In June 2025, Vietnam passed its first law on the digital technology industry. Taking effect in 2026, the law establishes a legal framework for digital assets, including virtual and crypto assets, and creates a regulatory sandbox for businesses to test new virtual asset technologies.
Southeast Asia to drive DePIN growth [Brought to you by @u2u_xyz] https://t.co/tGtE0PnwYT
— Cointelegraph (@Cointelegraph) June 30, 2025
Chloe Phung, co-CEO of U2U Network, believes it will encourage traditional institutions to explore blockchain technology. During the Cointelegraph AMA, she discussed the implications for Web3 businesses and the DePIN landscape in Southeast Asia.
Why DePIN can boom in Southeast Asia
“We’ve moved from ideas to pilot programs,“ said Chloe. “Thanks to regulatory clarity, banks, telecom groups, and real estate firms are entering discussions about tokenizing assets and building onchain infrastructure. Vietnam can now differentiate itself by embracing innovation without waiting for a perfect blueprint.“
Chloe also mentioned the development of financial zones in cities like Da Nang and Ho Chi Minh City that are expected to offer more favorable tax systems and policy environments. “Overall, these changes create a better foundation for all Web3 innovation,“ she noted.
Vietnam’s crypto space is experiencing an influx of institutional capital for the first time. The change is being led by SSI Digital, the tech venture arm of Vietnam’s top financial firm SSI, which also acted as a lead investor in its Series A round for U2U Network. Together with U2U, they collaborate on projects involving smart cities, DePIN infrastructure, and regulated Web3 applications.
Chloe considers this collaboration timely and strategic, as Southeast Asia currently accounts for over 40% of early-stage Web3 infrastructure investments in Asia, according to BCG. DePIN also seems to be a natural fit for the region, which is defined by its young population, widespread mobile use, and underdeveloped financial systems.
“People in the region are already familiar with similar systems through ride-hailing apps, gig work, and fintech platforms. DePIN just offers a more decentralized and transparent version of what people here already understand,“ Chloe noted.
Unlike traditional infrastructure, which comes with high costs, long deployment times, and outdated models, DePIN taps into unused local resources, such as bandwidth or storage, and redistributes them in exchange for incentives.
Powering real-world systems
According to Chloe, U2U is designed to manage physical assets such as bandwidth, computing power, and edge data. Its architecture prioritizes speed, flexibility, and scalability with a modular design. The core chain runs on a DAG-based consensus system offering 650 ms finality and 17,000 TPS even at scale.
U2U also supports subnets, enabling projects to operate on their own chains with custom rules, storage, and validators while remaining secured by the U2U mainnet.
Chloe discussed several examples of the real impact of DePIN. One example is the U2U DePIN marketplace, built using U2U’s subnet infrastructure. There, users can contribute bandwidth, which others can access on demand. U2U has also launched U2DPN (Decentralized Private Network), one of its flagship DePIN products. Running on a dedicated subnet, U2DPN allows users to contribute and access bandwidth in real time and get rewarded, making it a live proof of concept within the U2U ecosystem, with over 92M sessions and 94K+ contributor nodes. Also, with U2U support, Nubila deploys macro weather sensors across Asia to collect weather data and convert it into RWAs for use by AI and infrastructure. Another partner, Staex, integrates DePIN into enterprise devices, such as drones, for zero-trust network management.
U2U’s future focus will be on adding more real-world applications, especially those in DePIN, as well as IoT and possibly AI projects, if they align with U2U’s modular architecture.
Chloe also shared that a unified DePIN Client Hub is coming soon. “Instead of downloading multiple apps to share their device resources, users will just need one. Developers looking to access those resources can connect to the hub directly, which makes it easier for both parties to connect and operate within the network,“ she explained.
With continued support from SSI Digital and ongoing efforts to attract traditional institutions in Asia and around the world, U2U aims to expand its reach. “We want to work closely with traditional enterprises and government agencies in Vietnam to explore how blockchain can be used in operations such as the supply chain,“ Chloe added.
She said the next phase is all about delivering measurable impact and pushing blockchain deeper into real-world applications.
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