How Asia's Crypto Communities View the Tariffs and Trump's Embrace of Crypto
The U.S. is rattled by tariffs, economic uncertainty, and political U-turns on crypto. But across Asia, the response has been … different.
In this episode of Unchained, we check in with two of the sharpest observers of Asia’s crypto landscape: Emily Parker, China and Japan advisor of the Global Blockchain Business Council, and Yat Siu, chairman of Animoca Brands. They unpack how Asia views the Trump crypto pivot, what’s actually happening inside China, why Hong Kong may be the most important jurisdiction in crypto right now, and how Japan and Korea are quietly shaping the future of regulation, stablecoins, and DeFi.
Plus:
Is crypto really banned in China?
Why Korea is lifting its “shadow ban”
Why crypto gaming is thriving in Asia
And what the West can learn from it all
Visit our website for breaking news, analysis, op-eds, articles to learn about crypto, and much more: unchainedcrypto.com
Thank you to our sponsors!
Bitwise
Guests:
Emily Parker, China and Japan Advisor at the Global Blockchain Business Council
Yat Siu, Chairman of Animoca Brands
Links
WSJ: Crypto Is Illegal in China. Binance Does $90 Billion of Business There Anyway.
Timestamps:
🌏 0:00 Introduction
😌 5:43 Why Chinese sentiment around tariffs is calmer than in the U.S.
🗣️ 8:24 What crypto conversations are really about in China right now
🔁 11:28 How Asia reacted to the U.S. crypto U-turn under Trump
🏦 20:13 Are Asian nations quietly building up bitcoin reserves?
📜 23:19 How Asia has more regulatory clarity than the U.S.
📈 25:13 Why crypto adoption in Asia is outpacing that of other regions
🇰🇷 30:22 Why DeFi hasn’t taken off yet in South Korea – Don’t miss this!
🌐 38:05 The potential rise of non-USD stablecoins in Asia
👀 43:52 Is crypto actually banned in China?
💴 55:51 Whether the digital yuan is being adopted
🔓 1:00:28 Korea potentially lifting its “shadow ban” on institutional crypto investment?
📊 1:05:15 Why some Asian companies choose to IPO in the U.S. and whether more are coming
🎮 1:10:21 What’s really happening with Web3 gaming in Asia right now
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Is Asia Going to Lead the Next Bull Run? - Ep. 460
Emily Parker, CoinDesk’s executive director of global content, joins the show to discuss the Asian crypto markets. From Hong Kong to Tokyo, Parker sees bullish signs in recent developments. Hear why she thinks China and Japan are closely watching as the U.S. clamps down on the crypto industry.
Show highlights:
how Hong Kong is trying to create a regulated environment for crypto
whether Beijing and Chinese officials support Hong Kong’s initiative
what was China’s motivation to make it harder to buy and hold crypto
whether Asian countries will lead the next bull run
what the crypto environment looks like in Japan and how it differs from the U.S.
how Japan responded to major crypto hacks and meltdowns
what Japan is doing in terms of stablecoin regulation and adoption
how Japanese authorities are trying to establish guidelines for DAOs
whether people in Asia have different attitudes and views toward crypto and investing in general
Thank you to our sponsors!
Crypto.com
Railgun DAO
Guest
Emily Parker, executive director of global content at CoinDesk.
Twitter
Previous appearance on Unchained: Crypto in China: What It Really Looks Like
Links
CoinDesk:
Japan Embraces Web3 As Global Regulators Grow Wary of Crypto
FTX Japan Customers Can Begin Withdrawing Fiat, Crypto on Feb. 21
WSJ: Some FTX Customers Can Withdraw Their Money—in Japan, at Least
Bloomberg:
Hong Kong’s Crypto Hub Ambitions Win Quiet Backing From Beijing - Bloomberg
Hong Kong Plans to Let Retail Sector Trade Larger Crypto Tokens Like Bitcoin
Crypto Mogul Sun Says Huobi Betting China Will Warm to Digital Assets as Exchange Targets Hong Kong
Hong Kong to Establish Task Force to Help Develop Crypto Hub
US Crypto Crackdown Boosts Appeal of Dubai, Hong Kong, Europe
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He went from .NET and VS Code to working on Web3
John explains that Web3 is about the convergence of technology, economics, and social trends.
He elaborates that foundations begin with service-based architecture (SOA), the notion of how to design loosely coupled systems that consist of economic services and components.
He goes on to explain how DeFi represents this thinking of a loose composition of services.
With all of this, blockchain brings together technology and economic incentives into a holistic equation—people contribute because they want to contribute.
Nonsense it is not, says baby Yoda.
Crypto isn’t the end game. It’s a segue along the way.
Follow Ben, Matt, and John.
Learn more about the Global Blockchain Business Council and John’s company, ngEnterprise.
Speaking of awesomeness, we’d like to give a shout out to Stellar Question Badge winner GateKiller for asking a question “How can I get the DateTime for the start of the week?” that has been bookmarked by a hundred people.
See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
Crypto in China: What It Really Looks Like - Ep.139
Emily Parker, cofounder of Longhash, describes what the company, which has an Asia-focused incubator and data media site does, how she ended up launching an Asia-focused company, why she’s seeing US crypto teams and ICOs going to Singapore, why the Chinese government cracked down on crypto, and what misconceptions she sees about crypto in China. She explains how the Chinese still trade Bitcoin and cryptocurrencies despite the ban, why Tether plays a big role, how the China ban has affected crypto entrepreneurship and how the upcoming People's Bank of China digital currency could impact crypto. We also discuss how the attitude toward crypto has changed in Japan over time, why so many crypto teams are settling in Singapore, and whether or not the philosophies of censorship-resistance or decentralization resonate in China.
