{"id":8550,"date":"2021-08-10T09:50:07","date_gmt":"2021-08-10T13:50:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cointelegraph.com\/magazine\/?p=8550"},"modified":"2021-08-10T09:50:07","modified_gmt":"2021-08-10T13:50:07","slug":"cryptocurrency-epicenter-moving-from-east-asia","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cointelegraph.com\/magazine\/2021\/08\/10\/cryptocurrency-epicenter-moving-from-east-asia","title":{"rendered":"Is the cryptocurrency epicenter moving away from East Asia?"},"content":{"rendered":"

It probably came as little surprise last year when crypto intelligence firm Chainalysis <\/b>declared<\/b><\/a> East Asia \u201cthe world\u2019s largest cryptocurrency market,\u201d accounting for 31% of all cryptocurrency transacted during the previous 12 months.<\/b> The region has a broad base of retail users along with a solid foundation of crypto traders and institutions, and China alone was at the time mining around two-thirds of all the Bitcoin in the world.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

In July 2021, Fidelity Digital Assets surveyed 1,100 institutional investors in the United States (408), Europe (393) and Asia (299) between December 2, 2020 and April 2, 2021. The study reinforced this idea, with the firm <\/span>reporting<\/span><\/a> that digital asset adoption rates are substantially higher in Asia (71%) than in Europe (56%) and the United States (33%). In March 2021, a Statista<\/span> consumer survey of 74 countries on cryptocurrency ownership and usage <\/span>determined<\/span><\/a> that the Asian nations of Vietnam and the Philippines are ranked second and third globally, respectively.<\/span><\/p>\n

But the past is not always a prelude to the future, and there is no guarantee that East Asia will remain the world\u2019s center of gravity for crypto adoption. China\u2019s attachment to crypto is tenuous at best, and Beijing\u2019s rollout of its digital yuan could cause reverberations throughout the region.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

When asked about the crypto prospects of East Asia, Kim Grauer, head of research at Chainalysis, tells Magazine that the region has recently experienced \u201ca major decline in cryptocurrency adoption compared with other regions globally,\u201d further adding:\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThis drop-off is driven by a decline in Chinese activity beginning 6 months ago, which coincided with various crackdowns there including the mining ban and the halting of derivatives trading by major exchanges. We hypothesize that much of this activity has migrated to DeFi, but that hasn\u2019t picked up enough that it makes up for the losses in the derivatives market yet.\u201d<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

China\u2019s dominance in Bitcoin mining made it \u201ca natural marketplace for crypto,\u201d says Lennard Neo, head of research at Stack Funds. But <\/span>as reported, <\/span>many rigs are moving elsewhere<\/span><\/a>, including to Canada, Kazakhstan, Russia and the United States.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Asked if Asia is likely to maintain its crypto dominance, Eloisa Cadenas, CEO of Mexico-based financial services firm CryptoFintech, tells Magazine: \u201cIt is a difficult question to answer because, when we think of Asia, we automatically focus our attention on China which, as we know, has taken quite restrictive measures in relation to Bitcoin, crypto assets and of course, mining.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

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