Title: "With 20 Million Users, Leading Players are Rolling Out to Ensure Web3 Happens in Vietnam?"
Source: Followin
Walking on the streets of Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, the humid air, the never-ending lights at night, the constant roar of motorbikes, and the enthusiastic DJ show in the square all exude a sense of youth and vitality. Here, the Web3 industry is rapidly growing.
With 20 million people having had contact with digital assets, Vietnam is becoming a new hotbed for the next generation of crypto.
In 1986, Vietnam began to learn from China's "reform and opening up," entering a period of rapid economic development. Over the past thirty years, the GDP has grown at an average annual rate of 7%, surpassing all countries in the ASEAN region, successfully ranking among the fastest-growing economies in the world. In the recent global supply chain restructuring, Vietnam has emerged as a winner, with its position in the global manufacturing industry continuously rising.
Vietnam is the third most populous country in Southeast Asia and has become the 15th most populous country in the world. Data shows that nearly 70% of Vietnam's population is of working age. At the same time, the proportion of young people in Vietnam's population has reached its highest level in history, with young people aged 10 to 24 accounting for 21.1% of the total population. The optimistic economic development prospects and the huge young population have made the entire Web3 industry see the future market potential.
Returning to the Web3 industry itself, a report by Triple-A shows that there are over 20 million people in Vietnam who have held or used digital assets. In Chainalysis' 2023 report, Vietnam ranks third in the Crypto Adoption Index, and in 2022 and 2021, Vietnam ranked first. At the same time, on exchanges such as Binance, BingX, and MEXC, the Vietnamese market has become one of the top five countries in terms of trading volume. By December 2022, over 200 blockchain projects had been launched in Vietnam, with Coin98 and Coin68 (Kyros Ventures) being recognized as the leaders.
Kyros Ventures CEO Zane's presentation of the panoramic view of the Vietnamese crypto industry effectively showcases the entire Web3 ecosystem in Vietnam.
As one of Vietnam's largest blockchain events, 2024 is only the second year that GM Vietnam has been held. GM Vietnam 2023 had over 2500 participants and more than 15 peripheral events. By 2024, the peripheral events of the conference had rapidly expanded to over 100, and it seems that Web3 project activities can be seen everywhere on the streets of Ho Chi Minh City.
Whether it's established public chains like Polygon, Avalanche, Polkadot, or relatively new projects like SUI, Aptos, Ton, Starknet, Zetachain, and Cyber, all have an active presence here. Of course, GM Vietnam is also a gathering for exchanges, with OKX, BingX, CoinEx, HTX, and others setting up booths at the venue. Followin, Lu Dong, Foresight News, and Chain Catcher have also come to Vietnam.
More than Gamefi, Web3 Games in Vietnam are Exploring Diverse Development Directions
Thanks to the phenomenal success of the blockchain game Axie Infinity, gaming has become a crucial part of Vietnam's Web3 ecosystem, and Web3 games are also exploring different development models.
The offline event held by the Web3 shooting mobile game MATR1X FIRE may be a microcosm of the localized development of Web3 games. On June 6, MATR1X FIRE hosted an offline competition where 8 Vietnamese teams competed for the championship, and the champions could also participate in the Taipei Major Finals in August this year. At the competition venue, the competing teams sat on both sides of the stage, and there were two professional hosts providing real-time passionate commentary in the live broadcast, creating a full-fledged esports atmosphere.
The event took place at the Vikings Esports Stadium, a professional chain of internet cafes in Ho Chi Minh City, which had previously hosted numerous professional competitions in Vietnam. The eponymous professional team Vikings is currently active in games such as League of Legends (LOL), CSGO, and PUBG.
At the same time, the organizer of the event, Flazers, is a game team for the PUBG Mobile Super League and has now ventured into Web3 as a gaming guild. From hardware configuration to local resources and event organization, the model of MATR1X FIRE even makes it feel very "Web2." In the era of Gamefi's dominance in web games, MATR1X FIRE is carving out a unique path with its gameplay and esports operations.
In addition to the MATR1X competition, the event venue also featured multiple Gamefi games such as Pirate Clash, Legend of Arcadik, and Last Odyssey for attendees to experience. Upon sitting at a designated computer, staff would quickly guide you through playing a game. After experiencing Pirate Clash, we found that "gold farming" still seemed to be the core essence, with not many surprises. However, at the event, we could still see investors from various countries such as South Korea and Singapore coming specifically to inspect various game projects.
After the rocket-like surge of Notcoin on the TON network, many people realized that perhaps going to the extreme of "gold farming" was not out of the question. At the Summer Night Bash event hosted by Followin, BeraSig founder Haney introduced us to BeraBeeCatcher, a project similar to NOT. Opening it on Telegram, launching the mini-program, continuously tapping the bees that appear on the screen, and obtaining honey can correspond to the future token SUGAR. Checking the game's leaderboard, there are already over 75,000 players. BeraSig itself is a mobile application and Chrome extension that allows users to experience Berachain in one place. While airdrops are effective in attracting interaction, coupled with the surge story of the game and NOT, it may lead to a new round of "killing two birds with one stone."
According to Statista's market forecast data, the penetration rate of gamers in Vietnam is expected to reach 10.1% in 2024 and is projected to reach 11.6% in 2029, which is nearly 12 million. With the 21% share of the population aged 10-24 in Vietnam, there are over 20 million people. Whether it's gaming or "gold farming," the prospects are very promising.
Booming Onchain Transactions, Vietnamese Investors are Also Actively Moving Onchain
Many people may think that most of Vietnam's crypto investors are still active in CEX. According to data shared by Kyros Ventures CEO Zane, currently, 61% of the crypto assets stored in Vietnam are in CEX, and 39% are directly onchain. In 2023, "BRC-20" was crowned as one of the top five crypto search hot words in Vietnam, and there were many Vietnamese users participating in BRC20 Summer.
