MAJOR global tech player Wei Zhou, the chief executive officer (CEO) of Coins.ph, sees the Philippines’ need to adopt blockchain, crypto, non-fungible tokens (NFTs) and other digital assets.
Zhou recently acquired Coins.ph, the Philippines’ leading digital wallet provider and crypto exchange platform with over 16 million users. Coins.ph was the co-presenter of the recent Philippine Fintech Festival hosted by Digital Pilipinas, the largest private sector movement for creating a technology and innovation ecosystem geared to bring about technological acceleration in the country.
Speaking alongside industry leaders in the vertical, Zhou talked about why he is particularly interested in the Philippines and pushed for the massive blockchain adoption in the Philippines.
“We really need to learn blockchain, crypto, NFT and other digital assets by using them in [our] day-to-day lives,” Zhou said.
Ling Zhang, managing partner at Old Fashion Research, said that “right now in the crypto space, we’re just at the right time; not too early, not too late. It’s the perfect time to build and invest.”
As the CEO of Coins.ph, Wei also spoke of his plans to make the Philippines “a leader in Web 3.0 not just in Southeast Asia, but globally.” He sees digital assets and blockchain technology as equalizers and a good place to start toward financial empowerment for Filipinos.
“What we need to do collectively is to make the Philippines a champion of blockchain adoption, because it is really possible. We can share our country’s model with our neighboring countries and help each other out in this game,” he said, zeroing in on endless opportunities in this blockchain-enabled space.
Seeing things from a crypto-native lens, Zhou identified crucial aspects the country needs to thrive in the blockchain realm. “We need users, capital, and projects which will help our community to take off, and that’s what we’re seeing being built here in the Philippines.”
The crypto champion also likened the current state of the Philippines to the early stages of technology adoption in China, a significant player in the blockchain realm, and emphasized how big the potential of our country is becoming the leader in the field given how adept Filipinos are.
Within the festival, a Blockchain Summit led by Coins.ph was held where discussions on crucial topics such as popularization of Web 3.0, the metaverse and NFTs in daily life were raised while leaders from government and private institutions gave their insights.
The Department of Information and Communication and Technology (DICT) shared on how regulators perceive crypto trends and provided perspectives on the execution of Web 3, blockchain and crypto to digitalize the country.
“Blockchain technology has proven that valuable opportunities have opened up for Filipinos that wouldn’t have been possible in the past. Because of this, we look forward to partnering with like-minded organizations that push the country’s ICT (information and communication technology) agenda and supporting initiatives that can bring Web 3.0 closer to the Filipino people,” said Undersecretary Jocelle Batapa-Sigue of the DICT-ICT Industry Development Bureau.
Veronica Wong, CEO of SafePal, also actively pushed for Web 3.0 adoption by partnering with industry leaders and builders in the ecosystem. She emphasized the need for “better and safer technologies that will help people navigate the space more safely.”
