Japanese culture. Representing Nikko Securities, he also serves as Secretary of the Japan Cryptoasset Business Association's (JCBA) Use Case Subcommittee (since 2023).

He joined Nikko's Open Innovation Lab (NOIL) at its establishment in 2020 after participating in the internal venture pitch program. At NOIL, he coordinated 'Next-gen Tech x Regional Revitalization' projects and launched key initiatives such as the 'KOSEN Intercollege Challenge' (2021) and a Furusato Nozei-linked finance scheme (2022).

Previously, he worked in SMBC Nikko Securities' Investment Banking division, which he joined in 2012, specializing in Consumer Retail & Healthcare M&A and financing after 2014.

Mysten Labs/Sui

Ken Kashiwagi

Partnerships & Strategic Initiatives Lead, Japan

Ken leads Japan Partnerships and Strategy at Mysten Labs, the original contributor to the blockchain Sui and the decentralized storage protocol Walrus. He has expanded Mysten’s presence in Japan, building a local partner network of over 20 companies, while also supporting ecosystem growth across Europe, APAC, and the Middle East.

Prior to Mysten, Ken spent nine years in New York working across finance and entertainment with MUFG, Sony, and Warner Music. He most recently led the consultancy business unit at Utopia Music, a 1,000-person Swiss music fintech company.

Born in Japan and raised in the UK, Ken holds a B.A. from Brown University.

Solana Foundation

Lu Yin

APAC Lead

Lu Yin - the Solana Foundation APAC Lead, focuses on business development, partnerships, and policy.

With over 15 years of experience within traditional finance firms in New York and technology startups in Silicon Valley, Lu has a unique and global perspective across finance and tech.

Before joining the Solana Foundation, He was also with Fireblocks for numerous years and holds a BA in Business Administration from Ross School of Business at The University of Michigan.

JVCEA (Japan Virtual and Crypto assets Exchange Association)

Genki Oda

Chairman

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  • 東京大学法学部卒業
  • スタンフォード大学(Essentials for Business)
  • ハーバードケネディスクール(Global Leadership and Public Policy for the 21st Century)
  • 一般社団法人野菜ソムリエ協会ゼネラルマネージャー
  • 株式会社徳大寺自動車文化研究所CFO
  • 株式会社リミックスポイント代表取締役社長
  • 株式会社ビットポイントジャパン代表取締役
  • SBIホールディングス株式会社常務執行役員
  • Blockdaemon

    Glenn Woo

    Head of APAC

    Glenn leads and drives operations in APAC for at Blockdaemon, prior to taking over the role in January 2025, Glenn was Head of Sales for APAC since April 2022. Blockdaemon offers institutional grade blockchain infrastructures connecting enterprises to blockchains.
    He joined the blockchain industry in 2018 as Managing Director, Head of APAC for Ledger.

    Glenn has an extensive career in the financial services and fintech, working for S&P Global Market intelligence as Head of North Asia based in Korea and Hong Kong for 9 years, and prior to that, at Shinhan Financial Group in asset custody and funds administration.

    Minto Inc.

    Kazuhiro Mizuno

    CEO

    After working as a producer in the mobile gaming and digital content industry, Kazuhiro Mizuno founded Quan Inc. in 2011. He launched an internet-born character studio business, partnering with chat apps around the world. Quan’s character stickers have been downloaded over
    6 billion times globally, making it the world leader in this space. He has created hit characters such as Betakuma and Usagyuuun!
    In 2018, he entered the blockchain/NFT field, with CryptoCrystal becoming a global trend. In January 2022, Quan merged with wwwaap, the No.1 social media manga company in Japan. Since 2022, he has been expanding the collaboration between Japanese iconic IPs (such as Captain Tsubasa, Fist of the North Star, and Attack on Titan) and blockchain-based metaverse platforms like The Sandbox.
    In addition to Web3 content, Minto is also growing a content studio focused on Webtoons and Short-Drama production.
    Ava Labs

    Roi Hirata

    Head of Japan

    Graduated from the Physics Department at the University of Melbourne. Former professional gamer. Launched a brand in the intersection of E-sports and lifestyle and successfully crowdfunded it. Entered the cryptocurrency industry in 2020. Served as the Asia/Japan region official advocate for Blockchain Oracle Chainlink until 2022. Joined the Head of Japan for Ava Labs, the development company behind Avalanche in January 2023.
    IOST

