Binance CEO Richard Teng, speaking at the Insights Forum in Singapore on Tuesday, highlighted the challenges Asia’s fintech sector faces as it contends with Western companies’ dominant influence due to regulatory leverage and capital size.
According to Fortune, Teng highlighted that despite Asia’s fast-growing fintech landscape, Western companies benefit from favorable regulatory frameworks and extensive financial resources.
Binance’s Richard Teng Discusses Inequality in Fintech Competition
At the event, Teng observed that Asia’s digital payment landscape is highly fragmented, with varying regulations and approaches across different countries.
He noted that this fragmented environment has spurred rapid growth in digital wallets and fintech, especially in areas with large unbanked populations.
Asian fintech firms, Teng emphasized, may innovate faster, yet struggle against Western competitors who enjoy uniform regulations and easier access to capital.
“Western companies, by the sheer size of what they have and the regulatory framework they can influence…are going to have an outsized say in how they’re going to capture this growth,” stated Teng.
Teng also noted how Western firms’ influence often extends into Asia’s markets, capturing substantial market share.
“What is important for policymakers is to make sure that your local competitors have a fair shake,” Teng said, adding, “You have to allow for experimentation on a much broader basis.”
Stablecoin Adoption as an Alternative to Local Currencies
The report noted that in Asia, stablecoins are gaining traction as an alternative to unstable local currencies, especially in areas with limited access to traditional banking.
According to Coda Payments global treasurer and vice-president Jessie Toh, in many of these markets, there’s significant regulation around the ability to hold U.S. dollars.
“In quite a lot of these markets, there’s a lot of regulation [of] the ability to actually hold U.S. dollars,” said Toh.
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