Five Southeast Asian Nations and Australia’s blockchain associations are joining hands with the aim to raise industry awareness by means of the next blockchain consortium, which will take place very soon. This blockchain consortium will aid in developing a good relationship between Australia and the Associations of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN). Moreover, this consortium is believed to enhance industry knowledge and ensure compliance internationally.
On Friday, the nascent ASEAN blockchain consortium was disclosed, which is going to be a significant step in the crypto industry as ASEAN and Australia have decided to join hands to promote blockchain education and development. According to the report released by the Business Times, it was made prominent that blockchain associations of Australia and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, including Malaysia, Philippines, Indonesia, Thailand, and Singapore, made an agreement and signed the memorandum on 22nd of April, 2021 based on the mutual understanding to promote the development of blockchain in the Asia Pacific.
Blockchain association initiated by Singapore is aimed to engage the regulatory authorities, ensuring reliable compliance along with enhancing the industry knowledge by means of a newly developed blockchain consortium named ABC (ASEAN Blockchain Consortium). ASEAN Blockchain Consortium includes BAS, Thailand Digital Asset Operators Trade Association (TDA), Blockchain Australia, Asosiasi Blockchain Indonesia (ABI), Malaysia’s Labuan International Business and Financial Center (Labuan IBFC), and Distributed Ledger Technology Association of the Philippines.
It is important to note that the Memorandum of understanding was attended by several distinguished federation representatives, including Sopnendu Mohanty, CFO of the financial authority of Singapore, and Edi Pambudi, the senior advisor to the Indonesian minister of economic affairs. According to BAS, this initiative is being marked as the first formal collaboration between the blockchain organizations of Australia and Southeast Asia.
Chia Hock Lai, the Co-Founder of Global Fintech Institute and Co-Chairman of Blockchain Association Singapore (BAS), shared his views that BAS is feeling pride in collaborating with Australia and ASEAN to make the industry sustainable and healthy environment. He is of the view that this would help the industry to grow further. Moreover, he said that because of the increasing interests of institutions in the crypto industry, it is the perfect time for collaboration.
The launch of the ASEAN blockchain consortium came into existence in the middle of flourishing cryptocurrency adoption in Australia and Southeast Asia. Statistics show that in 2020 Southeast Asia was on the list of top regions regarding crypto adoption as 20% of Filipino used crypto last year. As 20% of Australian Adults confirmed the use of cryptocurrencies in 2020, Australia is also gaining momentum in this regard.