    Blake Jeong

    Co-CEO

    Blake Jeong is the Co-CEO of IOST — building RWA-native blockchain infrastructure for institutional adoption, with a strong focus on compliance, scalability, and real-world use cases. With a background in consulting and startups, he is driving IOST’s evolution into a modular, developer-friendly Web3 platform.
    Azuki

    Yosuke Takeda

    Producer

    After working as an Account Executive at a marketing agency, he joined Dentsu, where he led the launch of multiple anime projects as a Producer. He later spearheaded new business initiatives in the content field, including launching a short-form drama content on YouTube, producing a metaverse event for a global anime IP, and co-developing an anime series in partnership with Azuki. Since 2024, he has been with Azuki, producing Azuki IP and a short-form anime series. In July, he announced the establishment of Studio Azuki.
    Sekai

    Kaiser Kim

    CEO

    Kaiser Kim is the co‑founder and CEO of Sekai, an AI storytelling platform that turns a handful of prompts into four‑panel comics. Since launching Sekai in 2024, he has raised $3.2 million in seed funding at a $14 million valuation, attracted 4,600 sign‑ups and 5,000+ creators within three months, and overseen the creation of more than 5,000 visual stories—all with a four‑person team operating between Los Angeles and Seoul. Prior to Sekai, Kaiser led product strategy at several early‑stage startups, honing the rapid‑iteration approach that drives Sekai’s momentum today.
    Your Rights

    Makoto Kimura

    Producer

    ・2007年~フジテレビの深夜アニメ枠〝ノイタミナ〟でプロデューサーを担当
    ・2017年~ツインエンジンでプロデューサーを担当
    ・2018年~MAPPA でアニメプロデューサーの他、ファイナンス、ライセンスビジネス等をはじめとしたライツ事業全般を統括
    ・2024年~Your Rights 創業
    Sony Bank

    Kaya Kanamori

    Head of DX Business Planning Dept.

    Graduated from the Graduate School of Engineering at Kyoto University and joined Sony Corporation. Worked in product development, product planning and marketing. Launched new fintech businesses and promoted customer experience strategy at an internet securities company. Joined Sony Bank in 2022 and driving new web3 business planning as Head of DX Business Planning Dept. Chief strategist of SNFT, Inc.
    Concrete (Blueprint Finance)

    Dillon Liang

    Co-Founder / Chief Strategy Officer

    Dillon is the Co-Founder and Chief Strategy Officer of Concrete, a crypto asset management platform that powers yield generation for any asset through DeFi and CeFi strategies, while also enabling the creation of new derivatives. We have facilitated $800m in deposits across our tokenized vault infrastructure.
    We are led by a team from institutional finance and crypto, coming from Point72, Morgan Stanley, Nomura, Coinbase, Eigenlayer, Consensys, and more.
    We are backed by Polychain, VanEck, Yzi Labs (FKA Binance Labs), Hashed, Decima Hyperithm, and other leading investors.
    The Sandbox

    Sebastien BORGET

    Co-Founder & COO

    Sébastien Borget is the Co-founder and COO of The Sandbox, a virtual platform where players can create, play, own, govern and monetize their experiences using NFTs & SAND, the main utility token of the platform.

    In addition to his role at The Sandbox, Sébastien serves as the President of the Blockchain Game Alliance in 2020, a non-profit organization comprising 600 key members within the industry. His contributions to the crypto and blockchain space have garnered significant recognition, including being ranked #4 on CoinTelegraph's Top 100 Most Influential People in Crypto for 2022: https://cointelegraph.com/top-people-in-crypto-and-blockchain/sebastien-borget

    The Sandbox extends beyond the gaming realm, earning recognition in TIME100's prestigious list of Top 100 Most Influential Companies in 2022: https://time.com/collection/time100-companies-2022/6159401/the-sandbox/

    Furthermore, Sébastien has been acknowledged by Forbes, where he was honored as one of the OC Top 100 Creators for 2024 in the Gaming category: https://www.forbes.com/sites/digital-assets/2024/05/15/forbes-open-campus-animoca-brands-celebrate-success-of-oc100--web3-education/?sh=34f296a23b9b

    bitFlyer Holdings, Inc.

