2025: A Year in Review

What a year.

Looking back, 2025 was packed — sometimes overwhelming, but always moving forward.

Conferences, Workshops, and Global Connections

I lost count of how many events I attended and presented at this year: IIW, EUDI Launchpad, FUNKE, UNFOLD, WE BUILD workshop, and the IATA Data PoC face-to-face meeting. I also participate OpenID Foundation standards meetings one time, staying close to where the specifications are being shaped.

Each event was a chance to learn, share, and connect with people working on the same problems across the globe.

Projects That Pushed Me

This year brought a diverse mix of projects:

Building Korea's wallet standard
IATA Data PoC
WE BUILD
Applying VC technology to CBDC wholesale systems

And beyond the technical work, I had the chance to lead a small team. That experience alone taught me more about myself than any single project could.

On top of that, I shipped two main products for the company, Hopae Connect & Hopae Auth, both from zero to one. Building something from nothing, twice, in one year. That's something I'm proud of.

Looking Ahead to 2025

Did I accomplish everything I planned? No. But that's okay.

Next year, I want to focus on preparing for European compliance, building robust system architecture that runs smoothly in production, and taking another step forward in the EUDI space. I also want to grow as a team lead, not just managing, but actually leading well.

And to Tree, thank you for being such a great teammate this year. None of this would have been possible without you.

Here's to another year of building, 2026.