Digital assets took center stage at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit in Gyeongju, North Gyeongsang Province, appearing alongside key industries such as shipbuilding, artificial intelligence (AI) and defense — a reflection of their growing significance and market influence, industry officials said Thursday.
Oh Kyoung-suk, CEO of Dunamu — operator of Korea’s largest cryptocurrency exchange, Upbit — delivered a keynote speech at the APEC CEO Summit Wednesday, to an audience of global business leaders.
Dunamu also hosted the Future Tech Forum Thursday, a side event of the summit, representing Korea’s digital asset industry. Speakers included Michael Casey, senior advisor to the MIT Media Lab; Marco Dal Lago, Tether’s vice president of global expansion; and Lu Yin, APAC lead at the Solana Foundation.
“The Future Tech Forum this year covers key national industries such as shipbuilding, defense, AI and future energy,” a Dunamu official said. “The inclusion of digital assets marks a rare case for the APEC stage, where discussions have traditionally centered on physical industries.”
During Wednesday’s speech under the theme “The Future of Currency & the Global Financial Market,” Oh emphasized that the current market landscape is an opportunity for Korea to lead a new financial order.
“The adoption of blockchain and stablecoins is still in its early stages, and the growth potential is truly immense,” he noted. “In this blockchain revolution, Korea and Dunamu, together with global partners, have the opportunity to build a new financial order.”
Korea is the world’s second-largest crypto investment market after the U.S.
Oh highlighted the history of money and the future that blockchain and stablecoins will bring. Stablecoins are digital assets that peg their value to fiat currencies, such as the U.S. dollar, improving cross-border payment efficiency.
“While fiat currencies have traditionally relied on the trust guaranteed by national institutions, in today’s era of digital assets, that trust is ensured through algorithms and network consensus,” he explained. “We are now living in a time when fiat currencies and digital assets coexist, complementing each other’s strengths.”
Currently, there are 560 million digital asset holders worldwide — a number comparable to the entire population of Southeast Asia. Bitcoin has now established itself as the world’s seventh-largest asset.
“While the blockchain remained isolated from the traditional financial system, stablecoins have become the bridge connecting the two,” Oh said.
The current market capitalization of stablecoins stands at around $300 billion, reshaping not only payments but also lending, wealth management and capital markets through Web3-based systems.
Oh continued, “Dunamu will begin this journey in Korea, expand across Asia, and ultimately advance onto the global stage to create a new model for the future of currency and the global financial market.”
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