The ways that bitcoin is used all over Asia varies depending on several factors such as market demand, government restrictions, and culture. According to the region’s prominent bitcoin companies, there are three major uses of the cryptocurrency in Asia: investment, remittance, and currency.
Using the crowdsourced feedback from Ron Hose from Coins.ph, Mario Gomez Lozada from Quoine, Aurélien Menant from Gatecoin, Danyal Manzar from Urdubit, and Saurabh Agrawal from Zebpay, Tech in Asia mapped out these primary uses in each country.
Functions of Bitcoin in Asia
The first major usage of bitcoin in Asia is as an investment. This involves countries that have bitcoin mining groups or firms using high-powered computers to secure bitcoin. From there, these units can be traded on exchanges, allowing its owners to profit from any changes in value.
The second major usage of bitcoin in Asia is in the remittance industry. This is particularly prevalent in the Philippines, which has plenty of overseas workers transferring money to their relatives in the country. In this case, the value of bitcoin is not so relevant because it is simply used as a facilitator for online money transfer.
The third major function of bitcoin in Asia is as a currency. This has not been so widely accepted in Asia yet, as the region has yet to introduce more payment and withdrawal methods that involve the cryptocurrency. In this case, bitcoin can be used as a replacement for fiat currency to pay for goods and services.
Only a few countries have noted all three functions in their location while some have not even shown any signs of cryptocurrency penetration, at least according to the research conducted. For now, these trends could continue to determine how digital currencies can gain mainstream acceptance in Asia, as startup companies focus on these functions to enhance the presence and understanding of bitcoin.