Author: Paul Veradittakit, Partner at Pantera Capital

Translation: 0xjs@Golden Finance

In the past week, I met with institutional investors and founders in Hong Kong and Singapore, and participated in events organized by Trademissions.org, including the Hong Kong trade delegation, the Hong Kong Consensus Conference, and a seminar with Amber Group on Web3 AI.

Pantera is actively investing in companies in the Asia-Pacific region and is seeking interest in Fund V, a venture capital fund that invests in venture equity, private tokens, special opportunities, and liquid tokens, which will launch on June 30, 2025. This week was packed with activities and many reflections.

A highlight was attending some events during the Trademissions visit to Hong Kong, including the "LP-GP Networking Reception sponsored by the U.S. Consulate," which was attended by top family offices, institutional LPs, and GPs. The U.S. Consulate hosted a fantastic event that brought together various groups interested in investing in U.S. companies and funds.

Compared to previous years, I found a significant change in institutional investors' interest in cryptocurrencies. Their industry knowledge has deepened, and their areas of interest extend far beyond Bitcoin investment.

Topics of Interest

Stablecoins and DePin

Stablecoins represent a trillion-dollar opportunity, with significant appeal in Asia as well. For many, stablecoins are a viable option, with the idea that issuing stablecoins can generate revenue for issuers. There is less interest in tokenized stocks and equity, but a strong interest in investable portions. Pantera has invested in stablecoin projects like Ondo and Eco.

Especially now, institutions like U.S. banks are preparing to launch their own dollar-backed stablecoins after the legalization of stablecoins in the U.S. Congress. The transaction volume handled by stablecoins has exceeded $33 trillion annually, surpassing the total of Visa and Mastercard combined.

LPs are particularly curious about how Pantera can replicate the growth we achieved in the U.S. market in Asia. 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, gradually developing with the addition of each new company. There has been a lot of private discussion about its potential.

I reviewed trends, use cases, and success stories, including our portfolio companies Geodnet and Hivemapper, to showcase the opportunities within.

AI

AI has been making headlines, especially after DeepSeek. DeepSeek has opened doors for many, indicating that high-performance models can be created with moderate private investment (rather than relying on public markets and large private investments).

Pantera has invested heavily in this field, funding full-stack projects like Sahara, open AI like Sentient, and markets like Akash. In my discussions with Amber, we talked a lot about privacy, the additional features consumers want in AI, and the issue of AI agents. Perhaps in the future, each of us will have our own set of agents to transact on-chain at internet speed. In that future, a fivefold increase in global transaction volume is not unreasonable.

People are often interested in Pantera's positioning and exposure in the AI field, and based on our investment history and our ongoing belief that Web3 AI is the future, we are fully capable of investing in companies that will see widespread application globally.

AI is broadly driving more personalization, a value-added feature that has yet to be deeply explored. AI agents allow users to perform complex operations (such as cross-border payments) with simple commands, enabling Asian users to bypass traditional financial infrastructure and join the Web3 ecosystem.

Legislation

Legislation in the U.S. is finally starting to become clearer. In Pantera's recent blockchain newsletter, we highlighted how regulation has shifted from headwinds to tailwinds. Given that the U.S. SEC recently dropped all cases against major U.S. cryptocurrency companies, we are very optimistic about the upcoming cryptocurrency regulations in the U.S. Regulatory certainty and supportive management for cryptocurrencies are the foundation of our investment themes this year.

The opening of regulation will undoubtedly allow U.S. cryptocurrency companies to expand into Asia, with Hong Kong as the gateway. This momentum was evident at last week's Hong Kong Consensus Conference. 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 willing to support the industry through future legislation.

Conclusion

The confidence of Asian investors, operators, and users in cryptocurrencies is higher than it has been at any time in the past decade. They are eager to invest in and build more applications to address the fragmented technologies that many rely on, which can generate income, entertainment, travel, and payments. Stablecoins, AI, and legislation are the fundamental reasons everyone wants to enter the U.S. market, and I am pleased that Pantera, as a long-term steward of the industry, can lead this new wave.

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