Asia's Rise, Milestones, and Innovations | KBW2023

[Music] good morning everyone morning Justin morning thank you thank you all for coming out really exciting to be uh one of the first sessions of Korea blockchain week it's my first time in Asia and uh so far really exciting uh Justin I know you come back to Korea quite a bit um what keeps you coming back here a lot yes I I think Korea is one of the uh most important uh crypto community in the region uh I saw like with alic with uh Singapore right and he's doing like a remote uh Speech session uh prior to my uh to uh to my um so so yeah I come to uh Korea time to time uh and also uh we also holding lots of TR out event events in uh Korea as well um here is definitely uh one of uh the most important base for uh our community so the the Tron Community is pretty active in Korea you would say yes yes uh we uh build community in Korea Japan um Hong Kong uh um Malaysia all um Indonesia like all the major um uh southeast Asia uh East Asia countries yeah that's awesome uh what's uh what's like the most exciting thing going on in the Korean Community right now in Tron um so of course for Tron um itself it's famous for uh stable coin transaction uh I know lots of the ogs in uh Korea is all using uh TR as a blockchain to transfer uh usdt um but only I I think a a small percentage of the Korean actually trading usdt because most of them is just trading for um BTC KRW R AB or or something so U because cran I I think is a very isolated market right it's not like share um uh share the markets with all the offshore exchange like binance you know HBY uh exchange uh I I think that's one thing so that's why uh we collaborate with lots of the CR developers in terms of gamey uh inft uh developments so I think that's like the uh Specialties on um the Korean specific Korean region and uh people love to see yeah definitely feel like there's a lot of uh gaming developers that I'm meeting out in Korea um I know that uh umum has some some game stuff going on which is exciting um so uh you know moving on I guess uh to zoom out a little bit more about Asia in general um you know the trend right now seems like uh things are moving back towards Asia uh I think a lot of projects are um fed up with uh you know the the Western situation and like kind of in the US regulations things are a bit unclear um feel like Asia's you know set for some big innovation right now right like uh what what do you see how how are you feeling about that yes I definitely agree with it um so I think the if you look back right so for the last 12 years we have uh actually uh four um boom markets right so um basically um 2013 and 2017 uh is dominated by uh Asia uh buying power or power by Asia uh narrative uh 2021 is the first time uh you know you see the Western you know uh funds or uh actions um building up like all the uh all the narrative uh so that's why I think probably the um buom Market is next time in 2024 2025 I think still going to be Asia based so so that's why um Korea is definitely one of the most important place if you want to presion yourself as a major player uh you need to get into CER market and the uh build a community here and do you think that there's going to be more adoption of uh of like usdt and St usdt I know you guys are doing a lot of stuff with that and and defi just got into curve do you see uh the potential in Korea for that opening up um uh I don't think this is a particular for Korea uh as I said uh Korea is a very isolated Market people here only trade KRW BTC pair they don't uh really I think dive into um defi you know f um only a very fraction fractional a small amount of people uh will do that but the majority of the people I think will only trade crypto on centralized exchange um so that's what I see um but still this is very important for developers uh and uh uh crypto Traders communities if you really want to build your business here uh specifically for TR uh Tron start with stable coin uh business first right so we have the largest usdt reserve uh in the world uh even more than eum uh and also we collaborate with usdc TD uh usdd and other usdj other type of the stable coin um to issue onr Network and also has a quite a big volume today uh we are handling around like 12 uh billion US doll worth of transaction every day and generate around uh $400 million uh Revenue uh prodal Revenue every day uh uh we surpass Bitcoin uh prodal Revenue this year uh so actually is a uh a very good business uh and and besides the stable coin so right now we are building up uh as I said St usdt uh is uh uh rwa uh e rebase stable coin just like St eth on eth side but we have a stable coin version currently is the number one in the world has around 700 million dollar um market cap you can earn around four to 5% fixed sale on that uh and also we are building uh the biggest D5 protocol just land um same tvl with RV around like4 billion dollar uh and also of course uh Sun swap um Union swap um on Tron as well so a lot of activity in the def5 space with Tron with the stable coins uh interesting that there's so much activity with dollar-based stable coins in Asia uh do you see that like as a as a long-term Trend especially I know that um let's say for example there's uh there's a bunch of countries right now that are sort of banding together to I don't want to say bring down the dollar but like are trying to to make a movement against it uh and it's interesting that uh that obviously US dollar based stable coins are so strong so do you see that continuing that Trend in in in web 3 defi uh will the US dollar-based stable