Thank you to our sponsors!
Crypto.com: https://crypto.com
Kraken: https://www.kraken.com
CipherTrace: http://ciphertrace.com/unchained
Episode links:
Longhash: LongHash.com
Longhash's Twitter: https://twitter.com/longhashdata
Emily Parker: Emilyparkerwrites.com
Emily Parker on Twitter: https://twitter.com/emilydparker
Emily Parker on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/emily-parker-738034142/
Longhash's incubator: https://incubator.longhash.com
BTC trading by US EST and PST vs. China: https://www.longhash.com/news/american-traders-lead-on-bitcoin-rally-while-asian-traders-not-so-bullish
Bitcoin metrics on Longhash: https://www.longhash.com/livecharts/bitcoin-social-metrics
Emily's interview with SEC commissioner Hester Peirce: https://www.longhash.com/news/in-cryptocurrency-will-asia-surpass-the-us-exclusive-interview-with-sec-commissioner-hester-peirce
Unchained interview with commissioner Peirce: https://unchainedpodcast.com/sec-commissioner-hester-peirce-come-talk-to-the-sec/
Longhash article showing more ICOs in Singapore than in US in Q1 2018: https://www.longhash.com/news/how-singapore-became-asias-ico-hub
Longhash's graphic showing money transmitter laws in the US: https://www.longhash.com/news/is-cryptocurrency-money-depends-on-your-state
Longhash on ICOs fleeing the US: https://www.longhash.com/news/after-years-of-regulatory-uncertainty-icos-are-fleeing-the-united-states
Unchained interview with Primitive Ventures: https://unchainedpodcast.com/asia-edition-mining-a-crypto-yuan-and-the-two-main-reasons-the-chinese-are-interested-in-crypto-ep-102/
Unchained interview with Da Hongfei and Patrick Dai (not Lai!): https://unchainedpodcast.com/from-blockchains-to-mooncakes-two-chinese-crypto-founders-on-the-ico-and-bitcoin-exchanges-ban/
Unchained interview with CZ of Binance: https://unchainedpodcast.com/how-binance-became-the-most-popular-crypto-exchange-in-5-months-ep-84/
Emily's interview with Coincheck's president: https://www.longhash.com/news/lessons-from-the-largest-crypto-hack-in-history-exclusive-interview-with-coincheck-president-toshihiko-katsuya
Longhash deck of cards of crypto players: https://www.longhash.com/news/fiftyfour-players-in-the-blockchain-industry-transformed-into-a-real-deck-of-cards
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Sandra Ro: Why Crypto-Friendly Laws Are Coming in the US - Ep.133
Sandra Ro, the CEO of the Global Blockchain Business Council and former head of digitization at CME, explains what the GBBC does, how it chooses partners, and what level of involvement they have with projects under the GBBC umbrella. We discuss some of the more controversial projects, such as the Voatz pilot that conducted election voting using blockchain technology, as well as how she responds to people saying many "blockchain" projects could instead use a database. She also reveals why she believes that the US will eventually lead the world on crypto regulation, why she thinks that there's strength in the fragmentation in US regulations and what she thinks is the best way forward on the BitLicense. Plus, she gives us the inside scoop on what it took for her to get CME to launch Bitcoin futures.
Thank you to our sponsors!
Crypto.com: https://www.crypto.com/
Kraken: https://www.kraken.com
CipherTrace: http://ciphertrace.com/unchained
Episode links:
Sandra Ro: https://twitter.com/srolondon
GBBC: https://gbbcouncil.org/
Previous Unchained interview with Sandra: https://unchainedpodcast.com/what-is-one-of-the-worlds-largest-derivatives-exchanges-doing-with-bitcoin/
Controversy over Voatz: https://slate.com/technology/2019/07/west-virginia-blockchain-voting-voatz.html
Episode with Jake Chervinsky: https://unchainedpodcast.com/all-things-crypto-regulation-with-jake-chervinsky/
Jeremy Allaire on Unconfirmed on why the US needs a new category for digital assets: https://unchainedpodcast.com/jeremy-allaire-on-why-the-us-government-needs-a-new-category-for-digital-assets/
Fred Wilson on crypto regulation in the US: https://avc.com/2019/05/defendcrypto-org/
Ted Livingston on why Kik set up DefendCrypto.org: https://unchainedpodcast.com/kin-sets-up-5-million-defendcrypto-org-to-take-on-the-sec/
Unchained interview with Juthica Chou: https://unchainedpodcast.com/ledgerx-on-the-reasons-to-trade-bitcoin-options/
Patent for physically settled cryptocurrency derivatives contracts: https://www.coindesk.com/cme-explores-cryptocurrency-derivatives-contracts-in-patent-filing
Ro named to New York State Digital Currency Task Force: https://www.coindesk.com/new-york-legislature-names-initial-members-to-crypto-task-force
The Libra Association's Dante Disparte on Unconfirmed: https://unchainedpodcast.com/libras-dante-disparte-on-why-we-should-trust-a-financial-system-designed-by-facebook/
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What Is One Of The World's Largest Derivatives Exchanges Doing With Bitcoin?
CME Group handles three billion contracts worth about $1 quadrillion annually. So why is it making a foray into bitcoin, whose market capitalization is a mere $16 billion? Sandra Ro, CME's head of digitization, explains its first cryptocurrency products, the Bitcoin Reference Rate and the Bitcoin Real-Time Index, as well as a forthcoming blockchain-based product, Royal Mint Gold. She also reveals which other cryptocurrencies have piqued her interest and which other physical world assets she thinks could be traded by blockchain.
Read the show notes.
Other links:
CME's Bitcoin Reference Rate
Bitcoin Real-Time Index
Royal Mint Gold
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