Going To The Moon

With interest in cryptocurrency on the rise, Coinhako co-founder and CEO Yusho Liu shares how the homegrown exchange is primed to be Asia's gateway to the crypto economy

- Hashirin Nurin Hashimi

From bitcoin reaching a new all-time high (or going to the moon in crypto speak, to describe a price increase of a digital asset) to China's ban on cryptocurrency, the e year 2021 was eventful for the crypto industry and this is on top of rising global interest in DeFi (decentralised finance) systems, NFTs (non-fungible tokens), Web3 and the metaverse.

Homegrown crypto platform Coinhako, which is among the longest-standing platforms in the Asia-Pacific region, reported a stellar year of growth with a total trading volume of approximately $7 billion in 2021 a 1,200 per cent increase from the previous year. In the same period, the company saw a 522 per cent year-over-year growth when it comes to account openings, and by year-end, its total registered users more than doubled to almost 400,000 as compared to the year before.

It's an industry that's still evolving. The ecosystem is growing rapidly, especially in the past 12 to 24 months, says Yusho Liu, Coinhako's co-founder, and CEO. We are like a bridge operating between the world of crypto and fiat, and a gateway into the Web3 ecosystem.

But with almost 600 cryptocurrency exchanges worldwide trading in various digital assets, why should investors go to a local crypto exchange?

For one, a good regulatory framework. Last month, Coinhako was granted the official approval for a major payment institution license from the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS). This means that the platform can now formally operate as a regulated provider of digital payment token, or DPT, services, further strengthening its position as Singapore’s leading provider of crypto-based solutions.