Blockchain innovation is gaining traction in Southeast Asia, home to a number of global finance and crypto companies. In particular, Singapore has become one of the most crypto-friendly countries in the world. This was recently highlighted in a report by cryptocurrency exchange Gemini, which found that 67% of the 4,348 members currently own cryptocurrency. The report also notes that Ether (ETH) is the most popular cryptocurrency in the region, with 78% of surveyors claiming to own digital assets.
Interestingly, the Ethereum blockchain may also be the network of choice for financial institutions located in Southeast Asia. This idea was discussed at an event recently hosted by the Enterprise Ethereum Alliance called Ethereum in Finance: A View from Singapore. Charles Dehaus, CEO of ConsenSys Blockchain Asia and a member of the events committee, told Cointelegraph that companies in the region looking to foster cross-border e-commerce prefer Ethereum for a number of reasons:
“From a technical point of view, different central banks and financial institutions that have researched different technologies always tend to fall back on the core features that Ethereum has to offer.”
Specifically, Dhausi mentioned that financial institutions find it attractive for Ethereum to offer a smart contract team on the blockchain network, while other competing technologies may only have a smart contract team without a blockchain. D’Haussi added that the Ethereum network also gives financial institutions the ability to create accounts for specific tokens. He added that the process might sound familiar to many because “you have a bank account and banknotes that you can deposit into that account. This can be reproduced in many cases. Other technologies that have been researched previously failed to provide both accounts. and tokens. ”
Ethereum Funding in Southeast Asia
Given the unique features of Ethereum, d’Ossy noted that financial institutions in Southeast Asia use it in different ways.
For example, said Daniel Lee, CEO, COO and listing of DBS Digital Exchange (DDEx), a digital exchange backed by DBS, one of the largest banking groups in Asia that provides trading services for a variety of digital assets, including security tokens and cryptocurrencies. – Cointelegraph that the company uses Ethereum to exchange security tokens:
“We are using Ethereum as a legal blockchain for this purpose. The tokens we use are based on the ERC-777 standard, which allows us to create an exchange for this product. And since everything runs on blockchain, it replaces the traditional central repository or clearinghouse. ”
In particular, it is possible to list ERC-777 tokens backed by stocks, interest rates or other real assets. These records can then be sent for secondary re-circulation. He explained to me that exchanging security tokens can make it easier to sell assets on a secondary basis: “When someone wants to sell those assets, they can only list them as an offer on the exchange. And those who want to receive a private amount can only promise this offer. ”
In addition, Lee notes that DDEx has studied other blockchain networks besides Ethereum to facilitate the exchange of security tokens. However, he noted that Ethereum was the top choice due to how easy it is to find programmers familiar with Solidity, a programming language designed for developing smart contracts on Ethereum.
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D’Haussie also notes that Partior – a blockchain-based interbank clearing and settlement network created by DBS Bank, JP Morgan and Temasek – was also built on Ethereum. As part of the Partior project, Lee shared that DDEx will soon release an electronic money stablecoin on the Partior network. This applies to similar use cases due to the variety of vendors, the wealth of developers, and the range of services available on Ethereum, according to d’Haussie. “Many other blockchains will not be able to provide such a rich and mature ecosystem. This is why they are closed to many financial institutions, ”Dehauzi said.
It is also interesting to note that China’s participation in blockchain innovation is growing. While Dagussi believes there is no enthusiasm for cryptocurrency in the region, he mentioned that China is a major maker of blockchain networks. For example, while China recently warned state-owned companies to stop mining cryptocurrencies, DeHasi mentioned that ConsenSys Quorum – the Ethereum-based ConsenSys distributed ledger protocol – is doing well in the region: “In mainland China, the following chains are allowed: preferred. framework and Quorum are currently being used for the Network-based Services Network, a nationwide blockchain project supported by the Chinese government. ”