    Yuzo Kano

    Representative Director & CEO

    After completing his graduate studies at the University of Tokyo's Graduate School of Engineering, Mr. Kano worked at Goldman Sachs before co-founding bitFlyer, Inc. in 2014. Since the founding of bitFlyer, Mr. Kano has not only been devoted to the public discussion on regulatory reforms and the establishment of self-regulatory rules in Japan, but has also been contributing to the development of the crypto asset exchange industry from a global perspective, having served as CEO of bitFlyer USA, Inc. and Chairman of bitFlyer EUROPE S.A., both crypto asset exchanges. He was one of the founders of the self-regulatory organization Japan Virtual Currency Exchange Association (now Japan Virtual and Crypto Assets Exchange Association: JVCEA), established in 2018 and took part as industry expert in the Executive Committee for the Basic Plan for the Advancement of Public and Private Sector Data Utilization organized by the Cabinet Secretariat.
    Mr. Kano currently holds the roles of Representative Director & CEO of bitFlyer Holdings, Inc., Representative Director of bitFlyer, Inc., Representative Director of bitFlyer Blockchain, Director of bitFlyer USA, Inc. and Director of Custodiem, Inc. and is serving as Chairman of the Japan Blockchain Association (JBA).
    Beyond that, Mr. Kano is a member of the ISO/TC307 Domestic Deliberative Committee and an opinion leader for the Ministry of Defense. He has been actively involved in various activities for the development of the web3 industry to realize bitFlyer's mission since the company's founding: "Simplify the world with blockchain.”
    ShardLab

    Hojin Kim

    CEO

    Hojin Kim is the CEO of ShardLab, the innovation lab of Hashed, the leading Web3 venture capital firm in Asia. As part of the strategic partnership between Hashed and Thailand's No.1 financial group SCBX, he is leading experiment initiatives focusing on Southeast Asia that can innovate the existing industry by introducing Web3 technology.
    Hojin is also taking Chief Strategy Officer of UNOPND, a venture builder arm of Hashed. One of his incubating projects is Modhaus, a Web3 K-pop startup, where he led the overall operations and development of their NFT platform COSMO as a COO.
    Prior to joining the Hashed group, he was a management consultant at Boston Consulting Group(BCG). He also spent years as a quant analyst at Korea Asset Pricing, a subsidiary of Global credit rating provider Fitch Rating.
    Hojin received a BS in Computer Science from the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST)

    https://x.com/harryhojinkim
    https://www.linkedin.com/in/hojinkim/
    https://shardlab.com/

    LayerZero

    Alex Lim

    APAC BD, Head of Korea @ LayerZero | Co-founder & Executive Director @ Asia Stablecoin Alliance

    Alex leads LayerZero Korea and plays a key role in driving the company’s growth across Asia, particularly in the stablecoin and gaming space. He is the co-founder and Executive Director of Asia Stablecoin Alliance, where he works closely with major stablecoin issuers from eight countries across the region. Previously VP of BD at HAECHI LABS (Ethereum Foundation-backed Web3 infrastructure company), Alex brings 13+ years of global BD experience from giants like Google and Samsung, as well as scaling several SaaS/AI companies across six different markets in Asia.
    Chainlink Labs

    Jaewook Lee

    DevRel Engineer

    As a DevRel Engineer at Chainlink Labs, Jaewook specializes in creating opportunities at the intersection of Web2 and Web3 technologies. He is a strong advocate for the on-chain future of finance, believing its eventual transition is inevitable, and works to accelerate that evolution.aewook is a devrel engineer working at Chainlink Labs. Loves catalyst opportunities extracted via cross-section between Web3 and Web2. And ultimately has a convictionthat the future of finance lies in the blockchain industry and deems the transition inevitable.
    Humanity Protocol

    Terence Kwok

    Founder

    Terence Kwok is the founder of Humanity Protocol, a pioneering organization dedicated to amplifying human potential in the era of artificial intelligence. As a visionary technology entrepreneur from Hong Kong, Kwok is also the CEO and founder of one of Asia's first unicorns. His journey is marked by strategic partnerships with globally influential investors and partners, setting new industry standards. With expertise in blockchain, Web3, and technology integration, Kwok's mission extends beyond technological advancement. He aims to use technology to connect people and ensure its benefits are widely accessible. Kwok's entrepreneurial spirit was nurtured at the University of Chicago, and his journey from academia to tech entrepreneurship highlights his influential role in shaping the future of disruptive technologies.
    Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group Co., Ltd.

