Web3 innovation is experiencing rapid growth, especially in Southeast Asia. This is because the region has spent a lot of time accelerating its digital transformation by embracing inclusive technologies for the social and financial betterment of the region’s population.
According to a recent report by venture capital fund White Star Capital, more than 600 crypto and blockchain startups currently have their headquarters in Southeast Asia.
A consortium of crypto, blockchain, and Web3 projects cumulatively drew in more than $1 billion of venture capital during the first quarter of 2022, with volume projected to set new records by the end of the fiscal year.
Adding to this growing inflow of venture funds is Bluejay Finance – the Asia-focused multi-currency stablecoin protocol. The platform is focused on bringing a new range of stablecoins to the decentralized finance (DeFi) market.
These stablecoins will be pegged to other currencies and not just the U.S. Dollar (USD). Bluejay Finance’s initiative of challenging the dominance of USD-pegged stablecoins across the DeFi landscape has attracted the attention of investors. This has helped the team raise $2.9 million during its recent funding round.
Blockchain and Web3 investment firms, including Zee Prime Capital, RNR Capital, C2 Ventures, Daedalus Angels, Oval Ventures, Stake Capital Group, Moonlanding Ventures, and many others, as well as DeFi projects like Alpha Venture DAO, Flux, Ribbon Finance, and Voltz, are backing the Bluejay Finance project.
On backing the project, Stake Capital Group founder Julien Bouteloup notes, “Over the course of the past few years, stablecoins have proven to be a fundamental primitive within DeFi. However, most stablecoins have revolved around the USD.
For crypto to branch into use cases like real-world payments and money markets, it needs to have stablecoins that people in local economies can seamlessly transact with, such as the Euro and Singapore Dollar. Bluejay is positioned to address this need, which will only continue to grow as DeFi matures.”
Multi-Currency Stablecoins Arrive
Stablecoins will continue to play a key role in the decentralized financial ecosystem, especially in emerging markets like Southeast Asia. According to the latest data, almost 60% of Southeast Asians are either unbanked or underbanked, while nearly 70% of the Southeast Asian workforce doesn’t have bank accounts.
Accordingly, DeFi can help sidestep these barriers, powering greater financial inclusion. Moreover, the increasing penetration of smartphones and internet access across the region has unlocked even more opportunities for Web3 and DeFi projects.
However, most of the existing stablecoins are centered around the USD, complicating use in a region where transactions are denominated in local currencies. Due to every stablecoin being pegged to USD, Southeast Asian users don’t have a choice other than USD. This exposes them to add-on costs while forcing them to use a currency that isn’t familiar.
To overcome this hurdle, the Bluejay Finance team will support the issuance of stablecoins pegged with different currencies worldwide, thereby lowering the exchange-rate barriers for businesses and individuals in Southeast Asia.
The introduction of multi-currency pegged stablecoins is designed to help minimize the currency exchange risk while improving access to capital and making payments more efficient.
Sherry Jiang, the founder of Bluejay Finance, concludes, “DeFi summer was the first wave of innovation, driven by yield farming. Despite the current state of the markets right now, we are incredibly bullish that the next cycle will be driven by sustainable, real use cases that solve a true need.
“Therefore, Bluejay remains focused on building products and partnerships that will enable these sustainable use cases of stablecoins and bring in the next billion users into DeFi.”
