Ethereum NFTs Drive Crypto Adoption in Central and South Asia: Report
by James · September 21, 2022
NFTs has become the largest crypto ramp for countries in Central and South Asia, as well as Oceania, according to a report from Chainalysis Wednesday.
The blockchain analytics firm noted that in Q2 2022, 58% of web traffic from these countries to crypto services was NFT-related.
NFTs are uniquely blockchain-based tokens which is used to represent ownership over other digital or physical objects. These tokens are often traded as speculative collectibles, but can also provide additional functionality and benefits to their holders.
The market for NFTs exploded over the past two years. Sales of these digital assets reached $23 billion in 2021 and are on pace to break the record this year, although the NFT market has cooled in the second half of 2022. NFT collections such as CryptoPunks and Bored Apes have helped make digital collectibles mainstream – and, according to Chainalysis, the NFT boom has been particularly impactful in expanding crypto adoption in Central and South Asia.
The research firm noted that another 21% of traffic to crypto services was related to play to earn blockchain games, which reward players with cryptocurrencies and often integrate NFTs into gameplay. Chainalysis suspects that the correlation is probably not coincidental.
“For countries with high online traffic to NFT marketplaces – particularly Thailand, Vietnam and the Philippines – a large portion of the NFT-related traffic may therefore come from players of blockchain games,” the report said.
Blockchain games like Axie Infinity have been particularly popular in the Philippines, although these games have seen a significant decrease in users in recent months as crypto prices have collapsed. In terms of crypto adoption in the region, the Philippines is second only to Vietnam.
Overall, Chainalysis found that residents of the region received a total of $932 billion in cryptocurrency value from July 2021 to June 2022. That makes it the third largest crypto market indexed by the company.
Besides NFTs and games to earn money, cryptocurrency is also growing in popularity as a remittance tool in these regions, according to the firm. “Pakistan, India and Bangladesh each have $20+ billion remittance markets, and blockchain-based payment providers are beginning to disrupt traditional intermediaries.” the report noted.
Consistent with the popularity of remittance payments and NFTs, the two most actively traded cryptoassets in these countries are stablecoins, Ethereum and Wrapped Ethereum.
