At just 23, Gelo Wong serves as BayaniChain Tech Inc.’s chief growth officer. Based in the Philippines, BayaniChain builds blockchain-based digital infrastructure for government agencies and private organizations. He co-founded the firm in 2021, and the team has since grown to about 25 employees with a sharp focus on blockchain solutions. One of BayaniChain’s early successes was the Department of Budget and Management’s use of blockchain to upload key budget documents, a project that drew attention from the Senate’s Blockchain the Budget bill (SBN 1330) and earned Wong an invitation to speak at a Senate hearing on blockchain technology.
Behind the technical achievements is a story shaped by discipline, adaptability, and a strong sense of purpose. Gelo Wong grew up in a family of traditional entrepreneurs. His parents ran businesses in food and beverage and trading, ventures that depended on physical stores, suppliers, and long working hours. From an early age, he learned that money was earned, not handed out.
At 14, he began reselling fashion items and sneakers, a practical way to earn money. By 18, Gelo launched a milk tea business, but the venture did not survive the pandemic, prompting him to rethink his direction. Instead of giving up, he adapted online, which led him to cryptocurrency and non-fungible tokens, and the technology behind them—blockchain. In 2021, he co-founded BayaniChain Tech Inc. with a small team of three, and today the company has grown to around 25 employees with a sharp focus on blockchain; we purely focus on blockchain and never really branched out into other verticals.
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