CapitalAsia-Pacific

South Korea Tops East Asia Crypto Market

Credited to Business Korea · businesskorea.co.kr16h ago

Useful

South Korea’s digital asset market reached $449.1 billion over the past year, the largest in East Asia, surpassing China and Japan, according to a new analysis.

Analysis results showed that the domestic digital asset economy scale reached $450 billion over the past year, surpassing China and Japan to become the largest in East Asia. In particular, artificial intelligence (AI)-related digital assets accounted for about 18% of total Korean won trading.

According to the East Asia Crypto Adoption Report released by blockchain data platform Chainalysis on Oct. 6, the scale of South Korea’s digital asset economy from July last year to June this year was $449.1 billion, increasing by 12.3% compared to the same period last year. This is the largest scale in East Asia, exceeding Japan, Hong Kong, China, and Taiwan. Digital asset activity through domestic exchanges also increased by 16.3% during the same period.

Along with this, as of June this year, the share of AI-related digital assets in Korean won digital asset trading was the highest among major themes. It also exceeded the trading share of payment tokens such as XRP.

Interest in AI-related assets stood out even when compared to other currency zones. The share of AI-related assets in Korean won trading reached 19.5 times that of Japanese yen trading. The share of AI-related assets in Brazilian real, British pound, and euro trading also fell below that of Korean won trading.

The tokens driving the trading changed every year. While Virtual Protocol and Kaito were the center last year, the weight shifted to Worldcoin and Sahara AI this year. Trading volume by AI-related asset was the highest for Worldcoin at $7.41 billion, followed by Sahara AI at $3.2 billion, Virtual Protocol at $2.7 billion, Bio Protocol at $2 billion, and Near Protocol at $1.7 billion.

Chainalysis diagnosed that domestic individual investors showed a tendency to actively trade by quickly changing their preferred AI-related assets compared to other markets.

Expansion of corporate participation and taxation were cited as future variables for the Korean market. The explanation is that although domestic banks and securities firms are forming dedicated digital asset organizations and conducting pilot projects for stablecoins, tokenization, and custody, corporate participation for investment purposes has not yet begun in earnest. Chainalysis viewed that the market entry of corporations and the taxation on digital asset income scheduled to be implemented next year could change the participation patterns of individual and institutional investors.

Kwon Jun-hyuk, Country Manager of Chainalysis Korea, said, “Korea is a market with active participation from individual investors, where high interest and rapid preference changes for AI-related digital assets were clearly evident,” and added, “As the market participation of corporations and institutions expands in the future, the domestic market is expected to become even more diverse, so Chainalysis will continue to contribute to creating a safer and more transparent market environment based on reliable blockchain data and analysis.”

Meanwhile, Chainalysis recently stated through a report that the scale of domestic digital asset activities potentially subject to taxation reaches about 15 trillion won (about $11.2 billion). This is about 144.05% of the government’s fiscal deficit of $7.5 billion last year.

Original · Business Korea

Front Method

Models & Labs · Middle East & Africa

Abu Dhabi launches major training programme to teach AI skills to the public

Credited to The National · thenationalnews.com · 1h ago

Photograph · The National

Abu Dhabi on Wednesday set out plans to equip thousands of government employees and the wider public with crucial artificial intelligence (AI) skills under a major drive to advance the responsible use of the rapidly evolving technology.

The Abu Dhabi government and the emirate's Mohamed bin Zayed University of Artificial Intelligence have joined forces with global tech giants OpenAI and Microsoft to launch the AiNative training programme.

The key strategy will provide 20,000 government employees with cutting-edge support by the end of the year and is central to Abu Dhabi's mission to become the world's first AI-native government by 2027.

The initiative - announced at the Ai Everything conference in the capital by Abu Dhabi's Department of Government Enablement - will seek to encourage citizens and residents, government workers and department leaders alike to unlock the potential of AI to drive progress.

Under the initiative, employees will be given help to build up expertise with ChatGPT, Codex and Microsoft 365 Copilot, allowing them to use the tools in their daily duties.

Specialised, function-specific certifications, including areas such as coding and data, will follow in later phases of the project.

Using AI as a high-tech study tool and to find jobs

Citizens and residents will be able to access the training programme via Tomouh, DGE's AI-driven learning app, which can be accessed through the UAE Pass government app.

The scheme will cover practical applications of AI in everyday life, including managing personal finances, running a small business, finding a job, studying and creating content responsibly online, and will be delivered through the free version of ChatGPT.

DGE owns the curriculum, which has been developed in collaboration with OpenAI, Microsoft and MBZUAI.

“AI will only create lasting value when people have the knowledge and confidence to use it well," Wesam Lootah, director general of GovDigital at DGE, said:

"AiNative puts that capability at the heart of Abu Dhabi’s AI journey, giving government employees and the wider community practical skills to use AI responsibly in their work and everyday lives.

"By bringing together government, industry and academia, we are building a common foundation for an AI-enabled society and government.”

Eric Xing, President and University Professor at MBZUAI, emphasised the importance of ensuring access to AI for all as it continues to shape the future.

“Championing a culture of life-long learning ensures that the benefits of new technologies are understood and realised responsibly by all," he said.

"Through AiNative, people can gain practical knowledge alongside the judgement to apply AI thoughtfully in a way that it becomes a partner for progress.

"Developing this capability at scale will be an important part of Abu Dhabi’s transition to an AI-native government and society.”

AiNative is being rolled out in phases. An initial pilot within government is already under way, before it will be made public.

The launch of AiNative follows the rollout of Microsoft 365 Copilot to 35,000 Abu Dhabi government employees through the Frontier Employee Programme, announced in July.

Abu Dhabi's AI ambitions

Abu Dhabi unveiled its visiion to be the world's first AI-powered government last year, as part of its Digital Strategy 2025-2027.

Led by the DGE, the programme will allocate Dh13 billion ($3.5 billion) to boost digital infrastructure, automate 100 per cent of government processes, and integrate sovereign cloud computing across all operations.

The strategy is expected to contribute more than Dh24 billion to Abu Dhabi’s economy by 2027 and create more than 5,000 employment opportunities supporting Emiratisation efforts.