Recently, Messari Crypto Researcher, Mira Christanto, published a report that takes an in-depth look at Asia’s cryptocurrency landscape, as 60% of the world’s population resides in the region. Christanto’s study shows that six of the top ten cryptocurrency unicorns are located in Asia. In addition, 98% of the volumes of ethereum-based futures and 94% of the volumes of bitcoin futures come from Asia.
Asia’s financial landscape is ready for disruptions
When it comes to cryptocurrencies, Asia is responsible for a large number of cryptography users, companies, miners, traders and more. The cryptocurrency and blockchain researcher from messari.io, Mira Christanto, explains that Asia has a “history of dictators, currency devaluation, [and] capital controls – all ready for a break. This has probably made Asia the most active cryptocurrency market, according to Christanto’s recent discoveries.
His recently published study called “Asia’s Crypto Landscape” covers the “main exchanges, funds and market makers that define cryptography in China, Japan, Korea, Hong Kong, Singapore and Southeast Asia, with comments on regulatory and investment trends”. Countries like China, Japan, Hong Kong, India, South Korea, Singapore, Philippines, Thailand, Indonesia, Vietnam, Malaysia and others are covered in the 98-page study.
“The major crypto countries, such as China, Japan, Korea, Hong Kong and Singapore, have large reserves of liquidity, while other countries have great potential for scale,” says the Christanto report. “The nature of traditional finance has played a key role in adopting cryptography: capital controls have pushed investors into cryptocurrencies in China and South Korea, while low yields have driven adoption in Japan,” he added.
“At the end of 2019, six of the ten largest crypto companies in the world were located in Asia,” show Christanto’s data. “On January 12, 2021, of the 20 main symbolic projects based, 42% of the market capitalization was based in Asia. Asia has a huge role in the crypto markets for a variety of reasons. “
Christanto’s report continues:
Each country has its own nuances, but the factors include high penetration of investment in the public market, high-tech pedigree, prevalence of WiFi, deep penetration of electronic payments, propensity for gambling and a high percentage of computer science graduates. In addition, the development of Asia as a financial center has helped to contribute to the progress of fintech. Japan, Shanghai and Hong Kong are among the five largest stock markets in the world.
Asia’s thriving cryptographic landscapes
Some important factoids from Christanto’s study show:
- Binance, Huobi and Okex combined have almost the same bitcoin properties as Coinbase.
- Hong Kong is home to some of the largest crypto derivative companies in the industry.
- Japan is a single market with the largest retail exchange industry, representing one third of the total global exchange volume (FX) and contract for differences (CFD).
- South Korea has the highest penetration of crypto investors, with a third of workers invested in cryptography.
- Singapore is one of the loosest Asian markets for specific encryption regulations, although it is strict on AML, KYC, suitable and adequate controllers and compliance with FATF travel rules.
- The Philippines has one of the largest populations of foreign workers in the world, ranking fourth in recipients of global remittances.
Crypto Landscape Asia’s findings also indicate that a large number of countries in Asia have prosperous landscapes, all for different reasons. For example, Vietnam’s capital controls “mean that the spot crypto market operates somewhat in isolation,” says Christanto. The Vietnam market is driven by retail, the report notes, and “when bitcoin prices are volatile, the Vietnam market is delayed by a few days.”
In Malaysia, Luno is the most important stock exchange in the country, since the company founded in 2013 in Cape Town, South Africa is dominant there alongside Singapore. Christanto and messari.io’s research also relied on the help of the independent blockchain infrastructure platform Blockdaemon.
Mira Christanto’s research report messari.io on the Asian cryptographic landscape can be read in its entirety on here.
What do you think of Christanto’s 98-page study of the Asian cryptographic landscape? Let us know what you think about this in the comments section below.
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