coins continue to be strong and reain is like the Supreme stable coin uh yes I agree with that um one of the most important reason um for US dollar stable coin strong in Asia I think it's because of the regulatory environment here so uh I I think Korea Korean people is very easy to understand this point uh because both uh Kore Korea and uh China uh is uh highly um FIA um regulated country so we can't change uh FIA dollars uh into US dollars uh because of the uh Foreigner currency control so all the money uh needs to stay in in the country uh that's like something people from the West have never heard of it right um so they they are moving funds like freely um but in Asia that's not a story so so that's why when people wants to possess assets uh of sure the only choice for them is uh stable coin um because uh Banks is not friendly to um to Offshore holders most of the time if you are us C then you are I also understand that too so um so that's why today if you are opening Bank outside of your country is extremely hard so so that's why uh blockchain also play a very big important role uh on this and also of course if they can offer you um offer you stable coin that's going to be even better right you can get a stable coin account with stable coin and then right buying sdd with a fixed Yale right that's basically um I I that's why I believe def is very promising because it will realize all the function of the banks but has much more regulatory flexibility compared to the bank yes amazing um so you talk about you know regulatory flexibility um noticing an interesting Trend this week talking to a lot of people out here that um seems like uh the Hong Kong government is really opening itself up to crypto again obviously there was a period in time where Hong Kong was very popular place for for headquarters of of and you know were places where where people were laying the ground base for uh their their crypto projects or their exchanges um and then that kind of fell off for a bit and now it seems like it's picking back up again there's some incentivization I I think WBY uh just recently moved back to Hong Kong so how are you seeing that environment do you see that as like the leader right now in Asia is that where the trend is moving yes uh I believe the trend in Hong Kong is very interesting since you know back to 2017 actually Hong Kong has lots of crypto business um like everybody familiar uh B Phoenix uh bmax FTX like all the at that time all the major crypto exchange started in Hong Kong uh in the first place but uh we know like around 2021 uh we have these kind of the crypto like Crackdown policies uh happen in China so which also scare uh lots of the crypto business away from Hong Kong um plus you know National Security Law um so that's why uh not only crypto business but the all the business in Hong Kong has going down like dramatically I I think during the pandemic so that's why like uh after the reopening policy uh I think the execu teams in Hong Kong did uh discuss with central government uh how to continually boost the Hong Kong business in the future um because Hong Kong is losing all the business to Singapore right so that's why I think they got the support from the central government on the policy level on crypto business how they can attract crypto business again uh back to Hong Kong so so that's why we have seen recently H government uh start to uh open the license um policy uh and also um the way how to build like web stre business in Hong Kong like people talk about about blockchain in web web stre more like web stre so they want to build like web Street business and also attract more entrepreneurs in Hong Kong uh so that's why HBY um uh which I'm a advisor to them uh is very bullish about the deartment in Hong Kong so so that's why uh I think three months uh ago I visit Hong Kong for for three weeks and uh I met like all the uh important people there and uh yes we we we we are trying to start to build our business in Hong Kong definitely would you say that it's Hong Kong becoming more active or that Singapore is sort of like falling behind and like uh like like not as exciting as it once was CU their stances are changing or that like Hong Kong is is is just doing more right now to to Really attract people yes uh I believe Hong Kong is doing more uh because Hong Kong Singapore is like two cities uh always compete with one another sure yeah uh and uh Singapore actually get lots of traffic from Hong Kong because of the uh you know the uh regulation um pandemic you know all of those reason um so I think Hong Kong right now is acting very active try to win those things back so it's an interesting little rivalry between Singapore and Hong Kong yes and you think there there's potential that Singapore might step up at some point I'm sure they're recognizing they pay attention to what's going on uh you think that they're going to try to step up in the next few years and and play ball with Hong Kong and make this an interesting rivalry continuing especially as you know regulatory things are coming coming uh web3 is growing I think more more and more money is coming into the industry uh we're in a bare market right now obviously but bull Mark is coming um and Singapore knows that so they're you think that they're going to be doing more to to keep what they already have and maybe even bring in some more back from Hong Kong yes uh I believe the Rivalry between cities is always good for dewers right it's healthy it's healthy for the the global cryptosphere right yes uh and the even uh I I think in the future we might even see