Original Article Title: Crypto Power Plays: The Rise of Crypto in Asia

Original Article Author: Paul Veradittakit, Partner at Pantera Capital

Original Article Translation: 0xjs, Golden Finance

Over the past week, I have been in Hong Kong and Singapore meeting with institutional investors, founders, and attending events such as the Hong Kong Trade Mission organized by Trademissions.org, the Hong Kong Consensus Conference, and a discussion on Web3 AI with Amber Group.

Pantera is actively investing in companies in the Asia Pacific region and is exploring interest for Fund V (a venture capital fund investing in equity, private token, special opportunity, and liquid token investments) set to launch on June 30, 2025. It has been a packed week with lots of insights to reflect on.

A highlight was participating in parts of the Trademissions visit to Hong Kong, attending the "LP-GP Mixer Reception sponsored by the U.S. Consulate," where top family offices and institutional LPs and GPs were in attendance. The U.S. Consulate hosted a fantastic event bringing together various groups interested in investing in U.S. companies and funds.

I noticed a significant shift in institutional investor interest in cryptocurrency compared to previous years. Their industry knowledge has deepened, and their areas of interest now extend well beyond just Bitcoin investments.

Topics of Interest

Stablecoins and DeFi:

Stablecoins represent a trillion-dollar opportunity, with significant appeal in Asia as well. Stablecoins are seen as practical by many, with the idea that issuing a stablecoin can benefit the issuer. People are less interested in tokenized stocks and equity but have a keen interest in investable portions. Pantera has invested in stablecoin projects such as Ondo and Eco.

Especially now, institutions like U.S. banks are preparing to launch their own dollar-backed stablecoins after the legalization of stablecoins in the U.S. Congress. The annual transaction volume of stablecoins has exceeded $33 trillion, surpassing the total of Visa and Mastercard.

LPs were particularly curious about how Pantera could replicate our growth in the U.S. market in Asia. With our extensive network, expertise, and resources in supporting and investing in stablecoin companies, we can assist those launching products in the Asian markets to succeed.

The DePin (Distributed Physical Infrastructure Network) market is still in its early stages, gradually growing with each new company joining. Privately, there has been a lot of discussion about its potential.

I reviewed trends, use cases, and success stories, including those of our portfolio companies Geodnet and Hivemapper, to showcase the opportunities within.

AI:

AI has always been in the headlines, especially post-DeepSeek. DeepSeek opened doors for many, demonstrating that high-performance models could be created with modest private investment (rather than relying on the public market and massive private investments).

Pantera has heavily invested in the field, funding full-stack projects like Sahara, open AI projects like Sentient, and markets like Akash. In my conversation with Amber, we discussed many aspects of privacy, additional features consumers want in AI, and AI agents. Perhaps in the future, each of us will have our own agent to transact on-chain at internet speed. In that future, a 5x increase in global transaction volume is not unreasonable.

There's often curiosity about Pantera's positioning and exposure in the AI field, and based on our investment history and continued belief that Web3 AI is the future, we are fully capable of investing in companies that will have broad applications globally.

AI has significantly driven more personalization, an added value that remains underexplored. AI agents allow users to execute complex operations with simple commands (e.g., cross-border payments), enabling Asian users to leapfrog traditional financial infrastructure and join the Web3 ecosystem.

Legislation:

Legislation in the United States is finally starting to become clear. In Pantera's recent blockchain communication, we emphasized how regulation has shifted from headwinds to tailwinds. Given the recent dismissal by the U.S. SEC of all cases against major U.S. crypto companies, we are very optimistic about the forthcoming cryptocurrency regulation in the U.S. Regulatory clarity and support for cryptocurrency management are the foundations of our investment theme this year.

The open regulation will undoubtedly allow U.S. cryptocurrency companies to expand into Asia, with Hong Kong being a gateway. Everyone at last week's Hong Kong Consensus Conference could see this momentum. Since 2022, Hong Kong has been increasingly supportive of cryptocurrency, launching Asia's first-ever exchange-traded fund and issuing nine Virtual Asset Trading Platform (VATP) licenses. Regulatory bodies are also actively listening and willing to support the industry through future legislation.

Conclusion:

This time, Asian investors, operators, and users have more confidence in cryptocurrency than ever in the past decade. They are looking to invest in and build more applications to address the fragmented technologies many rely on, which can bring income, entertainment, travel, and payments. Stablecoins, AI, and legislation are the fundamental reasons everyone wants to enter the US, and I am delighted that Pantera, as a long-time steward of this industry, can lead this new wave.

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