Viet Nam will become crypto hub in South East Asia

GM Vietnam is the largest blockchain event in Vietnam, taking place over two days on July 7th and 8th. As part of the event, experts discussed various prominent topics in the industry, such as building a startup in Web3 and legal frameworks for the cryptocurrency market... Vietnam was also regarded as a potential market for users and builders to develop projects.

Paradise for startup

Speaking at the event on July 7th, Mr. Zane Nguyen, co-founder of Kyros Ventures, pointed out that Vietnam had a perfect environment for Web3 startups to survive and thrive.

Using data from Glassdoor, Zane played out a scenario in which a Web3 startup would survive for how long if it raised $5 million in funding. He supposed that projects from Vietnam, China, South Korea, Singapore, and the United States had a team consisting of one CEO, five software engineers, two marketing coordinators, one business development (BD) manager, and one graphic designer.

The Vietnamese project could survive for 19 years. Meanwhile, projects China, South Korea, Singapore, and the US could survive for 8.5 years, 7 years, 3.4 years, and 2.9 years, respectively.

In particular, the Vietnamese 's nature is "resilient," according to Mr. Zane. During the process of founding and defending the country, the Vietnamese people have always been resilient in the face of challenging conditions. This spirit has been passed down to future generations. That is the spirit of "persevering and stopping only when achieving success." Evidence of this is that Vietnam has the second-highest Human Capital Index (HCI) in Southeast Asia, after Singapore, despite being in the low-income group in the region (according to World Bank 2020 data).

Moreover, he said Vietnam had an open community with blockchain and friendly policies for startups. Technology startups in Vietnam are exempt from taxes for the first four years of operation and get a 50% tax reduction for the next nine years. This has created conditions for many blockchain developers in Vietnam to enter the market and build infrastructures.

Country with the highest cryptocurrency adoption rate in the world

In recent years, Vietnam has become a destination for blockchain businesses. With a young population and a deep understanding of new technologies, Vietnam has the potential to become a crypto hub in Southeast Asia.

According to data from Google and Temasek, Vietnam has the fastest-growing digital asset economy in the region, with an expected 100 million Internet users by 2025. This is why Vietnam is a fertile ground for blockchain startups.

According to research by Chainalysis, which collected data from 146 countries, Vietnam ranked first in the cryptocurrency adoption index in 2021 and 2022. In addition, data from TripleA indicated that Vietnam was one of the countries with the highest cryptocurrency ownership rates in the world.

Mr. Le Thanh, the founder of Coin98, believed that Vietnam had advantages in both project development and user adoption. The founder of Coin98 believed that culture and economy are positive factors influencing the Vietnamese market. Since Vietnam has a low GDP per capita compared to developed countries, investors can see crypto as an income and even a life-changing opportunity. Also, People in developing economic regions are open to new technologies.

Moreover, according to the 2022 Vietnam crypto market report, our country has over 200 blockchain projects operating in various fields, such as GameFi, DeFi, Web3, infrastructures, and wallets. Among them, Vietnam has over ten companies with a market capitalization of over 100 million USD, such as Kyber Network, Coin98, Axie Infinity, Tomochain, etc. They all started as startups with a team of a few members and have now become companies with hundreds of employees. This is evidence that Vietnam is a place with the potential for startups to be built and succeed.

Vietnam is in the sights of the big players 

With its inherent advantages, the Vietnamese market will become a destination for large blockchain businesses worldwide.

At a speech at GM Vietnam, Mr. Richard Teng, recently appointed as Binance Director, stated that he highly valued the Vietnamese market. Binance has invested in and incubated many projects in Vietnam.

According to Richard Teng, Vietnam is a dynamic market with many talents in various fields. Vietnam has a vibrant, strong community with an open mind for crypto. 

Moreover, Richard Teng stated that Binance wanted to cooperate with regulatory agencies to comply with regulations in Vietnam while setting goals to develop its products (such as NFT or P2P for Vietnamese users).

Similarly, Kien Hoang, Head of Ecosystem Development at Aptos Labs, said the project had been eyeing many Southeast Asian and South Asian countries such as Japan, Singapore, and Vietnam for a long time.

Furthermore, the successful organization of the GM Vietnam event with the participation of hundreds of builders from top-tier projects worldwide, such as Polygon, ConsenSys, Circle, and Chainlink, shows the interest in projects and investment funds in the Vietnamese market.

Here are some comments on the Vietnamese market from builders around the world in an interview with Interlock:

“Vietnam is one of the top countries in terms of cryptocurrency acceptance rate. Vietnam has a team of developers building products for this market," said Marouen Zelleg, Development Director at ConsenSys.

"I have studied all the markets in Southeast Asia, and Vietnam is the only place where the factors are balanced. You have a development platform, a young generation wanting to rise and lead. Vietnam is very similar to China 15 years ago," said Kyle Leung, co-founder of Newman Advisory.

"Gaming is an up-and-coming area in Vietnam. Many projects are building and connecting blockchain to games. Klaytn wants to connect more with builders and help them deploy on this platform," shared Sam Seo, a representative from Klaytn Foundation.