Asia crypto hot spots reap gains from record Trump trade rally

Singapore - A record-breaking crypto rally born in the United States is leaving its mark on Asia, including a jump in the value of Bitcoin held by Bhutan to more than US$1 billion (S$1.34 billion) and a surge in digital asset trading volumes in South Korea.

The crypto market by some estimates has climbed over US$800 billion since Donald Trump’s victory in the US election on Nov 5, on hopes that his pledge to turn the US into the global hub for the sector will spur a digital asset boom.

Asia is being impacted by the burst of optimism as a clutch of jurisdictions in the region are at the forefront of crypto adoption, whether for investment, hedging local currency weakness or cheaper and faster remittances.

In Bhutan, state investment arm Druk Holding & Investments has accumulated Bitcoin as a reward for running computer networks that help to underpin the token’s digital ledger. These so-called Bitcoin mining operations are powered by the mountainous Himalayan kingdom’s abundant hydroelectricity.

Diversification strategy

The value of Bhutan’s Bitcoin hoard has risen over US$200 million to US$1.1 billion since the US vote, according to researcher Arkham Intelligence. That is equivalent to about 36 per cent of the country’s gross domestic product.

Druk Holding & Investments began mining Bitcoin in 2019, chief executive Ujjwal Deep Dahal said, but is unable to confirm the value of the holdings as they are material to its “core internal asset management and diversification strategy”.

In South Korea, speculators tend to embrace smaller, riskier tokens rather than market leader Bitcoin alone. The nation’s largest dedicated exchange is Upbit, whose share of worldwide crypto trading jumped 2 percentage points to 4.3 per cent from Nov 5 to Nov 10, according to CCData.

That suggests the Trump-fuelled rally tempted more South Koreans to enter the market.

Elsewhere in the Asia-Pacific, Singapore and Hong Kong are among the jurisdictions trying to foster digital asset hubs. There are also many signs of grey-market demand for digital assets in China, despite Beijing’s crypto ban.

“Asian exchanges are going to see a big benefit from Trump and his pro-crypto policies,” said Mr David Rogers, regional CEO at market maker B2C2.

Bitcoin all-time high

Bitcoin spiked to a record high above US$94,000 on Nov 19 as investors assessed how quickly Trump can make good on his promise of a friendly US regulatory backdrop. He has also pledged to establish a strategic US Bitcoin reserve, though some view that as an uphill task.

Mr Roger Li, co-founder of One Satoshi, a chain of stores in Hong Kong offering over-the-counter conversions between cash and crypto, said his volumes picked up two weeks before the US election and continued to expand afterwards.

“Because of the growth we are seeing, and because we believe the rally will continue, we’re expanding our business,” Mr Li said. “We want to have bigger shops to tend to more customers.”

Rallying tokens, shares

Other ripples from the US-led rally include a post-election doubling in the price of Cronos, the utility token of Singapore-headquartered Crypto.com, one of the biggest digital-asset trading venues.

Singapore is also home to education software firm Genius Group, whose US-listed shares briefly surged 138 per cent after the company pivoted to a Bitcoin-first approach for its reserves.

In Japan, Metaplanet is up roughly 60 per cent in November on optimism about its strategy of accumulating Bitcoin from debt and equity financing.

Last week, Tokyo-based Monex Group announced its crypto exchange operator Coincheck plans to finally list in the US in December via a long-pending merger with a special purpose acquisition company.

Digital assets suffered a wipeout in 2022 that uncovered sharp practices and fraud, leading to the collapse of platforms such as Sam Bankman-Fried’s FTX exchange.

But for now, memories of such risks are being overshadowed by bouts of euphoria over Trump’s support for crypto.

“If this bull market plays out like 2021, we could see some significant volumes flow to altcoins while Bitcoin’s price slows,” said BTC Markets CEO Caroline Bowler, using a catch-all term for smaller tokens. BLOOMBERG