Crypto in South Asia: Key Things to Know

Crypto culture in Vietnam, Indonesia, Singapore, and India.

Over a year ago, my high school buddy Arthur and I co-founded Pink Brains, a DeFi creator studio.

Our team has since grown to six members, with 4 coming from Vietnam. Through our discussions about crypto, it became clear how different the Vietnamese crypto market and mentality are compared to the West, which dominates the narrative on X.

But as crypto grown into a global industry, the dominance of Western and English-speaking KOLs could blind us to opportunities beyond our Western bubble.

For example, in my last blog post on the Current State of the Market, I was surprised to find out that OpenSocial had more users than Farcaster or Lens, despite much lower mindshare on X. The secret to their success? Indonesia, Vietnam, India dominate the user base.

So, for this blog post, I and Mai, the brains behind the Pink Brains official X account, teamed to share insights on the South Asian crypto market. Feel free to follow our Pink Brains account for unique insight on crypto, market updates, and more.

We also interviewed a few people from the South Asian countries to get their personal experience.

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South Asia - A Crypto Wilderness

Token2049 Singapore is hands down the biggest crypto event of 2024, and one takeaway that caught our attention came from Andy “Asia market is still untapped."

While East Asia—think South Korea, Hong Kong, Taiwan, China, and Japan—is already a major crypto hub with clear regulations, big institutions and professional investors involvement, Central & Southern Asia and Oceania (CSAO) take a different, often overlooked, approach to crypto that you don't see much on Western Crypto Twitter.

Here’s the 2024 Chainalysis Global Crypto Adoption Index map.

According to Chainalysis, the Central & Southern Asia and Oceania (CSAO) region is the third-largest crypto market, with over $750B in crypto inflows between July 2023 and June 2024.

That’s 16.6% of the global total. Let that sink in. Only North America and Western Europe are higher.

CSAO really stands out in the 2024 Global Crypto Adoption Index, with seven of the top 20 countries coming from the region: India (1), Indonesia (3), Vietnam (5), the Philippines (8), Pakistan (9), Thailand (16), and Cambodia (17).

By the way, last year I shared my insight on why Koreans love crypto but not DeFi. I spent 8 years living in Korea and insights on the Korean crypto culture are shared below:

Korean Crypto Culture: Why Koreans Love Crypto, But Not DeFi.

How Are People in South Asia Adopting Crypto?

Vietnam

Let's start with Vietnam, where most of our DeFi creator studio, Pink Brains, team is from, giving a personal experience on the market.

It’s the 2nd-popular country in crypto ownership according to Triple-A. About 21.2% of the population holds crypto, just behind the UAE at 34.4%.

This country also pulled in big profits last year, coming in third globally with $1.18B in cashed out crypto gains, as per Chainalysis. That’s double the gains of Spain and the Philippines, and triple Thailand’s.

One of the reasons for this is the unclear stance of the Vietnamese government on crypto. While it’s not banned, it’s also not allowed for real-life use like payments or collateral. This makes owning crypto appealing, though real adoption lags behind other Southeast Asian countries.

• CEXs are the go-to for most Vietnamese crypto investors. Binance, Bybit, OKX, and BingX are the most popular, while Coinbase has little market share due to language barriers and its complex KYC process. Trading and holding crypto on CEXs remains the most common investment strategy.

• Airdrop farming and crypto mining are pretty popular here. You’ll see tons of Telegram and Facebook groups sharing tips, "hidden gem" alerts, and token giveaways. The truth is, it's super easy and cheap to buy clone accounts, fake KYCs, or set up bots without much hassle. This makes sybil attacks from Vietnamese farmers a real challenge for protocols. Some of the big airdrops you’ll hear about include Arbitrum, LayerZero, Aptos, and zkSync.

• Most investors in Vietnam are not highly experienced. They’re mainly looking for quick gains, considering crypto as a side hustle alongside their main job or a life-changing ticket. Veterans often hunt for low-cap tokens on DEXs while still holding big bags on CEXs. Meanwhile, newer investors (from 2022 onwards) tend to chase airdrops and retroactive rewards. Experienced traders typically lose money in major black-swan events like FTX or Luna, while newbies often get burned by bad KOL signals, scams, or over-leveraging.

