By Kang Jae-eun
SEOUL, Sept. 30 (Yonhap) -- The Asia Pacific (APAC) region, including South Korea, could become the next power in the crypto era, and startup Mesh plans to double down on efforts in such markets, an executive from the company said Wednesday.
Jason Ne Win, the chief executive officer (CEO) of Mesh, made the remarks in an interview with Yonhap News Agency on the sidelines of the Korea Blockchain Week 2026, an international industry event in Seoul.
"I think crypto allows the Association of Southeast Asian Nations as a block to achieve its potential of being like right next to the Group of Seven (G7) countries... and then you have countries like South Korea and Japan where their huge, amazing economies are based on domestic consumption and flow," he said. "There are so many reasons why APAC is really the future."
The executive's comments come as the unicorn startup launched its dedicated APAC operations in April, which followed a US$75 million Series C funding round. The world's first crypto orchestration platform, which connects various virtual asset exchanges and wallets on its system, is currently valued at $1 billion since its founding in 2020.
The company has around 300 partners, with major investors being PayPal and Samsung Next, a venture capital arm of Samsung Electronics Co.
Jason Ne Win, the chief executive officer for APAC at Mesh, smiles, in this photo provided by the company on Sept. 30, 2026. (PHOTO NOT FOR SALE) (Yonhap)
According to Ne Win, Asia accounted for 60 percent of all stablecoin movements in 2025, while around five to seven of the top 10 markets in terms of crypto penetration were in the APAC region, with South Korea being one of them.
Infrastructure-wise, the region is further ahead than most developed countries, as it utilizes new payment methods, such as QR codes, instead of credit cards.
Purchasing power in the area is also growing, the executive said, adding he expects the region to account for up to 60 percent of global purchasing power by the year 2030.
"In almost every metric, APAC comes out on top. There are so many reasons why Mesh chose APAC, and why I am doubling, tripling down" on the region, Ne Win said.
Although Mesh's team for Asia is still small, with around five people, its presence is growing faster than expected, with the company already signing nearly 10 deals with local partners in the Asia market.
Mesh has been meeting with South Korean companies since early this week, mostly in the payments and commerce space, he said, without further elaborating.
"For digital assets natives that travel to South Korea, they can use their stablecoin wallets or exchange accounts to purchase, to spend, to move around. That's one small but growing segment," he said, when asked about the executive's area of interest in the Korean virtual asset market.
"I think South Korea has some areas where friction can be improved," Ne Win added.
Jason Ne Win, the chief executive officer for APAC at Mesh, is seen in this photo provided by the company on Sept. 30, 2026. (PHOTO NOT FOR SALE) (Yonhap)
Regarding discussions within South Korea to issue won-denominated stablecoins, the executive expressed strong support, saying the country should "100 percent" proceed with such a move.
Stablecoins are mostly made up of U.S. dollar-denominated stablecoins, and their market cap is only around $400 billion, far smaller than the total market cap of U.S. dollar-denominated financial instruments, the executive explained.
"My view is that stablecoin makeup will reflect true commerce, true money, true FX. Which means every country will have its own local currency denominated stablecoin, and they will have multiple issuers because there are multiple use cases, and there's no one-size-fits-all (solution)," Ne Win said.
On South Korea's regulatory efforts to bring virtual assets into the mainstream financial system, the executive advised regulators and policymakers to take on a more global perspective.
"Globally money moves, information moves, value moves. So some degree of regulatory harmonization or recognition will be important."
fairydust@yna.co.kr
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