The proliferation of cryptocurrencies around the world has been driven by different use cases, with key differences becoming apparent between developed and emerging market environments.
Lou Yu, who runs KuCoin Labs, addressed the issue following a keynote address during the second day of Blockchain Economy Istanbul in Turkey. In an exclusive interview with Cointelegraph, Yu revealed his experience working with various projects and companies around the world and the key differences between primary and secondary markets.
Cointelegraph Editor Erhan Karahman Interviews KuCoin Labs Director Lou Yu at Blockchain Economy Istanbul
Kucoin operates in more than 200 countries worldwide and is well placed to provide insights into trading habits and trends as well as innovations in the field as it lists, invests in and supports various projects focused on cryptocurrency and cryptocurrency. block chain.
Yu noted that trading communities are especially active in emerging markets, more so than their developed counterparts, which are less active despite having larger amounts of capital. Although these emerging markets use cryptocurrencies frequently, projects in these areas could do better to target their services to local markets:
“We are looking at all the data from the secondary markets and we think it is more relevant that local projects benefit the local economy, and not just bring the products to the United States to benefit traders there, for example.”
The potential of Bitcoin and cryptocurrencies to tackle unique challenges in emerging markets has been a topic at Blockchain Economy Istanbul and Yu also believes that the projects shaping the industry could well come from developing countries.
The director of KuCoin Labs highlighted the propensity of developed markets, such as Europe and the United States, to use the blockchain mainly for cryptocurrencies.. Meanwhile, emerging markets are using technology not only to use and trade cryptocurrencies, but also to create tools and products that solve complex problems:
“For developed markets it’s a hobby, for emerging markets it’s a necessity. In emerging countries, people lack many tools and infrastructure and are probably limited by language, political, geographic, technological and economic barriers.”
Yu said that emerging countries need the fundamental infrastructure of Web3 more to solve the problems that Web2 does not yet have. He also noted that much of the KuCoin Labs portfolio is made up of projects from developed countries. Projects that come from emerging countries are not focused on offering their products or services to their local market, but are instead focused on addressing and serving the broader cryptocurrency ecosystem.
Yu highlighted that the incubator has focused on connecting the ecosystem by working with other exchanges, launch platforms, and layer 1 and 2 protocols. Financial investment in emerging market projects is a central point, along with networking and establishing of possible business associations.
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