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 trading into Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs), GameFi, decentralized finance (DeFi), and more.
“The Philippines has the numbers to become a blockchain hub. Our population is at 110 million, with a median age of 25. We also have the highest Internet penetration, and the highest NFT penetration rate of a digital population,” Donald Lim, the Dito CME Chief Financial Officer, recently said.
The Philippines 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 12th-placed Indonesia and Malaysia on the 13th spot globally. In Asia, only India, Vietnam, Hong Kong, and Singapore have higher adoption than the Philippines.
Southeast Asia, in general, has been very welcoming of 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 significant factors is the high Internet adoption in the region. Of the 700 million residents, close to 500 million are on the Internet, according to one report.
“The demographics of Southeast Asia are very favorable for web3. [It has] young populations who inherently understand the technology and are more willing to try new things. It’s [mostly] developing economies, so the financial aspect of crypto provides a lot of incentives for people to participate,” Openspace Ventures explains.
In the Philippines, integrating digital assets into some of the most popular digital payment solutions has played a big part in adoption, making purchasing digital assets only a click away. Maya and GCash, which control 90% of the Filipino mobile wallet market, offer digital asset services.
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