By Paul Veradittakit, Partner at Pantera Capital
Compiled by: 0xjs@Golden Finance
Over the past week, I have been in Hong Kong and Singapore meeting with institutional investors, founders, and participating in events such as the Hong Kong Trade Mission organized by Trademissions.org, the Hong Kong Consensus Conference, and a symposium on Web3 AI with Amber Group.
Pantera is actively investing in APAC companies and is seeking interest in Fund V (a venture capital fund investing in venture equity, private placement tokens, special opportunities and liquid tokens), which will launch on June 30, 2025. It’s been a packed week with a lot to reflect on.
The highlight was attending the “LP-GP Networking Reception Sponsored by the US Consulate” as part of the Trademissions visit to Hong Kong, which was attended by top family offices and institutional LPs and GPs. The US Consulate hosted a fantastic event that brought together a diverse group of people interested in investing in US companies and funds.
Compared to previous years, I have seen a huge shift in institutional investors’ interest in cryptocurrencies. Their industry knowledge is much deeper, and their interests extend far beyond Bitcoin investments.
Topics of interest
Stablecoins and DePin
Stablecoins are a trillion-dollar opportunity, and their appeal in Asia is equally huge. Stablecoins are viable for many, with the idea that issuing stablecoins allows issuers to earn a return. There is little interest in tokenized stocks and equity, but a lot of interest in the investable portion. Pantera has invested in stablecoin projects such as Ondo and Eco.
Especially now that institutions like Bank of America are preparing to launch their own dollar-backed stablecoins after the U.S. Congress legalized stablecoins, which already process more than $33 trillion in transactions annually, more than Visa and Mastercard combined.
LPs are particularly curious about how Pantera can replicate in Asia the growth we have achieved in the U.S. market. With our extensive network, expertise, and resources in supporting and investing in stablecoin companies, we can help those launching products in the Asian market succeed.
The DePin (Distributed Physical Infrastructure Network) market is still in its infancy and is evolving with each new company entering the market. Privately, there is a lot of discussion about its potential.
I review trends, use cases, and success stories, including from our portfolio companies Geodnet and Hivemapper, to illustrate the opportunities.
AI
AI has been making headlines, especially after DeepSeek, which opened the door for many people by showing that high-performance models can be created with modest private investment (rather than relying on public markets and huge private investments).
Pantera has invested heavily in the space, funding full-stack projects like Sahara, open AI like Sentient, and marketplaces like Akash. In my conversation with Amber, we talked a lot about privacy, additional features consumers want in AI, and AI agents. Perhaps in the future, each of us will have our own set of agents that transact on-chain at internet speeds. In that future, it would not be unreasonable to see a 5x increase in global transaction volume.
People are often interested in Pantera’s positioning and exposure in the AI space, and based on our investment history and continued belief that Web3 AI is the future, we are well positioned to invest in companies that will see broad global adoption.
AI broadly drives more personalization, a value-added feature that has yet to be explored. AI agents allow users to perform complex operations (such as cross-border payments) using simple commands, which will enable Asian users to leapfrog traditional financial infrastructure and join the Web3 ecosystem.
legislation
Legislation in the US is finally starting to gain clarity. In Pantera’s recent blockchain newsletter, we highlighted how regulation has shifted from a headwind to a tailwind. Given the SEC’s recent dismissal of all cases against major US cryptocurrency companies, we are very optimistic about upcoming US cryptocurrency regulation. Regulatory certainty and support for cryptocurrency management are fundamental to our investment thesis this year.
Regulatory openness will undoubtedly allow U.S. cryptocurrency companies to expand into Asia, and Hong Kong is the gateway. At last week's Hong Kong Consensus Conference, everyone could see the momentum. Since 2022, Hong Kong has been providing increasing support for cryptocurrencies, launching Asia's first spot exchange-traded fund and issuing nine virtual asset trading platform (VATP) licenses. Regulators are also actively listening and are willing to support the industry through future legislation.
in conclusion
This time, Asian investors, operators, and users have more confidence in cryptocurrencies than at any time in the past decade. They want to invest and build more applications to solve the fragmented technologies that many people rely on for income, entertainment, travel, and payments. Stablecoins, AI, and legislation are the fundamental reasons why everyone wants to enter the United States, and I am very happy that Pantera, as a long-term steward of the industry, can lead this new wave.
