<\/p>\n
As governments race to modernize their financial infrastructure, blockchain is shifting from a private-sector experiment to a national priority. <\/p>\n
From stablecoins to digital identity systems, countries across Asia, Africa, and the Middle East are adopting tokenized assets at speed\u2014driven in part by fears that U.S. regulatory shifts could leave them behind.<\/p>\n
At the center of this push is Sign, led by co-founder and CEO Xin Yan. In an interview with crypto.news<\/em>, he explains what\u2019s driving this wave of adoption, from cutting costs to increasing transparency and reclaiming control over money flows.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Crypto.news: Asset tokenization is becoming more popular, and we\u2019re seeing increasing interest from governments across the world. How do they see this technology, and what\u2019s driving their interest?<\/strong><\/p>\n Xin Yan<\/strong>: There are roughly 190 governments in the world, and most of them think in bureaucratic terms. They don\u2019t always understand new technologies deeply, but they care about national development and don\u2019t want their countries left behind. So whenever something big appears \u2014 like AI or blockchain \u2014 they want to be involved.<\/p>\n In the past, many governments viewed blockchain negatively because it was seen as anti-establishment and decentralized, while government structures are hierarchical. There\u2019s a fundamental ideological tension there. But things have changed a lot this year.<\/p>\n When the U.S. government, and even figures like Donald Trump, began showing openness toward crypto, it flipped the narrative. Governments are copycats by nature \u2014 if major powers adopt something, others follow. They don\u2019t want to be left behind.<\/p>\n Beyond that, blockchain offers real practical advantages. It\u2019s a much faster and more efficient global settlement system compared to legacy options like SWIFT. The old infrastructure is clunky, expensive, and slow. Blockchain-based settlement is cleaner, faster, and increasingly compliant as digital ID systems and automated KYC improve.<\/p>\n So, governments see the appeal: better payments, faster clearing, and more transparency.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Crypto.news: Right now, USD stablecoins dominate the global crypto economy. Are governments worried this will deepen dollarization and weaken their own currencies?<\/strong><\/p>\n Yan<\/strong>: Yes \u2014 and they should be.<\/p>\n The traditional U.S. dollar payment system is already losing efficiency, but now there\u2019s a new, even more powerful \u201cweapon\u201d: U.S. dollar\u2013based stablecoins. For smaller nations, that\u2019s a real threat.<\/p>\n Currency control is one of the few levers of national sovereignty. Many Southeast Asian countries learned the hard way, during the crises 20\u201325 years ago, that uncontrolled capital flows can destroy local economies. If U.S. liquidity floods in and out through stablecoins, those nations lose the ability to manage their monetary systems.<\/p>\n Cambodia is a good example. USDT use there is so common that the local currency has become almost irrelevant. Governments can\u2019t simply ban stablecoins \u2014 they\u2019re too pervasive \u2014 but they can respond strategically.<\/p>\n The best defense is to match the technology: launch your own stablecoin, peg it to your local currency, and create liquidity pairs with exchanges like Binance. That way, you can monitor data flows and retain control over domestic circulation.<\/p>\n That\u2019s what we\u2019re helping countries do. We\u2019re working with Kyrgyzstan on their national stablecoin, and we just signed a deal with Sierra Leone for the same. In Abu Dhabi, there are already four active stablecoin projects, and we\u2019re helping them with adoption and use cases.<\/p>\n CN: Aside from stablecoins, what other blockchain infrastructure are governments building or interested in?<\/strong><\/p>\n Yan<\/strong>: The most important layer is the monetary system itself. Governments see blockchain as a superior settlement network \u2014 particularly between central banks and commercial banks.<\/p>\n In this structure, the central bank acts as the token issuer \u2014 the \u201ccontroller\u201d of the system \u2014 and the commercial banks become the equivalent of DeFi platforms, lending and managing liquidity. This is effectively what wholesale CBDC systems aim to do.