Crypto Investor Names Japan and Korea as the Markets Beyond Singapore and Hong Kong

The stage was Stellar's Meridian 2026, and the topic was where Asia's next wave of activity lands. According to CoinDesk, which posted the quote to X, the investor told the room that Singapore and Hong Kong are the markets that first come to mind — but that the bigger excitement sits beyond them, in Japan and Korea.

The speaker was @OnigiriGP, who holds two titles at once: managing partner at OnigiriVC and partner at Saison Capital. That pairing straddles an independent venture shop and a corporate venture arm, giving the view some weight across the region's early-stage investing scene.

Singapore and Hong Kong have long anchored Asia's crypto map, drawing exchanges, funds and token teams with their mix of capital and regulatory clarity. Naming them as the default answers is a familiar move for anyone building in the region.

What raised eyebrows is the pivot north. Japan and Korea are two of the world's most active retail trading markets, and both have been steadily tightening and reshaping their rules for digital assets in recent years. For investors hunting the next pocket of demand, that combination of scale and structure is hard to ignore.

The remark landed at Meridian, Stellar's flagship gathering that pulls builders, funds and founders into one room. Comments made on that kind of stage tend to travel — particularly when they point at markets the crowd hasn't priced in yet.

Nothing was announced alongside the quote, and no specific plans for either country were shared. Still, it's a signal worth tracking: when a managing partner says the excitement is somewhere other than the obvious two, the obvious two may not be the whole map anymore.