Some countries in Asia Pacific posted stronger growth in bank lending to small businesses between 2019 and 2021 as compared to the period from 2017 to 2019

Banks in most Asian markets booked lower provisions to cover potential loan losses as economies recover, which has contributed to the improved profitability in 1H 2021

Ethereum, Terra and Binance Smart Chain (BSC), the top three largest DeFi blockchain networks, represented 76.5% of all DeFi activity. Ethereum is facing stiff competition from other DeFi blockchains and is moving to Ethereum 2.0.

The number of unicorns has increased dramatically amid a surge in venture capital investments, making 2021 a record year for privately held startup companies achieving unicorn status.

China’s pilot of the central bank digital currency has made promising progress. However, the digital RMB system collects and shares less transaction information than traditional electronic payments according to a PBOC digital RMB white paper.

In June 2021, Chinese ride hailing giant Didi and digital freight platform Full Truck Alliance made their debuts in the US amid the volatile initial public offering (IPO) environment.

Some companies have acquired cryptocurrencies for their corporate treasuries despite the volatility. MicroStrategy, the public company that holds the most bitcoin on the balance sheet, remains bullish on bitcoin.

Standard Bank of South Africa gained market share in home loans, while FirstRand Bank only grew its home loans by 0.2%

Crypto markets have seen recent spikes and increased volatility as more mainstream companies and speculators continue to join the digital asset trading and investment bandwagon. The impressive rise of other cryptocurrencies beside Bitcoin has dented its market dominance.

The COVID-19 pandemic has exerted substantial impact on the profitability of banks in Asia Pacific, although most are better positioned to weather this crisis than during the global financial crisis

Chinese and Japanese banks again dominate the list of The Asian Banker 500 largest banks. Balance sheet growth accelerated in the first half of 2020 and some players are reinforcing their scale and competitiveness through mergers and acquisitions

In addition to leading their institutions to support customers and communities, some bank bosses are also taking pay cuts or making charitable donations to support the fight against the COVID-19