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This $50M Fund Is Connecting Latin America to Asia

Sep 18, 2025
Join Qin En Looi, Managing Partner at Onigiri Capital, as he dives into the groundbreaking $50M fund that connects Latin American founders with Asian investors. He discusses the significance of bridging these markets and how Latin America can leapfrog traditional systems through blockchain. Qin highlights the rising importance of real-world assets and tokenization, alongside Japan's innovative moves in the crypto space. His insights reveal a vision for faster money transfers that could reshape global finance.
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INSIGHT

Asia Holds Majority Of Blockchain Users

  • More than half of global blockchain users are in Asia, so startups ignoring Asia miss a majority market.
  • Latin America and Asia share fast-growing economies and can leapfrog directly to blockchain-based solutions.
ANECDOTE

Japan–Brazil Community Ties

  • Sao Paulo hosts the largest Japanese expat population outside Japan, a tie that spans generations.
  • Qin En Looi links this cultural and trade connection to opportunities for blockchain-enabled financial rails.
INSIGHT

Distribution Trumps Technical Novelty

  • Technical barriers are lower now, so the real challenge is distribution and user acquisition.
  • Onigiri values founders with unfair access to hard-to-reach customer segments over purely novel tech.
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