Will Asia Own Blockchain and Cryptocurrency in 2020?

The global popularity of blockchain and cryptocurrency has been on a slow but steady rise over the last decade. After the Bitcoin boom in 2017, where prices reached a high of around USD$ 20,000, the value of Bitcoin has stabilized to around four figures. Continued interest in the cryptocurrency market has also led to the rise of alternative coins like Ether and XRP, as well as stable coins like US Coin and Gemini Dollar.

Blockchain is the foundation of cryptocurrency, but its use isn’t limited to finance alone. The technology has further uses in politics, communication, health, economics, and other fields. The range of possible uses for blockchain technology is such that governments across the globe are beginning to adopt the technology beyond the scope of finance. For example, the Australian government worked with Civic Ledger, an organization that focuses on civic applications of blockchain technology, to use blockchain to verify water trade and update state registries in real-time.

The adoption and application of blockchain technology are on the rise around the world, but nowhere is it more so than in Asia. First seen as a backwater in blockchain and cryptocurrency adoption, recent years have found Asian countries adopting blockchain tech at rates far quicker than their Western counterparts. South Korea’s adoption of blockchain technology initially started slow but experienced a boom in 2017. By the end of 2017, over a third of the Korean public had invested in cryptocurrencies. However, according to The Diplomat, the South Korean government has taken a more cautious approach to cryptocurrency, maintaining an Initial Coin Offering (ICO) ban that prohibits the receipt of investments in return for the sale of cryptocurrency by domestic companies.

Dubai, also known as the City of the Future, has plans to become the first blockchain-powered government. It plans to have visa applications, bill payments, and license renewals all transacted digitally via the blockchain. Blockchain adoption isn’t only limited to financial centers in Asia, either. One of Turkey’s major cultural centers, the city of Konya, has recently begun looking into developing a “City Coin”, with the local government working hand-in-hand with the science and technology center to create a blockchain-focused financial system around it.

Japan has a particular history with Bitcoin and cryptocurrency, not least because Satoshi Nakamoto, who authored the Bitcoin white paper, is said to be a resident of the country. While traditionally risk-averse when it comes to finances, Japan has also been the site of two of the largest scandals in Bitcoin and cryptocurrency history: the Mt. Gox exchange heist in 2014, and the Coincheck heist in 2018. Despite those dark periods, the Japanese government has taken a few cautious steps forward with regards to blockchain and cryptocurrency. The Japan Times reported in September 2019 that the Japanese government was stepping up its study on stable coins regulation, in response to Facebook’s digital currency project Libra.

We hope you have found this article informative and interesting. For more information or queries contact us to know more about this technology.