Greater familiarity, institutional support, and budding public interest for cryptocurrencies suggest that 2022 could be a banner year for digital assets. Will encouraging momentum continue, or will new virtual money eventually be faced with old money problems?
Even if Bitcoin is embraced by other emerging economies, trade ties with China, volatile price swings, and the not-so-distant memory of a regional financial crisis may prevent cryptocurrency from ever taking off in Asia.
Southeast Asian countries are making progress in their plans to issue digital currencies with legal tender, or central bank digital currencies (CBDCs). FinanceAsia explores the implications of this shift.