    Hiromitsu Shimoirisa

    Deputy General Manager

    After being assigned to the Derivatives and Fixed income Department, Engaged in the sales and development of derivatives and trust products for 18 years. In 2013, as the head of the Financial product development group, Developed hedging products for corporations and investment products using trusts. Developed investment products for institutional investors as a Deputy General Manager of the Distribution Department, which was launched in 2016 to promote the O&D (origination and distribution) business. Since 2021, he has been assigned to the Digital Strategy Department and is the head of the innovation team. Engaged in research and examination of advanced technologies such as digital currencies, tokenized securities, NFTs, metaverses, and quantum computers.
    Densan System Co., Ltd.

    Hiroyuki Kamata

    Senior Executive Officer, Chief of Business Design Planning Operational Headquarters, Division Manager of Collaborative Ecosystem Creation Division

    Starting career in 1994 at the current Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation, mainly worked at Head Office, Net Business Banking Dept., E-Commerce Banking Dept, also during the carrier, seconded to Mitsui & Co. Media Business Dept. In April 2007, joined Rakuten Inc., worked as Senior Executive Officer and Head of Business Strategy Dept. at Rakuten Travel Inc. After leaving Rakuten in March 2014, held roles including Globe-Trotter CIO and Vice President of Crowdfunding Business. In January 2024, joined Densan Systems Co., Ltd., in charge of new business development in blockchain, stablecoins etc.
    NOT A HOTEL DAO

    Ryo Watanabe

    CEO

    Graduated from the University of Tokyo, Faculty of Law, and Warwick Business School (MBA). After engaging in research, analysis, and planning at the Bank of Japan, worked in strategy consulting and M&A business due diligence at Accenture. Following new web3 business promotion at a major telecommunications company, joined NOT A HOTEL in January 2025.
    Plume Network

    Shukyee Ma

    CSO

    Shukyee Ma, currently the Chief Strategy Officer at Plume Network, is leading strategic planning initiatives in the RWAfi arena, with a focus on the integration of real-world assets and institutional infrastructure for asset tokenization.
    Circle Internet Group, Inc.

    David Allan Katz

    Vice President, Strategy and Policy for Asia Pacific

    David Katz is the Vice President for Strategy and Policy for the Asia Pacific region at Circle Internet Group, Inc. (NYSE: CRCL), a global financial technology firm and stablecoin market leader.

    As a member of Circle’s global and APAC senior leadership teams, his focus is on strategic planning for markets and engaging APAC governments and stakeholders on policies related to Circle’s signature USDC stablecoin and digital assets.

    Prior to his current appointment, David was the Managing Director of Public Affairs for Kohlberg Kravis Roberts (KKR) based in Singapore. David led the corporate communications, government relations, corporate citizenship and sustainability functions for KKR across Asia Pacific markets. David was a member of KKR’s Asia Pacific leadership team. David also served as Director of Public Affairs Asia Pacific for Intuitive, the global leader in surgical robotics and manufacturer of the DaVinci surgical robot.

    Previously he was the Deputy Head of Global Government Relations and Head of Asia Pacific Government Relations for PayPal Inc. and sat on PayPal’s Asia Pacific leadership team. Prior to PayPal Inc., he worked at eBay Inc., where he managed Asia Pacific GR for both eBay Marketplace and PayPal - then owned by eBay Inc. Before joining eBay, David worked at Visa Inc. where he served as their first head of GR for the Asia region.

    David was Chief of Party of a USAID program in the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Secretariat in Singapore, where he advanced policy and capacity building. David served in the Executive Office of the President for eight years as a Senior Director at the United States Trade Representative (USTR) with responsibility for Southeast Asia, APEC, China and Taiwan trade policy. Prior to USTR, David was an economic officer in the U.S. diplomatic service, with tours in Taiwan, Mongolia, and Singapore, and he was a special assistant to U.S. Secretaries of State Madeleine Albright and Colin Powell.

    David earned an MBA from the University of Edinburgh and his BA from the University of California at Berkeley.

    Presto

    Elena Kang

    Business Strategy Director

    Currently Director of Business Strategy and Strategic Partnerships at Presto, with over 7 years of experience in the industry, including strategic leadership roles since 2018 at Huobi. Career spans tradiFonal finance at Nomura and journalism at Korea Economy TV as a foreign correspondent and news anchor covering global markets. Brings a mulFdisciplinary perspecFve to insFtuFonal adopFon, crossborder ecosystem growth, and GTM execuFon across APAC, sharing insights through industry panels and media appearances.

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