The new Asia Pacific head of Zug-based crypto bank Seba Bank explains why it is focusing on the financial hubs of Hong Kong and Singapore in its Asia strategy.
China and the Asia-Pacific region are high-opportunity growth regions for financial institutions. Because Asian countries are in many cases among those with the highest crypto adoption rates in the world, what is true for traditional banks is no less interesting for aspiring crypto institutions.
Zug-based crypto bank Seba wants to benefit from that dynamic. It not only opened an office in Hong Kong in November but entered into an alliance with Hong Kong-based blockchain company Hashkey in December. In addition, Amy Yu was appointed chief executive officer (CEO) of its APAC business in February to drive its growth ambitions in the region.
Abundant Expertise
With over 15 years of experience in both crypto and traditional banking in Asia, the new APAC chief, who moved into the crypto space in 2018, brings plenty of expertise to the table. In an interview with the FT publication «The Banker» (behind paywall), Yu provides further insights into Seba's ambitions.
Amy Yu, (Image: Linkedin)
Singapore and Hong Kong
«We are going to focus on the jurisdictions of Singapore and Hong Kong to start as both have positive regulatory landscapes with a deep history of financial services, and capital markets and are friendly to international players,» says the crypto executive, who previously led sales in the APAC region for a subsidiary of Digital Currency Group, among others.
The growth of the Hong Kong and Singapore branches will likely go hand-in-hand with this regulatory environment and local licensing partners, she said. In general, Seba is well-positioned as one of the first and only fully licensed crypto banks and is well-equipped as a full-service bank to handle risks.
Institutional Investors
When asked if crypto investors are now thinking more about counterparty risk, the APAC chief replied that decentralized finance (DeFi) is oft talked about. «DeFi and its exchanges will continue to develop but I don’t see the institutional crowd wanting to lose a centralized contact point.»
DeFi has arrived and is here to stay, and although it will continue to evolve, a large portion of the market is not ready for it, she believes. «Instead, (institutional investors) will go to the centralized providers they feel they can trust,» Yu adds.
Return of the Exchanges
Before the ban on crypto trading and mining, many exchanges were based in China, Yu explains. Several companies subsequently moved to Kazakhstan and Russia, she adds. Some tried their luck in Singapore, and much of the US-based mining activity was managed from Asia.
Exchanges are looking for a safe place where they can be licensed and regulated. «With the rules changing in Hong Kong, we are seeing some of the exchanges planning to come back to Asia,» she said.
As the rules have changed in Hong Kong, some exchanges are planning to return to Asia.