the region uh rivalry right so um SEC has take a very uh aggressive I will say aggressive like uh legal action uh against famous crypto projects or crypto exchange uh with uh uh Drive Away lots of the crypto projects to Asia to Mid East to uh uh Europe uh which is I I I think actually is a good thing because it solved the um decentralization problem right uh we don't want like the crypto to be hold by one organization or concentrate in one country uh which is by nature um doesn't Fe in the value of crypto right so we want like decentralization we want a different organization holding different uh authorities or Innovations um so that's why I think uh SEC so for Tron itself it's the same story so if us has a friendly environment we will put more resources in us but if not uh which is totally fine for us we will P more resources in Korea in Japan uh in Southeast Asia uh to devolve the markets over there right because eventually I believe uh crypto is a global strategy uh it's a global protocol so everyone eventually will get into crypto so it it's just like internet right so internet is not like begging us for accept internet in the first place right because eventually you know um uh leverage internet technology is good for us in the same place so so that's why uh we are doing things gradually uh um so we have patient to wait for the US presidential elections probably we will see some policy changing over there yeah definitely uh some big things coming with the US soon I'm sure a lot of rumbles in the news right now um but yeah going back for a second you know talking about like uh you mentioned about the internet and how it developed and and how it sort of like uh just evolved naturally I guess cuz the product itself evolved over time right uh and we we were're still in really the infancy of crypto I think what bitcoin's 14 years old I'm pretty sure something like that um so and you yourself have been around in crypto for what like 10 years now something like that maybe yes 11 years 11 years okay so yeah you're you've been doing it for a minute uh and you've seen quite a few things so I'm curious like uh what What's like the the most important accomplishments you've seen from the industry till now and then uh to follow that up like what do you think we're missing to evolve to the next evolution of uh of you know what how the world how the mainstream will perceive crypto and and web 3 yes uh I think the first major uh I will say there is uh like four or five uh I think uh uh very uh genuine um Innovation happen in our industry um the first one is stable coin so uh before uh cryptocurrency there is a no way for you to holding uh stable value uh without like open bank account basically right so but today you see like everyone holding different kind of the stable coin transact is in uh less than uh 20 cents probably for the transaction fee and get instant transaction uh and also they don't need to submit their passport to get crypto addresses right and they can get access to those with like Ledger um uh Hardware wallet right um which I think is amazing for for everyone in the world um this is uh actually like widely used today by most of the people in the world besides crypto Community right um so today um in Tron Network we have over two million um da every day so two million people using Tron every day um without even knowing crypto probably so so that's why we see the da of Tron is very high um um but but at the same time you know um we see most of the users didn't even dive into like defy and I I will talk about that later but um so I think this is the first use case used by everybody in the world will be used by even more people in the world even without knowing cryptocurrency so they use cryptocurrency to transact stable point I think that's the the first Innovation which is very important to our industry uh the second innovation of course I think is ICO so Ico is the first time in the world you can just um compute a smart contract and then you can reive money in a fair way uh so everyone can can verify the smart contract and send money to the smart contract and get token even of course lots of scam related it was a little dangerous exactly the I see boom exactly but the but the technological Evolution was was fascinating at the time for sure and it was obvious how much money came into it right yes exactly so I I will give uh Ico uh the second um the biggest U the second uh biggest Innovation the third one of course I think is uh Perpetual Futures which is never exist in the financial markets before but right now today is the one of the biggest um Financial uh Services right in binance h okx all the like major exchange has uh which is created by bmax of course um this is also I think something new never happened before uh and also of course we have seen uh defy you know nft uh different uh Innovation come to our industry so that's why that's also one of the biggest reasons I have confidence in this industry because we have so much happening every single day so if you retire in this uh industry for I don't know like six months you're probably going to fallen behind for for lot of the things right so so that's why uh that's also keep me always in this industry um I have been in the industry for 11 years last of my friends has retired but uh I have been in in this industry since day one while the biggest reasons is because there's too much things to learn it's exciting yeah I mean you have so much energy to keep going uh what like what keeps you what keeps you so excited about it I you could retire right now if you wanted to