Hashed "Asia Emerges as the Frontline of the On-Chain Economic Transition"

Analysts say Asia is emerging as the frontline of the global digital finance transition.

Domestic VC Hashed (Hashed), in its 2026 investment outlook report 'Protocol Economy 2026', said "on-chain-based financial infrastructure is taking root most rapidly in Asia," citing stablecoin experiments, the adoption of artificial intelligence (AI) agents, and the expansion of real-world asset (RWA) tokenization as major changes.

Hashed emphasized that this trend is a sign that companies and financial institutions have begun to actually build on-chain systems beyond mere technological experiments. It diagnosed that a new financial layer is being created as stablecoin-based payments, on-chain lending, and fund settlement are reorganized in a programmable way.

Investment strategies are also changing accordingly. Hashed said, "Projects with actual users and steady on-chain activity are more important now than price momentum," explaining that "over the past two years excess liquidity and speculative narratives blurred the market, but now the data shows a clear direction." It assessed that especially the areas of stablecoins, on-chain credit, and automation infrastructure are not short-term trends but areas of structural growth.

Hashed cited the speed of regulatory reform by governments across Asia as the reason this trend is particularly noticeable in Asia. South Korea, Japan, Hong Kong, and Singapore are racing to introduce systems that link on-chain finance to existing systems, such as stablecoin settlement, tokenized deposits, and RWA issuance. The report analyzed, "Regulatory clarity is the strongest driver for financial institutions to adopt on-chain systems."

Hashed also predicted that AI technology will further accelerate this transition. As AI agents automate payments, asset management, liquidity management, and trade execution, the need for transparent and verifiable blockchain-based financial infrastructure is expected to increase explosively.