In the meme year of 2024, the meme craze onchain has also occurred in Vietnam. During the several days of the Vietnam Blockchain Week, the local meme coin project TRAU caught our attention. The founder, wearing a pair of bull horns, tirelessly introduced TRAU to many participants: "Buffaloes play a crucial role in the production and life of the Vietnamese people, carrying a very rich cultural connotation."
Looking at the onchain market data, we found that at its peak, TRAU's market value reached about $1 million, but now it has dropped to only $50,000, with less than 200 holding addresses. Many people consider it a dead project, but the founder is still full of enthusiasm, and the official Twitter continues to update various activity photos and introduce the culture of buffaloes, which is even more "productive" than some "value coin" projects.
Due to limitations in the Vietnamese market itself, and the fact that buffaloes may not have strong meme attributes and international universality, the prospects for TRAU may not be optimistic. This seems to be a natural dilemma for purely localized meme projects in Vietnam.
Facing the rapid expansion of the onchain market, as one of the leading exchanges participating in GM Vietnam, OKX's focus this time is on the OKX Wallet. During the main agenda's speech, OKX President Hong Fang detailed the features, advantages, and product philosophy of the OKX Wallet. The booth was also filled with various functional displays of the OKX Wallet. Even in the official press release about OKX, the highlighted products are the wallet, DEX, NFT market, and Web3 DeFi, emphasizing its onchain attributes.
In fact, according to data revealed by OKX, Vietnam's active user count ranks in the top 4 for the OKX Wallet among many countries and regions. With the grand goal of "Reaching Billions Onchain," the Vietnamese market has become an important market for OKX to continue deepening its presence.
The cancellation of the afternoon agenda on the first day of the conference, is Vietnam's regulation shifting?
In April of this year, the Vietnam News Agency reported that a representative of the Vietnamese Ministry of Justice stated that cryptocurrencies are not banned in Vietnam, but it is necessary to establish a legal framework to ensure their normal development and prevent risks. At the same time, Cao Dang Vinh, Deputy Minister of the Ministry of Economic and Civil Legislation, stated that Vietnam does not have regulations governing the development of cryptocurrencies, and cryptocurrencies are not considered legal assets.
Not banned, but not entirely legal, seems to be the current status of cryptocurrencies in Vietnam, which may be a familiar state for many crypto practitioners. However, the events at the GM Vietnam conference surprised many. After the morning agenda ended smoothly, the afternoon agenda did not start, and eventually, participants were informed that all roundtable discussions were canceled. On the second day of the conference, some main agenda items were still progressing, but all the booths in the three venues were closed except for the peripheral displays. The conference, which had been brewing and preparing for a long time, ended up presenting itself to participants in such a "anticlimactic" manner. In fact, even before the main agenda began, some peripheral events were temporarily canceled due to warnings received.
Insiders revealed that the trigger for all of this seems to have been a seminar organized by the Vietnam Blockchain Association a few days ago on the legal framework and investor protection. "When the issue is clearly presented to the management, for the sake of stability or protection, the management will choose to intervene, and the reason for the cancellation is that the organizers did not obtain permission for the roundtable discussions." Of course, the conference had already obtained permission for the meetings and speeches, but indeed not for the roundtable discussions.
Local practitioners in Vietnam suggest that this may be another internal struggle within the industry. The association initially wanted to have more say, but after the event occurred, it went beyond the association's control, harming the entire crypto industry in Vietnam. After all, the actual result is that the conference sponsors are left in tears, and participants are calling it absurd.
Nevertheless, Vietnamese practitioners are not worried about the issue of "one-size-fits-all," but rather see it as a minor incident.
When Sun Wukong meets Mickey Mouse, it's Vietnam's Web3 Summer
Many Chinese people visiting Vietnam often have a feeling of both unfamiliarity and familiarity. Similar political systems and the influence of Chinese culture make it feel familiar, and the bustling motorbike armies on the streets bring to mind the electric scooter armies in China, while the roadside stalls evoke the atmosphere of Chinese streets.
But in the daily lives of young people in Vietnam, they watch YouTube, Netflix, use TikTok, search on Google, socialize on Facebook, and chat on Messenger, a completely Western system for most Chinese people. At the same time, the influence of French culture during the colonial period, and the cultural fusion brought about by the influx of Westerners as a tourist country, give a sense of a Western atmosphere. On Nguyen Hue Street in Ho Chi Minh City, seeing two cosplayers dressed as Sun Wukong and Mickey Mouse standing side by side, this may be how many people see Vietnam.
Returning from the real world to Web3, everything still has a similar flavor. At the Summer Night Bash event hosted by Followin, we interacted with many Vietnamese Web3 practitioners. Vietnamese investors complain about VC coins, lament missing out on NOT, and criticize the difficulty of this bull market. Young people facing Web3 still hold strong ideals, hoping to create the next Killer App. Entrepreneurs hope to ride the wave of Notcoin and successfully build their own gaming projects. Contract traders are also high-leverage gambling, either getting rich or going bankrupt. Retail investors also vent about the lack of vision in domestic projects and being exploited, while local project teams seek English packaging and disguise themselves as foreigners. The same shared experiences, the same sense of déjà vu. Sweet, sour, bitter, and spicy, all in the hustle and bustle, is a passion and vitality belonging to Web3.
Ho Chi Minh City is in the tropics, with temperatures above 30 degrees for more than half the year. Vietnam's Web3 Summer is just as hot. Upon meeting a friend looking exhausted, he mentioned discovering the truth about GM Vietnam, not as an early morning greeting to everyone, but as "GM" after staying up all night and seeing the sunrise the next day!
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