No CommentsBeing one of the largest continents in the world, Asia is a metropolitan center booming with economic and financial success. And when it comes to the future of cryptocurrency, Asian markets – which harbor half of the global population, most of them highly tech-friendly – are a gold mine.
[tweet_box design=”box_02″]Bitcoin has great potential and seems likely to be able to open up lucrative, financial zones in Asia.[/tweet_box]
Bitcoin has great potential and seems likely to be able to open up lucrative, financial zones in Asia, as well as profit from the untapped markets, especially in countries like Singapore, Thailand, Japan, China or Korea. The list goes on.
Creative and cost-effective, Bitcoin can thrive in Asia in the form of investments. When the time to trade or exchange the cryptocurrency arrives, the investors are much more likely to profit from any changes in its value.
Furthermore, with Bitcoin simplifying money transferals, Asians living overseas can send payments back home in a much easier and cheaper way. This is mainly because the value of Bitcoin does in no way affect or is affected by the remittance process.
A modern continent needs a modern currency
Bitcoin also offers the possibility of being used as a currency in Asia because, at the moment, there aren’t a lot of good payment and withdrawal methods that cater to cryptocurrency. Therefore, as an acknowledgment of the modernization taking over the Asian continent, Bitcoin can be used as a medium of exchange for goods and services.
According to Mildred Ang, of Terrapinn Pte Ltd:
“We have seen a growing number of innovative technologies that are disrupting the traditional means. It will be interesting to observe the future direction of bitcoins in Asia; the markets which are most receptive, and the different uses for bitcoins and the statistics of adoption rates.”
In other words, digital currency has a great future in Asia, as people are becoming more open-minded and accepting. With the barter system behind us, Bitcoin has the immense possibility of revolutionizing Asia’s cyber commerce industry.
This especially holds true as we see how Bitcoin trends are finding firm roots in Asian countries.
China
Known for its growing manufacturing industry, China is required to move money across continents quite regularly. Therefore, Bitcoin can be used as a means to avoid government regulations and help aid an efficient and safe movement of capital from one place to the other.
As a consequence, the major Chinese banks do not embrace this practice or cryptocurrency with open arms and are now feeling threatened by Bitcoin’s ability to cut out the middle man. Therefore, many of the country’s Bitcoin exchanges cannot afford to accept Chinese Yuan.
However, Bitcoin can still be traded as an investment in China, as the country is home to about 20 Bitcoin companies of notable size with about 800,000 total users, constituting about 70 percent of the global Bitcoin trading volume.
Also, China has a strong competitive advantage in Bitcoin mining; BTC/CNY is one of the most traded currency pairs, which is why the country accounts for at least 50 percent of the global Bitcoin network mining power.
Vietnam
VBTC, Vietnam’s largest Bitcoin exchange, is relaunching on BlinkTrade’s Bitcoin exchange platform with their goals centered on Vietnam’s $14 billion remittance market. The trade promises one-hour international payments to Vietnam with cash withdrawals available at hundreds of places nationwide.
In fact, according to Bitcoin Vietnam co-founder Dominik Weil:
“VBTC will allow us to handle Bitcoin remittance services towards Vietnam in a very fast and price-competitive way. In an ideal setup it will take you less than one hour to send funds to your beloved ones in Vietnam – from sending the Bitcoins to us until the recipient in Vietnam holds the cash in his hands.”
“This is already possible today,” Weil adds in a press release. This holds true as we look at ‘Future.Travel’ – a Ho Chi Minh City-based travel agency providing services such as flight tickets, cruises, tours and hotel accommodations, becoming the first business in Vietnam to accept Bitcoin payments. Users are now able to pay for flight tickets using Bitcoin on the website, while other services will be handled via offline mode.
Philippines
Located south of Taiwan, this island country is ranked first in average time spent online and third for incoming migrant remittances. A few months ago, the Manila Bulletin – a top-five newspaper in the Philippines – published a very optimistic Bitcoin article on the cover of their business section. After the publication, the level of trade on Local Bitcoins in Manila reached unexpected heights. The subject of the featured article was a local Bitcoin company called Paylance.
Another similar company is Coins.ph, which was launched in 2014. By using Bitcoin, it offers several services including ways to transfer cash, pay bills and easily top up users’ cell phones. They boast the largest number of retail locations for Filipinos, mainly due to the partnerships with some of the country’s largest banks and e-commerce platform.
Also, it is important to note that Bitcoins have immense potential in this country because most Filipinos do not have bank accounts and, therefore, are that much freer to use cryptocurrency.
Indonesia
At the moment – making up about one percent of the total Bitcoin usage worldwide -, Indonesia has allegedly shown some interest in virtual currencies. Even though Bitcoin is not regulated by the country’s central bank, and while there are concerns surrounding the effects that cryptocurrency might have, many websites in the country are already accepting Bitcoin as a method of payment.
Being one of the most populated parts of the world, the give and take of money in Asia can be revolutionized by replacing legal tender with digital currencies. If not fully, at least the revolution can be partial. Furthermore, most Asian countries are still developing, and hence they don’t have existing established capital empires. In other words, there is a lot of potential for innovations like Bitcoin to dominate the local financial nuances.
Also, those same countries also have businesses that depend on foreign interests. This means money transfer and remittance are a huge opportunity, as well as a problem, which Bitcoin has the ability to solve and smooth out.
However, in order to get the most benefit out of cryptocurrency, and thereby secure the future of Bitcoin in Asian markets, governments need to see the potential that digital currencies yield and provide them with the right environment to develop.
Only then will Bitcoin entrepreneurs feel confident enough to create and find new ways for Bitcoin and the blockchain to be incorporated in the budding economy of Asia, which is a necessary step for the creation of a bright, long-lasting future for Bitcoin on one of the most diverse continents on the planet.
Which continent do you think can benefit most from Bitcoin and the blockchain?
