A Review of fast-growing Blockchain Hubs in Asia

Abstract

The unique combination of social and economic factors has brought about a dynamic and rapidly-evolving blockchain ecosystem in Asia. This paper systematically reviewed the development of four fast-growing blockchain hubs in Asia, namely China, Japan, Singapore and South Korea using secondary data sources. These countries are fast-growing based on the development of its digital, technological and regulatory infrastructure, patent applications, cryptocurrency trading volume and Initial Crypto-token Offerings (ICOs) activities. The review included insights into the different regulatory approaches, the blockchain startup scenes, selected enterprise or government-backed projects, as well as the research and educational landscape. Our findings suggested that the regulators, industry players, and academic institutions were purposeful and deliberate in nurturing blockchain technology innovation. Future development would be dependent on the regulatory, technological, as well as talent capability support unique to each blockchain hub.

Retracted: Industry 4.0 and circular economy practices: A new era business strategies for environmental sustainability

“…This information sharing helps build customers' trust in their products and effectively deal with counterfeit and fraud‐related issues. Lim et al's (2019) blockchain technology provides a smart contract facility to the supply chain partners, which increased the efficiency of procurement processes and reduce the cost (Bai et al 2020; Hoek, 2019; Lähdeaho & Hilmola, 2020).…”

Blockchain for social good and stakeholder engagement: Evidence from a case study

“…An example is blockchain application in the supply chain sector, such as the Walmart case (Hughes et al, 2019). Even big Asian players such as Baidu, Alibaba, and Tencent have applied blockchain in sectors such as banking, supply chain, and BaaS (Blockchain-as-a-Service) (Lim et al, 2019).…”

“…Other prominent blockchain applications are the decentralized platform Ethereum (Murray et al, 2021) and the non‐fungible tokens – NFTs (Dowling, 2022). Nevertheless, there are several applications of blockchain (Kher et al, 2020; Queiroz & Wamba, 2019), not only in the “Western countries” but also in Asia (Lim et al, 2019) and in developing countries. An example is blockchain application in the supply chain sector, such as the Walmart case (Hughes et al, 2019).…”

“…An example is blockchain application in the supply chain sector, such as the Walmart case (Hughes et al, 2019). Even big Asian players such as Baidu, Alibaba, and Tencent have applied blockchain in sectors such as banking, supply chain, and BaaS (Blockchain‐as‐a‐Service) (Lim et al, 2019). Despite the advantages gained from a breakthrough technological advancement (e.g., competitiveness), corporations need to review their strategy (Chirumalla, 2021) to overcome some blockchain‐related challenges (e.g., regulations and shared governance models).…”

The Impacts of Economic and Political Drivers on the Performance of the Chinese Fintech Sector: The Mediating Role of Blockchain Developments

“…The construction of China's cross border e-commerce (CBEC) comprehensive pilot zones is found to support the sustainable development of blockchain technologies, promoting sector growth through the concept of industry agglomeration as all blockchain related research & developments, key suppliers, investors and technologies are concentrated with close proximity (Zhong et al, 2022). Another approach to measure the practicality of government intervention on blockchain developments is shown in the studies of Liu (2018); Aysan et al (2019) and Lim et al (2019), measuring through the government sponsored incubators with a diverse set of metrics including the number of start-ups incubated, percentage of successful exists, financial stability of incubator, volume of investments attracted, funding and infrastructure supports. Lim et al (2019) also found a positive relationship between received assistance and mentorship from government incubators and the invested volumes of private investment funds into incubators, illustrating the influential role of government fiscal and practical support provided by the government on the overall developments of blockchain incubators.…”