A new research report by K33 showed that China accounts for 15% of Asia’s crypto manpower, only behind Singapore, Hong Kong, and India. This means that China is one of the biggest crypto hubs on the continent, despite its comprehensive ban on crypto trading and mining.
Only 29% of the Global Crypto Workforce Resides in the US
China is one of the largest crypto hubs in Asia, accounting for 15% of the workforce on the continent, according to a report by crypto intelligence provider K33 Research. The highest percentage of crypto employees are based in Singapore and Hong Kong, around 35%, while India accommodates 20% of the industry’s workforce in the region.
The global crypto industry is valued at $180 billion, K33 states, with around 190,000 employees across over 10,000 companies. Interestingly, the report said that the industry’s valuation would have been significantly higher if measured during the bull market in 2021.
Although the US is the leading crypto jurisdiction, just 29% of global crypto employees are based there. In particular, there are 60,700 employees in North America and around 8,400 in South America.
China’s Crypto Clampdown
The insights may be surprising given that crypto trading and its “hostile stance” toward the burgeoning space remain banned in China. China first aimed crypto in 2013, prohibiting local banks from facilitating Bitcoin-related transactions.
Four years later, the country outlawed initial coin offerings (ICOs) after investigating crypto exchanges’ activities. At the time, ICOs were the hottest crypto trend, enabling crypto entrepreneurs and developers to raise funding for their initiatives by issuing and selling tokens.
In April 2019, China cracked down on crypto mining, labeling the market “undesirable.” Then in 2021, the government completely banned crypto mining and trading activities. Despite the move, China was the second-largest crypto mining market in the world in 2022, after the US.
In contrast to China, the country’s particular administrative region Hong Kong has adopted an opposite approach to regulating crypto. In June, the city launched a new virtual asset trading platform licensing regime and has made several efforts in recent months to become a regional Web3 and digital hub.