Thread by @JoyceInNYC

1/

crazy stat- 1/3 of retail traders in Thailand trades crypto 😳

This week in Thailand, I had some great convos with @AsiaTezos and @SSrinawakoon from @bandprotocol , along with a number of locals about the prospects of SoutheastAsia (SEA) crypto and Thailand. Thread 🤓

2/ I've been interested in Thailand since last yr and coined it one of the most interesting crypto countries in Southeast Asia: techcrunch.com/2018/08/31/tha…

It also struck me that the Thai Bhat and #bitcoin have similar symbols? anyone else noticed this? pop quiz NOW 🧐

3/ Since regulators permitted ICOs last year, there's been a # of reverse ICOs. Many of the companies probably didn't need a coin, but Thai SEC's overarching tone thus far has been open and welcoming of crypto financial "innovations" such as token issuances and project financing

4/ For blockchain projects building in Thailand, one of the biggest blockers for them seems to be the lack of quality technical talent, and companies are forced to come up with new ways to build out the team and communities in the surrounding region

5/ To me, the crypto teams around SEA will naturally become more distributed, and some interesting Asian countries with promising and undertapped crypto developer pools include Vietnam ( with more talent than Singapore/Thailand), India and Indonesia

6/ And in terms of project trends, unlike North America with some excitement around defi, we don't see that at all in SEA. SEA projects are focused primarily on 1) e-commerce and consumer marketplaces, 2) putting specific business segments of existing companies' onto blockchain

7/ and transforming traditional financial spaces i.e. STOS (just because they can 😅)

We haven't seen any successful crypto project with large scale adoption from the region yet, but if we do ( big if), I think it will be way more interesting of a market than Japan Korea IMO

8/ This is partially because SEA countries share a closely interrelated cultural history, and together they make one of the largest demographics in the world that is still going through a mobile transformation and people are still very open to new technologies and platforms

9/
If you haven't heard about @gojektech before -> definitely a key company to know in the SEA region
techcrunch.com/2019/01/24/go-…

10/
Another region I've been told to spend some time in is Indonesia, where the current default for B2B payments is still through bank transfers. And a # of funds and projects I've spoken to are looking for opportunities to push blockchain use cases there.

Did I miss anything?