Eastern Asia Embraces Digital Currencies, Hong Kong's Hub Ambitions Grow

A report by Chainalysis suggests that Eastern Asia received over $400 billion in value in stablecoins and other digital currencies between July 2023 and June 2024.

A recent report by Chainalysis has revealed that Eastern Asia received over $400 billion in value through stablecoins and other digital currencies between July 2023 and June 2024. This institutional and professional investment drove the region's growth, with Eastern Asia ranking sixth globally in terms of value received in digital currencies. Notably, the region also leads the world in ‘professional-sized’ transactions.

The report highlights Hong Kong's success in its plan to become a digital currency hub, with the region showing the most growth between 2023-2024. However, it still trails South Korea for the top spot in terms of value received. This rapid growth in HK may influence China's stance on digital currencies, but only time will tell.

Prohibitive fees and uncertainty still hamper growth

Despite the growth in Eastern Asia's use of digital currencies, several factors are still limiting their wider adoption. Prohibitive fees on blockchains like Ethereum and uncertainty surrounding stablecoins like Tether continue to present challenges.

While fees on Ethereum have decreased in recent years, they still remain above $1.50 on average, which is too high for micropayments and more than most people in developing countries like Indonesia and the Philippines can typically afford. To put this in perspective, the average salary in Indonesia equates to roughly $15 daily, so a single Ethereum transaction would cost around 10% of daily earnings.

Furthermore, transaction fees on centralized exchanges pose another challenge, especially for institutional investors who often use decentralized exchanges. Every party involved in a transaction adds friction, and each fee accumulates, making digital currencies unsuitable for many use cases and demographics.

Even more concerning is the ongoing refusal by stablecoin issuer Tether to prove its reserves. At the time of writing, with a market cap of under $120 billion, Tether claims to have cash and cash equivalents backing every dollar-denominated unit, but it has failed to demonstrate this publicly, arguing that doing so would reduce its competitive advantage.

A low-fee, scalable blockchain is the solution

The solution to the problems outlined above that are hampering digital currency adoption is a single, scalable public blockchain with tiny fees and a publicly verified stablecoin.

In essence, BSV is the answer. The original Bitcoin scales to one million transactions per second with fees of less than one-thousandth of a cent, finally enabling it to serve as the global electronic cash system it was always intended to be.

With the MNEE stablecoin set to launch on BSV, the doors will open to global peer-to-peer commerce, including remittances and the ability to receive and send a USD stablecoin with proven reserves. Regions like Eastern Asia, Southeast Asia, Africa, and Latin America could rapidly adopt digital currencies when sub-dollar and sub-cent transactions become easily accessible.

Moreover, BSV wallets like HandCash simplify the transaction process with user-friendly handles like $CoinGeek instead of the complex strings of letters and numbers that deter less tech-savvy users. As it integrates with more gaming, finance, and social media apps, wallets like HandCash will drive adoption going into 2025 and beyond.

The stage is set for a surge in stablecoin usage, particularly in developing nations. A scalable blockchain with tiny fees, a stablecoin backed by provable reserves, and a user-friendly experience will turbocharge this growing trend in Eastern Asia and beyond.

Watch: Stablecoins with Daniel Lipshitz