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‘Breakthrough growth’ will be driven by Web3: HK financial secretary

August 28, 2023 Coin Telegraph

Paul Chan says that blockchain and Web3 tech will be responsible for the next big wave of growth in Hong Kong’s digital tech sector.

Hong Kong’s Financial Secretary, Paul Chan Mo-po has reiterated his support for blockchain technology, calling it the next wave of "breakthrough growth" in the digital technology industry in a recent blog post.

In an Aug. 27 statement, Chan wrote that emerging sectors within Web3 such as NFTs, GameFi, Play-to-Earn gaming, and immersive entertainment are set to lead the next generation of digital entertainment.

“The core blockchain technology of Web3, with its characteristics of disintermediation, security, transparency, immutability and low cost, can be applied in many fields such as finance, commerce, trade, supply chain management, and even daily life.”

Chan’s statements came in the wake of his visit to a three-day blockchain-focused event called the Digital Entertainment Leaders Forum, hosted in Cyberport in Hong Kong.

Cyberport is a 25 hectare, mixed-use tech and multimedia hub which provides grants, funding and office space to a wide range of companies across the tech, digital entertainment and finance sectors.

Notably, Chan mentioned he had allocated an additional $50 million from this year’s budget to Cyberport earlier this year— to help it accelerate the development of a “vigorous” Web3 ecosystem.

Chan noted that Cyberport had already gathered over 180 Web3-related tech companies including startups and fully-fledged exchanges under its roof, highlighting that 20% of the companies have come from overseas.

While China has maintained a hardline anti-crypto stance for nearly half a decade — Hong Kong has released new crypto-friendly legislation to position itself as a global hub for digital assets.

The government of Hong Kong has unveiled a task force dedicated to driving the advancement of Web3. According to a June 30 statement, the group comprises a mix of key government officials and industry participants. https://t.co/Yo9gnUquvI
— Cointelegraph (@Cointelegraph) July 2, 2023

Part of Hong Kong’s ongoing commitment to invest in the megatrend of Web3 development saw the special administrative region create a Web3 task force — to provide recommendations on the sustainable and responsible development of the industry.

On Aug. 3, local crypto exchange HashKey announced that it successfully obtained all of the necessary licenses to begin offering crypto assets to retail investors — becoming the first exchange in Hong Kong soil to expand its business from solely serving institutional investors.

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Hong Kong’s crypto ambition gets subtle nod from Beijing: Report

February 21, 2023 Coin Telegraph

Asia

While China has cracked down on cryptocurrencies in the mainland, it’s apparently taking a softer approach to Hong Kong’s crypto hub aspirations.

Hong Kong’s ambition of becoming a cryptocurrency hub is reportedly seeing subtle support from the Chinese government, in what could be seen as a contrast to the mainland’s hard-line anti-crypto stance.

In October last year, the government of Hong Kong floated the idea of introducing its own bill to regulate crypto and allow retail investors to “directly invest into virtual assets” that could possibly be in contrast to China’s widespread crypto ban.

According to people familiar with the matter, Beijing officials have not been brazenly opposed to the idea. According to a Feb. 20 Bloomberg report, it is understood that representatives from the China Liaison Office have been frequenting Hong Kong crypto gatherings seeking to understand what’s going on.

So far, their encounters with Beijing officials on the matter have been friendly, according to those familiar, which is being perceived by local crypto business operators that Beijing — albeit very subtly — may be open to using Hong Kong as a testbed for crypto.

New Bitcoin narrative brewing: Hong Kong is getting into crypto.

What makes it even more interesting is the People's Bank of China is one of the only central banks in the world cutting rates & easing.

Asia is bidding [sources] pic.twitter.com/n5cwE7jI2l
— Luke Martin (@VentureCoinist) February 16, 2023

Hong Kong is a Special Administrative Region of China, allowing it to have its own laws and governance. The former British colony was transferred back to China in 1997 following a guarantee from Beijing there would be no Chinese interference with the region’s economic and political systems for 50 years, known as the “one country, two systems” principle.

National People’s Congress member and digital asset lawyer Nick Chan was quoted as saying that as long as there are no violations of “the bottom line, to not threaten financial stability in China,” then the city is free to undertake its own pursuits.

On Feb. 20, Hong Kong’s Securities and Futures Commission outlined a new crypto license regime that proposed that all centralized exchanges that operate in the region must be licensed with the regulator.

It also proposed allowing retail traders access to licensed cryptocurrency trading platforms, saying public feedback highlighted that denying access to crypto markets may push Hong Kongers to trade on unregulated overseas platforms.

The new regulatory push has spurred many crypto businesses to seek expansion into the city. Most recently the exchange Huobi Global said it would seek a local license and plans to open a new Hong Kong-only exchange with a focus on institutional and high-net-worth individuals.

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