• Being a top country in international mathematics contests, Vietnam is also a hub for blockchain developer talents. You’ve heard big names like Loi Luu (Kyber Network) and Vu Nguyen (Pendle), but it’s also home to some infamous serial scammers, like the guy behind the Whale Markets!

Note: My team really doesn’t like the guy. Check the thread above for the full picture on how he rugged investors.

Mai also told me that retail banking and non-cash payments in Vietnam are advancing rapidly.

Vietnam is following a path similar to China, with digital wallets, banking apps, and credit cards slowly replacing cash, especially in big cities. This shift is a big plus for Web3, as it sets the stage for crypto payments, like what's happening in Singapore.

More and more major companies are starting to bring blockchain into their business operations.

We've seen small-scale tests in banking, like HSBC Vietnam's experiment with the first live blockchain for L/C payment. These efforts show that Vietnamese businesses are paying close attention to blockchain.

But for now, it's still a waiting game until the legal framework becomes more open to crypto.

India

India continues to be a major player in the global crypto market, despite having changing regulations and taxes. The country has a high 30% tax on crypto gains and a 1% tax on all transactions, which has led some investors to seek out international exchanges with fewer restrictions.

Even with these hurdles, crypto is still growing rapidly in India.

The rise of innovative Indian crypto startups shows the need for more favorable tax policies and clearer regulations to keep the momentum going.

I asked Hitesh.eth on X what makes India unique. Besides his great takes on crypto, Hitesh is also developing a platform (DYOR) to easily understand crypto fundamentals.

India has the largest pool of unemployed youth, eager to grind for incentives. If done right, apps could channel these incentives in the form of tokens and points, much like what we saw with Axie in the past.

On the infrastructure side, India boasts some of the best developer mindshare, available at a cost significantly lower than in the EU and US.

He said that “over 50% of community-related gigs are taken by Indians, and many more are keen to join that job stream.”

But this gig side of crypto and grinding with high ambitions “led to issues, as seen with some past airdrops, creating a false perception about Indians. This perception, however, shouldn’t be generalized, as it's more case-specific than representative”

Indonesia

Indonesia is one of the fastest-growing markets by transaction volumes.

According to a Product Manager at Pintu, a crypto exchange in Indonesia, the rise in crypto activity is largely driven by speculation.

"Many people still see crypto as a way to make fast gains," he said. "Right now, lots of traders are turning to Telegram groups for signals, just like they used to do with equities, but the activity is even more intense in crypto because of all the new tokens popping up."

He also said that stricter rules on the Indonesia Stock Exchange may be pushing people toward crypto.

"With the new full call auction measures making stock trading more regulated, some investors are looking for alternatives like crypto."

Indonesia leads in DEX and DeFi activities compared to regional and global averages.

This was confirmed by the Eli5DeFi on X saying that “Many Indonesians are involved in cryptocurrency, often starting with memecoins or airdrops because they are simpler and more exciting. Airdrops, in particular, tend to require only time and effort to participate.”

He added that “we mainly use TON apps recently, and some even build their communities to mine and farm $DOGS, $NOT, and $HAMSTER.”

As Indonesians grow more crypto-savvy, yield farming, staking, and DeFi projects gain popularity.

This growth created a new gen of a "crypto degen" community, with Millennials and Gen Z, over half of the investor base, looking for emerging tech and quick profits.

DeFi is also on the rise and there are lots of DeFi builders from Indonesia. - Eli5DeFi

Just a few notable examples

• @0x_eunice - Co-Founder, Monad

• @Mariobern - Co-Founder, Pyth

• @bradydonut - CTO, HawkFi

• @BrianLimiardi - CTO, Copra

• @smsunarto - Founder, Argus Labs

• @bizyugo - No. 1, Debank

• @mathdroid - Pandora

• @PatriaAbditiar - Sociocat

Singapore

While countries like Indonesia and Vietnam are seeing crypto adoption driven by "crypto degens" and the promise of quick gains, things are playing out a bit differently in Singapore.

