Our time in Singapore around Token2049 provided a compelling snapshot of how the crypto landscape in Asia continues to mature — particularly across institutional engagement, regulatory experimentation, and retail behavior. Conversations we had with regulatory authorities, alongside regional founders and operators, underscored both the region’s ambition and the ongoing challenges of translating interest into production-grade outcomes.
The Monetary Authority of Singapore remains one of the most proactive regulators globally when it comes to digital asset experimentation. Earlier efforts like Project Ubin laid the groundwork for what has become a sustained focus on blockchain-based finance. Project Guardian is exploring asset tokenization and programmable financial infrastructure through collaborations with global and local banks, while Project Orchid focuses on digital money infrastructure with a more recent focus on stablecoin use cases.
These initiatives have generated a steady flow of pilots and proofs-of-concept — many of them meaningful in design but still limited in practical deployment. A recurring theme from our discussions was that these projects often stall before reaching production. From a GTM perspective, the challenge (and opportunity) lies in identifying use cases that can move beyond the pilot stage and deliver commercial or operational value within real institutional constraints. An example here is the Grab / Alipay+ stablecoin orchestration initiative (via StratsX), which enables real-time FX, 24/7 onchain settlement, and invisible merchant integration across Singapore’s retail network.
Across the broader region, we heard consistent feedback that Singapore and Hong Kong remain the primary hubs for institutional activity in APAC, though each moves at its own pace. For companies targeting enterprise opportunities in the region, the reality is that pilots and regulatory sandboxes can be lengthy and resource-intensive, often without a clear path to commercialization.
Meanwhile, Korea represents a different kind of market — one defined by retail engagement and a culture that treats crypto participation as a normalized part of financial life. Direct access to trading venues is not a novelty in Korea: HTS (Home Trading Systems) for trading stocks was introduced in Korea around 1998 and the learned behavior likely accelerated crypto adoption. Many Korean retail investors, of which the largest purchasing power falls in the cohort between ages 40 and 60, continue to view crypto as a route to financial independence.
This has created an ecosystem where Layer 1s, Layer 2s, and projects building at the application layer — often considering a token as part of their model — can find strong traction, at least among the trading segment. With this new wave of activity, it’s worth a note of caution to builders and entrepreneurs. There are genuinely impressive teams building real products with authentic go-to-market aspirations. But we also saw a number of projects that seem to be designed primarily for short-term marketing and token speculation. This was evident at Token2049, where a swath of splashy booths represented little more than branding exercises — thin on real technology or substance upon closer inspection This has caused fatigue on an otherwise devout retail base, providing an opportunity for builders with sustainable business models and long-term growth strategies.
Taken together, these dynamics paint a nuanced picture of the APAC crypto landscape. Singapore and Hong Kong remain the key centers for institutional exploration, but progress there tends to be deliberate and incremental. Japan is also emerging as another interesting market to watch. Several of its largest banks and financial groups are beginning to more actively explore digital assets and tokenization although these kinds of initiatives often progress slowly, and teams should be mindful not to get stuck in overly customized proof-of-concept. For projects focused on institutional adoption, it may make sense to double down on the U.S., where regulatory clarity is improving and production deployments are beginning to take shape.
Korea, by contrast, is a distinctly retail-driven market — dynamic, fast-moving, and often shaped by strong local communities. To succeed there, teams need a dedicated, well-connected presence on the ground and a deep understanding of local behavior and culture.
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Christian Crowley is a partner on the a16z crypto go-to-market team. He works closely with portfolio companies on product strategy, business development, and go-to-market execution. Christian was previously the co-founder of Sanctum.ai, a privacy-focused AI platform. Before that, he co-founded Q.xyz, a digital asset portfolio management platform, and helped lead the launch of BarnBridge v2, a DeFi protocol. He also served as CEO of Alethio, one of the earliest Ethereum analytics platforms and an early ConsenSys portfolio company. Christian also worked at Amazon Web Services, where he led partnerships with early-stage blockchain startups.
Pyrs Carvolth is a Business Development Lead on the a16z crypto go-to-market team, helping grow the a16z corporate network and supporting a16z crypto portfolio companies. He previously led web3 at DraftKings and worked in cash equities and derivatives at Jefferies.
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