The Philippines has the numbers to be Asia’s blockchain capital, says the telecom giant
The Philippines has the numbers to become Asia’s blockchain capital, a top executive at telecommunications and IT conglomerate Dito CME has claimed.
The Southeast Asian country has one of the fastest growing blockchain and digital currency adoption rates in the world, with adoption going beyond non-fungible token (NFT) trading, GameFi, decentralized finance (DeFi) and more.
“The Philippines has the numbers to become a blockchain hub. Our population is 110 million, with a median age of 25. We also have the highest Internet penetration and the highest NFT penetration rate of any digital population,” said Donald Lim, Dito CME Chief Financial Officer, recently.
The Philippines was ranked 10th in a survey conducted by Australian company Finder, which found that 16% of Filipinos own digital currencies. It ranked first in the Southeast Asian region ahead of Indonesia and Malaysia at 12th and 13th globally. In Asia, only India, Vietnam, Hong Kong and Singapore have higher adoption rates than the Philippines.
Southeast Asia, in general, has been very welcoming to digital assets and blockchain. A report by White Star Capital found that there are more than 600 startups in the region exploring the technologies. One of the most important factors is the high Internet adoption in the region. Of the 700 million inhabitants, close to 500 million are on the Internet, according to a report.
“The demographics of Southeast Asia are very favorable for web3. [It has] young populations who inherently understand technology and are more willing to try new things. It is [mostly] developing economies, so the economic aspect of crypto provides a lot of incentives for people to participate,” explains Openspace Ventures.
In the Philippines, the integration of digital assets into some of the most popular digital payment solutions has played a major role in adoption, making the purchase of digital assets just a click away. Maya and GCash, which control 90% of the Philippine mobile wallet market, offer digital asset services.
See: The presentation of the BSV Global Blockchain Convention, BSV Blockchain: A World of Good
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