With exorbitant fuel prices and rampant inflation on the heels of the worst global pandemic and crisis of the 21st century, it’s easy to be pessimistic about the country’s economic future. However, top global tech player Wei Zhou, CEO of Coins.ph, feels that the Philippines is on the cusp of something very big, very soon.

Zhou recently acquired Coins.ph, the Philippines’ leading cryptocurrency exchange and digital wallet provider with more than 16 million users. Coins.ph co-hosted the recent Philippine Fintech Festival organized by Digital Pilipinas, the largest private sector movement to create a technology and innovation ecosystem geared towards achieving technology acceleration in the country and building an anti-fragile system in its society. structures and industries.

Speaking alongside industry leaders in the vertical, Zhou discussed why he is particularly interested in the Philippines now and pushed for mass blockchain adoption here in the Philippines.

“We really need to learn blockchain, cryptography, NFTs, and other digital assets by using them in your everyday life,” Zhou said, encouraging the event participants.

Within the festival, a Blockchain Summit led by Coins.ph was held. Discussions on crucial topics such as the popularization of Web 3.0, the metaverse and NFTs in daily life were raised, while leaders of government and private institutions gave their views.

The Department of Information, Communication and Technology (DICT) shared how regulators perceive crypto trends and provided perspectives on executing Web 3, blockchain and crypto to digitize the country.

“Blockchain technology has shown that it has opened up valuable opportunities for Filipinos that would not have been possible in the past. Because of this, we look forward to partnering with like-minded organizations that will further the country’s ICT agenda and support initiatives that can bring Web 3.0 closer to Filipinos,” said Under Secretary Jocelle Batapa-Sigue of DICT-ICT Industry Development Bureau.

On the other hand, Veronica Wong, CEO of SafePal, actively drove the adoption of Web 3.0 by partnering with industry leaders and ecosystem builders. She stressed the need for “better and safer technologies that help people navigate space more safely.”

Ling Zhang, Managing Partner at Old Fashion Research, said that “right now in the crypto space, we are at the right time; not too early, not too late. It is the perfect moment to build and invest”.

The perfect time to unlock the country’s technological potential

As CEO of Coins.ph, Wei also discussed his plans to make the Philippines “a leader in Web 3.0 not just in ASEAN, but globally.” He sees digital assets and blockchain technology as equalizers and a good place to start towards financial empowerment for Filipinos.

“What we need to do collectively is make the Philippines a champion of blockchain adoption, because it really is possible. We can share our country’s model with our neighboring countries and help each other in this game,” he said, focusing on the endless opportunities in this blockchain-enabled space.

Seeing things through a native cryptocurrency lens, Zhou identified crucial things the country needs to thrive in the blockchain arena: “We need users, capital, and projects to help our community get off the ground, and that’s what we need.” that we are seeing that is being built”. here in the Philippines.”

The crypto champion also compared the current state of the Philippines to the early stages of technology adoption in China, a major player in the blockchain arena, and emphasized how great is the potential for our country to become a technology leader given what skilled we are in growing in this disruptive technology.

Wei drew several parallels between China just before its economy took off and became the second most powerful in the world, and the Philippines now. He mentioned the similar population structure of the two countries, with the Philippines having the largest generation of youth in its history, as most Filipinos are under 30 years of age.

The ever-present English advantage

Online gaming continues to gain ground in the country and shows signs of steady growth in the coming years, mainly due to the accessibility of affordable mobile devices and internet infrastructures available in the market. In terms of cryptocurrency adoption, 2021 served as a proof of concept for the Philippines, and cryptocurrency remains a worthwhile investment.

“Everything in this scene of playing to win and the like is just getting started. We are going to see more collaborative efforts from both the traditional and crypto space, and we want to hold on to these concepts and become that platform that will help more people win.”

George Michael Aranzaso, Research Analyst at WOO Network, who is also a panelist during the Blockchain Summit, spoke about gaming and decentralized finance. Although he is in its early stages, Aranzaso believes that “GameFi is the beginning of the future, a whole new generation of users,” noting that more and more people are entering the scene.

As an outsider who has traveled the world, the crypto leader believes that probably one of the biggest advantages the Philippines has over other Asian countries is English proficiency, because the language of Web 3.0 and blockchain is English, noting that is different. when you consume it in its native language.

“Something that has reconfirmed my faith in terms of the Coins.ph purchase and the possibility of activating the Philippines as the future hub of digital assets is the language and culture. I think that is very unique to the Philippines,” she said.

Furthermore, Zhou stressed the importance of accelerating technology adoption in the country to enable a collaborative and inclusive environment where all these developments can come together piece by piece. This, she said, is one of the essential things we need to focus on on our journey to the metaverse.

Exciting new developments exploring innovations in the metaverse include creating avatars with customizable features and allowing users to move freely from one experience to another, all while taking their identities and money with them.

Making cryptocurrency education more accessible and understandable to more Filipinos

Zhou also shared some of the company’s existing efforts to increase crypto education. These include partnerships with Miss Universe Philippines to launch a three-part Live Crypto 101 series on blockchain and NFT basics and De La Salle University for orientation seminars and booth activations.

“We plan to do more similar events with other schools and universities in the metro. We understand that by leveraging educational institutions we can influence and encourage young people to start their journey towards digital ownership and financial empowerment.”

Zhou believes in the importance of localizing basic crypto education to expand financial inclusion here in the Philippines, targeting the unbanked and underprivileged. One of the company’s initiatives to help with this is the launch of Coins Academy, a series of introductory educational articles, aimed at educating people on all things crypto, blockchain and web3, and the contents are available in both English as in filipino

The company also worked with the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) to bring crypto and Web3 education to sports fans in the Philippines through Courtside Crypto, a 1-minute video series that premiered on social media.

Upcoming Coins.ph services and activities that clients can enjoy include Coins Trade Desk for an easy and seamless trading experience; Improved Coins Pro UI/UX with more cryptocurrency tokens; and the company’s involvement in the metaverse through the Virtual Influencer Tiktok Studio launching in Manila.

Coins.ph recently launched Coins Arcade which allows users to enjoy Web2 and Web3 games where they can play to earn tokens. The company also recently announced that Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas has granted Coins Pro the Advanced Electronic Payments and Financial Services (EPFS) License to allow users to trade cryptocurrencies with spot PHP pairs.