right yes for me I think it's the new things happen in the industry so uh for me I still spend a Qui amount of time every day actually like two three hours per day to look into like all the new projects and the new things happen in our industry right recently of course I think it's rwa right and also uh like all the ZK Solutions um but still I mean we want to see uh when all the new technology take off right so uh and also for myself I have lots of work needs to do yeah it's funny you mention that yeah there's uh a lot of really interesting things coming up right now right we have like you said rwa Real World assets uh lay new layer 2 deploying every single week I think zks are here and uh and you know are seeping themselves into the market uh even lsds right liquid staking uh derivatives all these all these different things are coming to the table yet uh the market is indicating that it's not so impressed right um like I said before we're in a be market right now kind of sucks I mean it's good energy here everyone seems to be really excited we're all the builders you know we're doing our thing but why hasn't the market responded positively yet what do you think is missing yes um actually you know uh yesterday night uh like one of my friend asked me the same question uh I think one of the biggest uh reason um um if we want to find reasons for bull markets uh we needs to find a a reason for bearish Market first right one why we end in the bearish market in the first place I think for 2021 uh the reason is very simple uh first of all is too much leverage uh we know uh you know cses you know 3ac like Luna FTX like all the major claps happen in the crypto space is because of too much leverage right they are basically buying $1 but with with $10 buying power right the rest of the $ is all average so um which I mean is Big disaster for our industry uh we have been went through these whole years for uh the leverag right so right now we have seen most of the leverage has been uh liquidated right so we have seen um uh CES liquidate all their stth position right we have seen uh like 3ac FTX of of course is slowly like uh uh uh liquidate their position and also of course like GRE scale right so uh and and the other company as well so so that's why um the deleverage process maybe take some time to do that uh and that's the first thing second of of course I think is the damage of the public reputation so even I mean we are all Builders we are still Building Technology try to earn everything back but still like all the bad news over there right so we scare lots of people don't understand crypto away so they need to need time to heal right and to build confidence again to get into crypto industry again but I think it sucks but that's the value we have here right so we we that's like the job we are doing every day try to rebuild the confidence of crypto industry try to get everybody excited about crypto again right so but just like Bitcoin right Bitcoin went down to bearish Market like several times but went back to alltime high yeah we go on Cycles right exactly so so that's why I'm super bullish about crypto in the next two years uh and I think eventually we will get there and and all the uh unlucky things happen we will put it behind it's almost like uh like bull market uh is exciting time everyone's partying and having a great time you make a big mess in the house and then you need to clean it all up right the next day after the party so that's a two threee bare Market of cleaning up all the mess and uh then we'll throw another party again hopefully in a year or two yes um cool so I want to talk to you a little bit about Tron uh we have a about a minute and a half left here uh tron's up to some exciting stuff right now in defi uh you guys just saved curve's ass uh with which was a really important move um and and you you sort of had this strategic partnership where uh Stu stt is now being deployed on curve and there's curve activity on Tron which is exciting so that was what about two weeks ago when they deployed and and then and you made that announcement so what's been the what's the activity been like since that deployment uh what can you tell us about what's going on there yes sure um for every defi dewers major defi dewers nft developers in the space uh we will find a way to help them if we find they in crisis because we know they are one of the most important F foundation for our industry so we are not only you know uh invest into the curve help them to solve the financial problem I also convince lots of my friends to together uh invest into curve to provent things from happening that's the first thing and also second thing we are right now collaborating with not only curve um but also RV you know uh Chan link you know other major uh defi um developers uh in the space to to build on TR to bridge on TR since TR has a very uh robust um defy ecosystem uh stable coin ecosystem uh and we will also um help and facilitate users um to get there uh because it has instant transaction a very cheap gas fee so that's like the advantage there but also of course uh I think besides all the Blue Chips Developers for the independent developers we are also very happy to help them to build on TR um so um so I think that's right now is beish Market uh I definitely looking forward to incubate thing and uh uh helping all the developer to grow in the bearish market amazing um we are out of time Justin thank you so much for your time guys please give it up for Justin thank you and um enjoy the rest of your sessions today thank you all for coming [Music] out