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The Philippines, as a world leader in digital asset adoption, is an open secret, with study after study confirming that the country’s aggressive technology adoption has seen tens of millions of people adopt digital assets. Wei Zhou, CEO of Coins.ph, the leading local exchange, said the country is fast becoming a Web3 hub and his exchange is rebuilding its business model to become a native Web3 company.

The Philippines made global headlines in blockchain adoption by becoming the world leader in win-win games, home to 40% of Axie Infinity users. This P2E adoption has turned blockchain and attracted more than ten million Filipinos to other sectors including DeFi, NFT, and the metaverse.

“Through the popularity of some of the blockchain gaming, the Philippines is leading the way in NFT ownership, cryptocurrency trading, and using this new technology to play and earn money,” Zhou told CoinGeek Backstage host Claire Celdran.

Zhou cited a Chainalysis study that showed the Philippines is the world’s second-largest hub for digital assets, with almost 20% of the population interacting with or owning a digital currency.

“That is much larger than the average global adoption of 5-10%,” he noted.

Zhou took over as CEO of Coins.ph, which is the largest digital asset exchange in the Philippines, earlier this year and, as he told CoinGeek Backstage, he has been focused on regaining ground the exchange lost in 2020 and 2021 when adoption increased in the Philippines.

“What we want to do right now is rebuild our business to be a much more Web3-native company to allow our users and new users to use coins to access Web3 services. This includes trading digital assets and earning returns from them, and basically deploying digital assets in the metaverse and in games,” he stated.

Watch: CoinGeek Backstage episode with nChain’s Nick King

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