Can you guess what the best ramp for Crypto is in Asia and Oceania? Here is the answer
Non-fungible tokens (NFTs) are the biggest drag on the cryptocurrency market among countries in Central and South Asia and Oceania (CSOA), according to a new report.
Blockchain intelligence firm Chainalysis said in a new report that the Asian region received $932 billion in crypto from July 2021 to June 2022, largely thanks to NFTs.
The study found that web traffic from IP addresses linked to countries in the region to cryptocurrency services was mainly NFT-related. In the second quarter of 2022 alone, 58% of CSOA IP addresses accessing crypto services visited NFT-related websites. Another 21% were for the websites of play-to-earn blockchain games – which are “closely related” to NFTs, as most elements of the game are NFTs.
According to Chainalysis, the finding is not entirely surprising as the region is an innovative hub for blockchain-based entertainment. Several game-centric blockchain developers including Polygon, Immutable X, Axie Infinity and STEPN operate from countries in the region.
Similarly, at the country level, countries in the region, including Vietnam and the Philippines, are among the global leaders in blockchain gaming adoption. Meanwhile, the third most popular driver of grassroots blockchain adoption in the region was remittances.
On a global scale, the CSOA region emerged as the third largest crypto market, while seven countries in the region – Vietnam, the Philippines, India, Pakistan, Thailand, Nepal and Indonesia – made it into the top 20 crypto market indices.
Regulations remain a handicap to broader crypto adoption in the region
Despite the success of the crypto market in the region, the industry still faces strict regulatory regimes that could have hampered progress. The report highlighted India and Pakistan as examples of countries where regulations have stifled the growth of the crypto market in the region.
Earlier this year, Pakistan’s central bank and government proposed banning cryptocurrencies in the country. Since then, up to three committees have been set up to deal with the proposal without reaching a decision so far.
In India, the government has long held a crypto-averse stance after proposing to ban the asset class. The government introduced a 30% tax regime on crypto gains in April that has seen crypto exchanges’ trading volumes plummet amid cries that there are no regulations to guide the industry.
According to a Bloomberg report, these market protests have gone unheeded by the Indian government, which is now using the police to issue threats of arrest to crypto investors.
The less favorable regulatory climate in several other countries in the region has taken a toll on the region’s ranking, causing it to fall in Chainalysis’ 2021 Global Crypto Adoption Index.
