Solana in Southeast Asia 2026: Teams, Talent and Jobs

Southeast Asia does not get the headlines that New York, Hong Kong or London get. That is exactly why it is worth your attention.

The region has nearly 700 million people, heavy mobile use, huge remittance flows and a lot of young builders. On Solana, it is turning from "lots of users" into "lots of teams". Money, licences and real payment volume are starting to follow.

This guide covers where the action is in Singapore, Vietnam, the Philippines, Malaysia, Thailand and Indonesia, which teams are worth watching, and how to get hired or invest with your eyes open.

Why Southeast Asia matters for Solana right now

Three things are true at the same time.

First, the payments problem is real. Families send money home every week, businesses run treasuries across five currencies, and old bank rails still close at the weekend. Fast, cheap stablecoin settlement fixes a problem people actually feel.

Second, the builder base is deep. On 6 October, Solana Summit Singapore ran a full Consumer Day the day before TOKEN2049. Nine Superteam chapters brought their builders on stage, including Malaysia, Vietnam, Thailand, Singapore and Indonesia.

Third, global hackathon numbers are exploding. Colosseum's Crypto World's Fair drew 2,973 submissions, its biggest hackathon ever, and the winners are due around the end of November. Local chapters ran their own tracks and prep programmes to feed it.

My take: this is one of the best places in the world to start a Solana career in 2026, because the problems are concrete and the competition for talent is still lighter than in the big Western hubs.

Singapore: the money and licence hub

Singapore is where the region's capital, legal teams and regulated businesses sit.

KAST

KAST is a Singapore-based stablecoin fintech offering dollar accounts and cards. In March 2026 it raised an $80 million Series A co-led by QED Investors and Left Lane Capital, with Peak XV, HSG and DST Global Partners joining. That is a big cheque for a payments app, and it means hiring across compliance, card operations, growth and engineering.

Xweave and Libeara

Singapore fintech Xweave now uses Solana to settle stablecoin treasury flows for corporates and banks. It is live in Singapore, Indonesia and the Philippines across US dollars, Singapore dollars, pesos, rupiah and dirhams, with the UAE, Japan and Hong Kong next.

Tokenisation platform Libeara has signed an MoU with TruFin to bring tokenised real-world assets to institutional users on Solana.

Exchanges are moving too. Upbit Singapore listed Paxos's USDG stablecoin on the Solana network in September. And Jito is working with Solana Company to run institutional validators across Asia, with Singapore one of the four hubs.

The Philippines: remittances go on-chain

The Philippines takes in more than $38 billion in remittances a year. That is why Western Union picked it as one of the first two markets for USDPT, its dollar stablecoin on Solana, which launched on 4 May 2026.

USDPT is issued by Anchorage Digital. The first phase is about settling with Western Union's agents 24/7, including weekends, instead of waiting on bank wires. A consumer product, Stable by Western Union, was announced for the Philippines and other markets.

Why this matters for your career: when a remittance company founded in 1851 moves settlement to Solana, local partners, exchanges and wallet teams need people who understand both crypto and cash payout networks. That mix is rare.

Vietnam: big talent, rules still forming

Vietnam has one of the strongest developer communities in the region, and it has produced teams like Coin98 and the Solana DEX Saros Finance.

Superteam Vietnam has a clear pitch: "no token, no fees, no equity", with a mission to turn local talent into funded companies and keep the value at home. It ran Road to Colosseum, a four-week programme with workshops and demo days across Hanoi, Da Nang, Ho Chi Minh City and Vung Tau. This month it is guest lecturing on RMIT's Digital Economy course.

Be realistic about the rules. Vietnam's crypto pilot, set by Resolution 05/2025, needs exchange operators to hold about VND10 trillion (around $386 million) in capital. Five applicants passed the first round, but as of October no licence had been granted. Builders are mostly shipping global products from Vietnam, not for a licensed home market yet.

Malaysia, Thailand and Indonesia: the builder pipeline

These three are where a lot of future founders are being made.

• Malaysia: Superteam Malaysia's DevLeague 2026 pulled in more than 120 builders for one day, with tracks on payments for Southeast Asia, AI agent payments (x402) and customer experience. PAYtience, a team cheered on by Superteam Malaysia, just won $10,000 at the Solana Mobile hackathon, which paid out $135,000 in prizes.
• Thailand: Superteam Thailand ran its own $10,000 track for the Crypto World's Fair and paid travel for top Thai teams. Its newest member is the founder of Chillchat, which raised $8.69 million in 2022 from backers including Solana Ventures, and who now builds Watch.fun.
• Indonesia: Superteam Indonesia ran a National Campus Hackathon from May to June on RWA, DeFi, gaming and consumer apps, plus Jakarta build sessions.

AirAsia MOVE, with 17 million monthly users across Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia, the Philippines and Kazakhstan, has also been reported working with the Solana Foundation on a tenge stablecoin, with flight payments planned. Watch that one: a travel super app is exactly the kind of distribution crypto needs.

How to get hired in Southeast Asia

Here is the practical bit.

1. Join your local Superteam. Start with bounties on Superteam Earn. Membership is earned by shipping, and it opens doors to founders and investors fast.
2. Pick payments or stablecoins. That is where the real money is flowing in this region. Learn USDC and USDPT flows, card programmes and local rails like QR payments.
3. Sell your local edge. Language, local banking know-how and regulator knowledge are worth a lot to global teams entering your market. Put that front and centre on your CV.
4. Enter one hackathon properly. The Colosseum route has clearly become the region's launch path. One serious build beats five half-finished ones.

Non-technical roles are open too: compliance, partnerships, community and ops are all in demand at payments teams.

What investors should watch

• Real payment volume, not token prices. Western Union, Xweave and KAST all point to stablecoin use that does not depend on trading.
• Licences. Singapore is the regulated base. Vietnam's pilot could open a large home market once the first exchange goes live, but timing is unclear.
• Hackathon to funding. Watch which Southeast Asian teams make the Crypto World's Fair winners list and the next Colosseum accelerator cohort.

The risk is plain: rules differ in every country, and some markets can tighten fast. Spread your bets and check local rules before you act.

You can browse more teams in Payments, Stablecoins & Staking and Community & Education, including Superteam and Circle (USDC).

What to do next

Southeast Asia is early, practical and full of opportunity. If you want to build, work or invest here, start with the teams already shipping.

• Browse every team on Solana Teams and look for those hiring in Singapore, Manila, Ho Chi Minh City, Kuala Lumpur, Bangkok and Jakarta.
• Building on Solana in Southeast Asia? List your team so job seekers and investors can find you.