‘Cryptocurrency island’ in Thailand

“You can rent a desk at La Casa for less than $3 per day, rent a motorbike for commuting for less than $4 per day, and rent a whole house for $500 per month,” Jérôme Van Vlierbergen, 30 age, a Belgian cryptocurrency developer talks about Koh Pha-ngan. “With delicious food, poetic scenery and half-Gb/s Internet speeds, it’s no wonder Koh Pha-ngan has become a mecca for crypto nomads.”

According to Vlierbergen, people can find many cryptocurrency seminars or experts in the field converging in Koh Pha-ngan. On the island, most people have a certain understanding of blockchainincluding natives.

Crypto island

Koh Pha-ngan is home to about 12,000 indigenous people, but the cryptocurrency craze has tripled its population in just a few years, mostly Americans, Europeans and Russians. “There’s no airport. Everyone starts the journey here by boat and it’s quite exciting,” said Edwin de Lepper, owner of Buddha Cafe, which specializes in serving cryptocurrency players.

At the end of 2021, when Covid-19 began to decline, Lepper noticed an increase in the number of cryptocurrency lovers flocking to the island. They gather at shops or rental offices such as Tropicana, Sunset Hill Resort, Signature Restaurant and High Life Resort. In it, there are many influential figures in this field, such as MMCrypto with 948,000 followers on Twitter or James Crypto Guru with 74,000 YouTube channel subscribers.

“A lot of people come here and tell me they’re developing cryptocurrency or building a crypto project,” Lepper said. “Even if they don’t say it, I can clearly see that there are a lot of ‘whales’ on the island.”

Buddha Cafe is considered the “heart” of the island. This is not only a regular coffee shop for people to meet and discuss cryptocurrencies, but also host weekly seminars called “Living Library”, which discuss crypto topics, blockchain projects or simply imparting knowledge about this field to those who do not know.

See it as my home

Besides Koh Pha-ngan, some places in Southeast Asia such as Phuket, Chiang Mai of Thailand, or the island of Bali of Indonesia are attractive places for crypto lovers. Many people move their workplace regularly through these areas, but Koh Pha-ngan is still the most popular.

Kyle Chasse, founder of cryptocurrency firm Paid Network and Master Ventures, has called Koh Pha-ngan his second home. Chasse said he moved to the island in 2018 after hearing about a new Bitcoin community. “One of the reasons I’m here is the scenery, the people and the safety. It’s really like heaven in my imagination,” he said.

Guy Allison, founder of Blockchain Careers, said that in Koh Pha-ngan there are three features: parties, bars and yoga. “People often convert them to work inspiration,” says Allison.

Sean Stella, the founder of the HardForking blockchain, said he has been on the island for several years. This New Zealand man has been in Asia since 2005 and spends most of his time between Singapore and Thailand. In 2016, he went to Koh Pha-ngan and noticed a lot of crypto enthusiasts there. “I was surprised when I interacted with a group of people in the cafe, even saw the Bitcoin mining rig in the toilet of the cafe,” Stella recounts.

Stella estimates there were around 50–60 crypto-lovers on Koh Pha-ngan in 2016, then increased to several hundred in 2017. However, by 2018 the number of people has dwindled as interest has dwindled. when crypto winter hits. In the following years, the number of people coming to the island increased again, especially people from Europe and Russia. It is estimated that there are around 300-400 people on the island working in the cryptocurrency sector.

The future of Koh Pha-ngan

According to Allison, Singapore, Vietnam, Hong Kong, and Thailand are becoming crypto hotspots in the region. Thailand alone has made a number of moves to pave the way, such as the Stock Exchange of this country developing a new digital asset exchange, or Siam Commercial Bank which took over the Bitkub cryptocurrency exchange in 2016. November last year. “I think it’s a sign that cryptocurrencies are going to be popular in Thailand,” Allison said.

However, personally, Allison thinks his future at Koh Pha-ngan is coming to an end. “I’ve been doing this for two years, and I feel like I’ve reached a creative dead end,” Allison said. “A lot of people here are quite extreme. They are addicted and trying to get out of the addiction. Everything seems difficult because there is nothing in between to overcome.”

Allison plans to move to Chiang Mai next time. According to him, Koh Pha-ngan has many people working in the field of cryptocurrencies, but there are no organizations or funds dedicated to funding startup projects.

As for Lepper, he noticed that Koh Pha-ngan is changing in a direction that is no longer true to the name “Crypto Island”. “An island specializing in crypto really needs more than it is now. People can use Bitcoin or any cryptocurrency to shop, but here people who are knowledgeable about cryptocurrencies mainly exchange with each other. quite a few places support payment in this currency,” he said.

Bao Lam (follow CoinTelegraph)