Asian Crypto Traders Profit From Trump Win, China’s 2025 CBDC Deadline: Asia Express

As Trump wins the election, Asian crypto traders hold overnight gains

The cryptocurrency industry celebrated Donald Trump's victory in the 2024 US presidential election, sending Bitcoin to new all-time highs. Asian markets have joined the rally, local sources told the magazine.

“Many Asian traders were working overnight to catch this problem and were finding the ‘buy the rumour, sell the news' dynamic particularly profitable with Polymarket bets,” Hong Kong-based market analyst Justin D'Anetan told the magazine.

Trump's victory sparked optimism in Singapore's crypto sector as well as the city-state's race with Hong Kong to attract digital asset firms.

“While Asia is typically mindful of regulatory dynamics, there is a sense of anticipation about what US policy changes will mean for global crypto growth,” Vince Yang, CEO of Singapore-based blockchain infrastructure firm zkLink, told the magazine.

“While it is too early to predict the long-term effects, a more crypto-friendly stance from the US could boost confidence and drive innovation in the global crypto landscape, including Asia.”

While Trump's victory has brought gains for crypto holders, it also brings caution to investors in Asia, as his historic stance on tariffs adds uncertainty to the region's economic landscape.

Trump has promised tariffs of at least 10 percent on imports and 60 percent on China, Asia's largest economy.

“But the ‘America First' ethos translates well in the crypto markets as a bet on digital assets,” he says. “Some people are salivating over the prospects of Gary Gensler and other regulators. [departing]. Compared to the legal concerns of years past, we may be sailing into a more cooperative sea.

Shanghai held a meeting to deploy digital renminbi pilot applications.

China has accelerated its efforts to approve a central bank digital currency (CBDC), setting a goal in Shanghai to establish a comprehensive digital renminbi ecosystem by the end of 2025, state-backed Cailian Press reported.

In the year On November 4, the People's Bank of China's Digital Currency Research Institute held a meeting to outline a roadmap to “continuously advance digital yuan research and application.” The digital yuan, also known as e-CNI, has been on trial in major Chinese cities since April 2020. As of June 2024, accumulated transactions using digital yuan will reach 7 trillion yuan (about $977.5 million), according to data. From the Atlantic Council.

Shanghai's focus on CBCC development came at a July plenary meeting of top Communist Party officials where the digital yuan was named China's sole legal digital currency. All other digital currencies are considered illegal in the country for payment purposes.

Winston Ma, a legal adviser at New York University, told the magazine in an earlier interview that China's renewed commitment to digital fiat is a sign of “the complete opposite” of rumors this year.

Meanwhile, other central banks, particularly in Asia, are also exploring restrictions on cryptocurrencies. India is reportedly set to impose a new ban on Bitcoin as it moves forward with its own CBCC, a digital rupee. Reserve Bank of India Governor Shaktikanta Das recently joined a panel to criticize the stablecoin along with other central banks promoting the benefits of CBDCs.

CBCCs are often put in place by central banks in response to non-governmental cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin, but CDCs face criticism from crypto advocates who argue that they undermine the decentralization and financial freedom supported by blockchain technology.

In the US, President-elect Trump, a pro-crypto advocate, is the CDC's president.

South Korean corporations may soon open crypto accounts.

South Korean financial authorities are officially considering allowing corporations to open cryptocurrency accounts.

In the year On November 6, the Financial Services Commission's (FSC) Virtual Assets Committee held its inaugural meeting, focusing on issuing real name accounts for firms. The newly formed policy advisory group plans to share finalized guidelines in December.

Trading cryptocurrencies on South Korean exchanges requires an account with a valid name at a registered bank, which corporations cannot own. Globally, there is a trend toward allowing corporations to invest in cryptocurrencies, with the US expected to fuel another push under pro-crypto President-elect Donald Trump.

“The pressure of corporate accounts [in South Korea] It is underway, but it seems to take a long time. “This issue has been under review since before Trump was elected,” Ki Young Joo, CEO of blockchain data firm CryptoQuant, told the newspaper.

While financial authorities have tried to ban corporate crypto trading accounts, government departments have apparently opened their own accounts, the Korea Economic Daily reported.

According to information provided by the FSC to lawmaker Park Sang-hyeke, 47 corporate accounts have been opened in the five fully licensed domestic exchanges.

Appbit, the country's largest and most monopolistic exchange, has 39 corporate accounts belonging to government departments, one of which is a municipality.

An Upbit representative told local media that “these accounts were opened at the request of government departments,” but declined to provide specific details.

Bithumb has one government account, while Corbit has corporate accounts for five general corporations and one municipality.

Coinbase joins the rush to Singapore

Singapore's crypto ecosystem continues to attract major international firms, adding to the list of established players in the region.

In the year On November 6, Coinbase announced the launch of a new engineering center in Singapore, highlighting the company's “deep commitment to Singapore as a key hub for blockchain innovation in the Asia-Pacific region.”

The engineering center is part of Coinbase's broader APAC expansion plans, which will provide Singapore-based engineers with resources and training aimed at developing local talent.

Coinbase currently employs 70 people in Singapore out of a 600-strong APAC workforce, with numbers expected to grow with the opening of the new hub.

The move adds Coinbase to the list of firms announcing APAC expansions centered in Singapore.

Just last week, Coinbase's U.S. rival Gemini announced that it had received proof-of-principle for a Singaporean crypto trading license: one Coinbase acquired in October 2023. Gemini's Singapore office serves as its APAC regional headquarters.

John Yun

Yohan Yun is a multimedia journalist who has been reporting on blockchain since 2017. He has contributed to the crypto media outlet Forkast as an editor and covered Asian tech stories as an assistant reporter for Bloomberg BNA and Forbes. He spends his free time cooking and experimenting with new recipes.