Asia is home to digital natives, a creator economy, and mobile gamers all of whom are open to new technologies. Cities like Singapore, Hong Kong, Tokyo, Seoul have been leading the charge.
For instance, Southeast Asia was highly represented in Chainalysis’s 2023 global crypto adoption index. Countries such as Vietnam, the Philippines and Thailand showed growing crypto adoption, as well.
Overall a whopping five countries in South and Southeast Asia appeared in the global top 10 for crypto adoption.
And despite regulator reluctance to pursue Bitcoin ETFs, Singapore’s central bank committed $112 million towards Web3 technology. Major blockchain companies have Blockchain.com, Circle, Crypto.com, Coinbase, and Ripple all applied for licenses to operate in Singapore.
Japanese and Singaporean regulators want to be ready for a proliferation of crypto companies, having partnered in June on the regulation and pilot testing of cryptocurrency projects. Web2 companies in the region are entering web3, especially on the gaming front, including Sony, Square Enix and Rio Asia.
Asia-Pacific has also hosted some of the most important events in crypto. For example, TOKEN49, one of the world’s largest crypto events, takes place in Singapore. Australia, moreover, gave rise in 2021 to a bustling NFT industry.
Asia is clearly a global blockchain leader, building a web3 future where real assets are placed on blockchain. In addition, every item along supply chains will have a digital counterparty in the form of a token to ensure transparency, etc.
Asia’s Crypto Leaders
Singapore has long been a financial and trade hub and an epicenter for payments, consumer finance, and blockchain. It is nowadays establishing itself as a blockchain center, and remains committed to doing so, even after Three Arrows and Terra, two crypto firms based in Singapore, both went bankrupt.
Coinbase (COIN.O), the US-based cryptocurrency exchange, received a full payments license to operate in Singapore as part of an aggressive internationalization strategy. With the Major Payment Institution (MPI) License granted by the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS), Coinbase can offer digital payment token services to individuals and institutions in Singapore. Coinbase called it a “vital market”, citing survey data demonstrating that 32% of Singaporeans hold crypto or once did.
South Korean traders are reported to be behind the recent rally in the digital asset market over the past few months. The overall market share of exchanges in South Korea increased to 12.9% in November. In January, that increase was just 5.2%, according to CCData, a digital asset and index provider.
Hong Kong, for its part, is proving itself to be on the front lines of crypto regulations. It recently greenlit tokenized securities and could salvage its reputation as a global financial hub after taking a beating in the headlines in recent years due to draconian COVID restrictions and a crackdown on dissent.
For its part, Japan recently began allowing startups to raise crypto funds. Under the rules, startups can offer cryptocurrencies instead of stocks when receiving investment.
How Asia Can Continue To Dominate Crypto
Securing a future for blockchain and digital assets means being on the cutting edge of a massive shift towards a digital economy.
It’s how many Asian countries can grow from a regional to a global leader. While the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) regulates by enforcement, Asia continues to have an opportunity to be a world leader in crypto.
Blockchain infrastructure can solve lots of traditional problems, such as cross border transfers, payment settlement, and more. But, whether or not Asia can remain a leader in blockchain long-term will depend if it defends core crypto values, such as decentralization, tokenization, atomic settlement, and more. Fostering these concepts are paramount to Asia’s global competitiveness.
About The Author
Kadan Stadelmann is a blockchain developer, operations security expert and Komodo Platform’s chief technology officer. His experience ranges from working in operations security in the government sector and launching technology startups to application development and cryptography. Kadan started his journey into blockchain technology in 2011 and joined the Komodo team in 2016.
