In today’s newsletter, Hassan Ahmed outlines the state of crypto, stablecoins and regulation in Asia, comparing growth by region with clarity.
Then, in “Ask an Expert,” Xin Yan, CEO of Sign, answers questions about crypto and stablecoin adoption in Asia.
Crypto Adoption in Asia: What Advisors Need to Know
The reality of crypto in Asia
The idea that Asia is an emerging market trying to catch up with crypto is outdated. In fact, Asia is one of the most integrated markets for digital assets. Today, jurisdictions across Asia are already embedding digital assets, such as stablecoins, into financial infrastructure across payments, settlement, treasury and remittances, treating them as more than just speculative trading tools.
The clearest evidence is the region’s stablecoin flow. Asia accounted for $12.5 trillion in stablecoin transaction volume by 2025, a 67% jump from $7.5 trillion the previous year, the highest of any region globally. This volume did not come from speculative trading. It reflects real utility as businesses and individuals use stablecoins to move money faster and cheaper across borders.
Singapore as a case study
Singapore presents a strong example of what a well-run framework looks like in practice. A survey conducted by Coinbase and MoneyHero Group found that 61% of Singaporeans who have financial forwards now have crypto. Among these crypto holders, Gen Z ownership doubled from 18% to 36% in a single year. This is in stark contrast to the early days when ownership was concentrated among tech enthusiasts and early adopters.
This did not happen by chance. Singapore built a deliberate regulatory runway that spanned nearly a decade, with regulators and industry moving together at every step. Already in 2016, Singapore launched Project Ubin for early trials of blockchain infrastructure and later established a licensing framework for digital payment tokens through the Payment Services Act. This was followed in 2019 by institutional DeFi pilots with Project Guardian in 2022 and most recently BLOOM in 2025 to deepen institutional infrastructure.
The result is a market where regulatory clarity, institutional infrastructure and industry participants work in sync. The effects are already visible. Singapore is home to over 700 fintech companies and more than 300 Web3 companies with institutional crypto trading volumes in the tens of billions. Singapore is less of an outlier and more of a preview of what other markets are building towards.
Significant use cases throughout Asia
Adoption across Asia is also structurally diverse. While other regions tend to concentrate on a single use case, Asian markets are leaders in various areas, shaped by their regulatory environments and economic structures. This breadth reflects how crypto functions as a multi-purpose financial infrastructure. Hong Kong, Korea and India are good examples of how adoption can take different forms.
Hong Kong has positioned itself as a hub for institutional digital asset activity through deliberate pilot programs and clear regulation. Spot bitcoin and ether ETFs were approved in 2024, giving institutional investors direct, regulated exposure to crypto for the first time. In early 2026, two stablecoin licenses were issued to HSBC and Standard Chartered-led groups. This is a signal that Hong Kong’s digital asset ecosystem welcomes established financial institutions as active participants, not just observers.
India represents a different kind of adoption: driven by economic necessity rather than institutional infrastructure. With around 119 million crypto users, India has the largest user base in the world, contributing to over $100 billion in annual remittances. The country’s digital foundation makes this possible. The Unified Payments Interface (UPI) processes over 20 billion transactions per month and a large base of smartphone users has allowed crypto adoption to spread far beyond major cities to wider parts of the country.
Korea stands out for its retail participation. About 33% of Korean adults hold crypto, roughly double the rate in the US, while trading volume across Korean exchanges reached about 1.76 trillion Won by the end of 2025. This is proof that crypto trading has become a common financial behavior for a significant part of the population. Korea’s regulators are fueling this demand as they work to bring structure to a market that has already matured beyond the early adoption phase.
Future outlook
The next stage is interoperability, not just adoption or regulation. Asia has already established strong regulations and built a good base of institutional and retail users. But rundown markets remain a bottleneck. The next phase of growth depends on coordination across jurisdictions. A uniform framework will allow funds and users to move more freely across borders, reducing the friction that currently limits the region’s potential.
The CLARITY Act will set a new global benchmark in the near future. When the world’s largest economy defines rules, others follow. Asian regulators will need to update their frameworks to stay current and to maintain their regulatory edge.
Advisers should track a few signals over the next twelve months: growth in cross-border stablecoin flows, the emergence of regional settlement frameworks, and how quickly individual markets respond to the CLARITY Act. Proactive policy design and regional coordination will determine Asia’s position in the next financial era.
– Hassan Ahmed, Country Director, Coinbase, Singapore
Ask an expert
Q. What does the Asian economic situation look like in terms of long-term crypto and stablecoin adoption?
Asia is right at the center of real-world stablecoin adoption, especially for payments, money transfers, financial management and cross-border trade. Data shows that over half of the institutions in the region already operate stablecoins, while a growing number are either piloting or planning to implement them.
Indeed, stablecoins are fast becoming a foundational layer in the region’s evolving payments infrastructure. A new stablecoin-backed payment system is emerging across Asia: P2P, real-time and multi-currency, enabling people to travel and pay freely across borders.
Q. What is your advice to investors and advisors looking to further integrate crypto and stablecoins into their portfolios with the current Asian market outlook in mind?
Stablecoins are not speculative vehicles: their value proposition comes from their utility and not price appreciation. They are designed to maintain a stable value, hence the name. The popularity of stablecoins actually requires investors and advisors to separate crypto investing from the emergence of stablecoin-powered financial infrastructure.
As crypto regulation gains clarity across Asia, we are likely to see rapid growth in on-chain FX, cross-border remittance corridors, B2B payment infrastructure, tokenized treasury operations and more related use cases. So the investment opportunity lies in what is built on top.
This means companies, payment networks, infrastructure providers and financial applications built around on-chain settlement and programmable money.
Q. Do you think regulations and perspectives on crypto will change the way crypto is handled in the region, or should advisors take a different approach going forward?
Regulators across the region are increasingly aligning with the core principles, acting as a massive tailwind for businesses operating across borders.
Currently, the region is moving away from lightly regulated speculative markets towards institutional frameworks for digital assets that focus on compliance, licensed issuers, reserve support, guaranteed redemption rights, consumer protection and payment functionality. This shift gives financial institutions and companies greater confidence to participate in the ecosystem.
As jurisdictions adapt these ideas to their own financial structures at different speeds and according to their priorities, we are seeing regulatory convergence creating a more predictable environment for crypto businesses to operate in.
As cross-border inconsistencies are reduced on the way to harmonisation, the compliance handbook becomes more readable and transferable for advisers, although due diligence at the jurisdictional level is still important.
For advisors, the mandatory focal point is to transcend antiquated crypto-native narratives to understand regulated applications. As stablecoins become economic plumbing, those with a deeper grasp of both TradFi and blockchain-based infrastructure, and who build frameworks to fit the new regulated environment, will be better positioned for the future.
– Xin Yan, CEO, Sign