Ronald Chan from Saprolings (a Web3 incubator) told me that crypto companies count exploded in SG after China shut down crypto companies. They chose Singapore because of the following reasons:

1. Close to China

2. Chinese culture

3. No persecution

4. Low taxes

5. Guge Chinese speaking population

6. Free movement of capital (and bitcoins)

7. Strong rule of law (this is super important)

8. Well educated people to run business

9. Strong financial hub in the region

10. No alternatives in the region really

“We keep ourselves safe by being the bank of neighboring leaders.” - Ronald Chan

Secondly, regulatory progress and merchant services are showing broader potential of crypto, beyond just trading and investments.

Ronald said that Singapore “gives banking licenses to local banks and foreign banks to compete on equal footing (unlike many other countries).”

Plus, Singapore “has a national QR scanning system, very similar to China Wepay & Alipay (called Paynow QR), which most of the people use. Mastercard & Visa are readily available, but users and merchants don’t enjoy it because of additional fees (on both sides).”

What’s more, super-app Grab, which many people use for taxis, food delivery, and other services, started allowing users to top up their e-wallets using crypto. Now, users can pay with Bitcoin, Ether, XSGD (Singapore’s local stablecoin), Circle USD, and Tether.

In Q2 of 2024, crypto payments in Singapore's merchant services hit nearly $1B, the highest in two years.

It's an interesting shift, especially in a market where traditional payment systems are already very efficient, suggesting that crypto is becoming a common asset for more people.

Meanwhile, over 75% of XSGD transfers being $1 million or less—and nearly 25% of those under $10,000—it’s clear there’s a growing base of retail users in the local crypto scene.

The reason for success is clear regulation that’s boosting trust in stablecoins.

In 2023, the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) set guidelines for stablecoins, and in 2024, it introduced crypto custody and licensing rules.

It just proves what clear regulation could do for crypto adoption in the US.

Case Study: TON Successfully Penetrates the South Asia Market

It’s crazy how popular Ton tap-to-earn games are in South Asia. Personally, I tried it, but rewards are just not worth for me.

You might look down on TON because of the overfarmed airdrops and “no-brain" tap-to-earn games, but it actually aligns with their statement of putting crypto into everyone’s pocket.

By earning free tokens, new wave of users can start learning how to trade on DEXs, add liquidity, staking, and gradually explore other parts of the ecosystem.

And you know where the majority of those users come from? You guessed it - CIS countries… and South Asia.

Notcoin's site (notco.in) sees over 66% of visits from CIS countries. Next are Asian nations like Indonesia, Vietnam, China, and India. Getgems.io and Hamster Kombat show a similar trend, matching Telegram's user base.

Telegram Mini Bot projects offering free tokens mirror Axie Infinity's rise in the Philippines.

The success of TON Blockchain comes down to 2 high-adopted sectors: Free Airdrop and Tap-to-earn Games.

Free Airdrop Sector

Everyone is tired of points-for-airdrops campaigns. Here’s where Telegram’s free airdrop scene makes it unique.

It is leveraging Telegram's 900M users to distribute tokens like DOGS. Starting as a meme, DOGS gained traction due to its fair distribution and no pre-sale approach. This has attracted new users to blockchain, setting DOGS apart from typical crypto tokens.

DOGS was quickly listed on major CEXs, like Binance. Airdrops ranged from $10 to $60 per wallet. Might not sound too much for many degens in the West, but users could farm them with multiple accounts. For many in third-world countries, these airdrops offer a new income source amid economic challenges.

Tap-to-Earn Sector

Tap to Earn games, such as Hamster Kombat have taken off fast in South Asia countries. In just three months, it got 239M registrations, making it one of the most popular Tap to Earn games.

It also gained over 10M YouTube subscribers in just one week. Crazy. That’s unheard numbers in many western countries.

Based on Bitget Premarket data, the total market cap for its token is $920M which means the airdrop could be worth around $550M.

Thanks to a simple playing scheme, referral campaigns, and good social effects, tap-to-earn games like Hamster Kombat quickly gain huge traction among crypto influencers in Southeast Asia.

And influencers are as popular on TikTok as on X to share referrals and spread the word about this type of games.

Final Thoughts

South Asia and Southeast Asia are home to some of the world’s biggest populations, with a young, tech-friendly demographic, making them key areas of focus for crypto businesses. It’s now the third most important region behind the US and Western Europe.

But with differences in income, government rules, and economic conditions across the region, it's challenging for companies to customize their approach to each country.

Ton seems to have nailed the degen market approach. But crypto payments are showing increased adoption, too.