Yat Siu Says ‘Pro-Capitalist’ Asian Countries Are More Ready to Embrace Web3

LOS ANGELES — Yat Siu, co-founder and chairman of Web3 game developer and investment firm Animoca Brands, said Tuesday that Asian companies are more willing to adopt and invest in Web3 technologies than their North American counterparts.

During a fireside chat at the Outer Edge conference in Los Angeles Siu said that among major international game publishers and their 400 portfolio companies, those located in Japan, Korea, Hong Kong and across Southeast Asia are far more active in discussing, building and embracing technologies such as non-fungible tokens (NFT) and the metaverse than those located in the U.S.

Siu explained that due to the harsh crypto winter that hit many U.S.-based companies last year, its impact on NFTs has steered many U.S. firms away from investing in Web3. However, enthusiasm to invest in blockchain is still alive in Asia.

“The adoption, readiness and willingness actually sits in Asia. Like, you go and want to sell something to people in Japan or Korea or Southeast Asia, you'll find a much more ready market versus over here.”

He also claimed that intellectual property (IP) development is more advanced across Asia and the “pro-capitalist” sentiments among investors in the region have prompted their investments in Web3 technologies.

"A large swath of people in the U.S. kind of start to veer somewhat outside of capitalism. Capitalism doesn't work for them," he said. "Whereas in Asia, a lot of people are very pro-capitalist because of their own experiences with what capitalism has brought to them in their lifetime."

"We joke about this, but it's kind of true – the ‘American Dream’ is much more alive and well in Asia than it is in the U.S. for all the things [Web3] that we just discussed," he added.

Recently, countries in Asia have been making moves to embrace Web3 at a national level. In October, Japan’s Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said in a policy speech that the country would be investing in NFTs and the metaverse in its digital transformation efforts. In November, Japan’s Digital Ministry said it would create a decentralized autonomous organization to further explore its use of Web3 technologies.

In January, South Korean government said it would create a metaverse replica of its capital city, Seoul, to help the country improve its public services in a virtual setting.

Read more: South Korea’s Crypto Firms Will Have to Self-Regulate Under New Guidance