a16z Will Open First Office in South Korea Amid Rapid Growth of Asian Crypto Market

• a16z is betting on Asia and opening a new office in South Korea.
• It will be headed by Sungmo Park, a specialist from Polygon Labs and Monad Foundation.
• The reason for this is the record-breaking crypto activity in the region.

The cryptocurrency division of the venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz (a16zcrypto) has announced the opening of its first office in Asia — in Seoul, South Korea. The decision was a response to the growth of crypto activity in the region. This was officially announced by the company’s Chief Operating Officer (COO), Anthony Albanese.

The statement also reads:

Sungmo Park previously led the APAC business at Monad Foundation and was the head of business development for Asia Pacific at Polygon Labs. At a16zcrypto, he will also be responsible for business and market development in the APAC region.

The company noted that the new office will help strengthen support for crypto projects:

According to a16zcrypto’s State of Crypto, Asia already accounts for a significant share of global on-chain activity

• South Korea is the second largest cryptocurrency market in the world, with almost a third of adults owning digital assets;
• Japan — growth of online activity by 120% per year
• Singapore is one of the world leaders in terms of crypto asset ownership (40% of Gen Z and millennials)
• India is No. 1 in the global cryptocurrency adoption index by Chainalysis

According to Chainalysis, in the last 12 months alone, online activity in the APAC region has grown by 69% to $2.36 trillion, a record figure driven mainly by India, Vietnam, and Pakistan.

As of the end of February 2025, 32% of South Korea’s population was registered on the five largest crypto exchanges.

In addition, the country’s recently elected president, Lee Jae-myung, has promised crypto reforms.

In particular, South Korea is tightening requirements for market participants. After the Upbit hacking incident, the government is developing new rules that will “treat large crypto exchanges as strictly as traditional financial platforms.”

The new rules will include:

• Mandatory compensation of losses to customers regardless of who is to blame for the hack
• Upgrading IT infrastructure and raising cybersecurity standards

At the same time, the country is preparing a regulatory framework for stablecoins — the ruling party demanded that the final version of the document be submitted by 10 December.

According to Henley & Partners, Singapore topped the crypto acceptance ranking in 2024 due to its high infrastructure, innovation, and favourable tax environment.

At the same time, Japan has launched the first yen-backed stablecoin, JPYC, on the Ethereum, Avalanche, and Polygon networks. The goal is to reach 10 trillion yen in circulation in three years.

The Japanese regulator (FSA) will also require exchanges to form a reserve fund to compensate for losses in the event of a hack, raise security standards, and provide additional reports.