<\/p>\n There\u2019s skepticism about retail CBDCs, but for interbank settlement, blockchain is objectively better. Traditional systems like RTGS take a full day to clear transactions; blockchain can do it in seconds.<\/p>\n The second major pillar is cross-border payments. Combining stablecoins with blockchain-based settlements creates the next-generation global payment architecture.<\/p>\n The third is digital identity. You need reliable KYC and credential verification for money systems to work. Traditional digital ID systems \u2014 like those in Singapore, India, or China \u2014 centralize all data on a single server, which is constantly hacked.<\/p>\n The new approach, which we\u2019re building for places like the UAE, Bhutan, Singapore, and Hong Kong, uses verifiable credentials. Instead of one central database, each credential issuer signs your identity data with its public key. Anyone can verify its authenticity cryptographically without accessing the central system. It\u2019s a digital stamp, just like a paper seal, but for the internet.<\/p>\n Together, money and ID form the foundation. Once those are in place, countries can tokenize real-world assets \u2014 natural resources, gold, electricity, oil \u2014 and use them to raise capital.<\/p>\n Traditionally, nations export these resources for U.S. dollars. But if you tokenize them, you can raise capital directly from global investors without relying on U.S. markets. Instead of selling gold, you issue gold-backed tokens while keeping the gold in your own vaults. That\u2019s a fundamental shift.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Crypto.news: Some worry about scalability \u2014 can blockchain handle national-level workloads?<\/strong><\/p>\n Yan<\/strong>:: It\u2019s not really an issue anymore. Modern chains like BNB Chain and Solana process blocks in under 200 milliseconds. That\u2019s more than enough for a country\u2019s transaction volume. Even if it becomes a problem, there are Layer-2 and modular solutions ready.<\/p>\n Crypto.news: You mentioned public services earlier \u2014 how does blockchain change how governments interact with citizens?<\/strong><\/p>\n Yan<\/strong>: It transforms it completely. Once you have national digital IDs and wallets, the government can distribute funds \u2014 like subsidies or child benefits \u2014 directly on-chain.<\/p>\n Instead of dealing with multiple bank accounts and intermediaries, citizens can simply claim an airdrop linked to their verified ID. It\u2019s instant and cheap. This direct interaction between the treasury and the citizens\u2019 wallets will redefine public administration.<\/p>\n Crypto.news: And what does all this mean for the crypto ecosystem itself \u2014 traders, investors, the broader market?<\/strong><\/p>\n Yan<\/strong>: It brings real people and real money into the crypto economy. Right now, crypto is liquid but small \u2014 too few users, too little real utility. Governments adopting blockchain infrastructure will onboard millions who\u2019ve never used crypto before.<\/p>\n When people start receiving pensions or salaries through wallets, they\u2019re automatically part of the crypto world. Once that happens, crypto stops being a niche \u2014 it becomes embedded in daily life, in voting, payments, and services.<\/p>\n From there, tokenization will explode. If a country like Abu Dhabi tokenizes even 5% of its oil, that becomes one of the largest assets in the crypto market overnight. Real-world value will finally be back on-chain liquidity.<\/p>\n Crypto.news: Is there anything people are overlooking in this shift?<\/strong><\/p>\n Yan<\/strong>: Yes, the extent to which blockchain will replace legacy systems, not just complement them. SWIFT, for example, recently announced it\u2019s building a \u201cblockchain version\u201d of its network. But that misses the point. The goal of crypto is to bypass SWIFT entirely, not upgrade it.<\/p>\n With stablecoins, cross-border payments can now go directly from USD to USDT, convert to another nation\u2019s stablecoin, and settle instantly in a local bank account or wallet\u2014no intermediaries, no delays, and at a fraction of the cost.<\/p>\n That\u2019s what\u2019s really transformative \u2014 it\u2019s not theoretical anymore. It\u2019s happening now, and governments are starting to realize this is the new infrastructure for global finance.<\/p>\n <\/p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" As governments race to modernize their financial infrastructure, blockchain is shifting from a private-sector experiment to a national priority. 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