The president of Animoca Brands has an odd resume for someone leading one of Hong Kong’s most prominent Web 3.0 startups: Finance, consulting and, importantly, a stint as the deputy managing director of the Kowloon Motor Bus Company, one of the city’s bus operators. 

“A bus lowers the cost for every single person going to the right destination,” Auyang excitedly told Fortune during an interview in mid-August. “It’s the most powerful thing that’s been created in transportation. You can deploy a bus anywhere. And you don’t have to have every single bus route be profitable.”

Auyang’s time as a bus executive explains much of why he joined a cryptocurrency company, why…