In a balm day in mid-April, thousands of people queued to enter the Hong Kong Convention Centre, where the city’s inaugural web3 festival was being held. Most had flown in from mainland China, but many others had traveled from Singapore, Japan, Indonesia, Thailand and even the United States to see what the city had to offer crypto businesses at a time when the regulation of digital assets intensified in the US.
In February, Hong Kong proposed a welcome set of rules to regulate crypto-related activities. Under the new legal regime, retail investors will be able to trade certain digital assets on licensed exchanges, replacing a 2018 framework that limited trading to only accredited investors.
The city is also paving the way to legalize stablecoins. A startup, which is backed by popular exchange KuCoin and USDC issuer Circle, recently launched a stablecoin pegged to the Chinese Yuan (CNH) offshore, the first of its kind in the Great china
To create a favorable environment for web3 companies, the city is facilitating communication between banks and crypto startups, many of which are struggling to find alternatives after the Silvergate Bank crisis.
These moves contrast with Beijing’s harsh crackdown on the crypto industry; they also highlight the extent to which the former British colony enjoys political exemptions in certain areas, such as finance.
In 2021, China banned all forms of crypto transactions, sending the country’s web3 entrepreneurs fleeing to more web3-friendly jurisdictions like Singapore. With Hong Kong welcoming digital assets, many self-exiled Chinese founders are considering settling in the city. Western companies are also evaluating Hong Kong as a potential outpost for their expansion into Asia.
At Hong Kong’s week-long web3 festival, TechCrunch spoke to a dozen participants in the web3 realm, including investors, nascent startups and established players, as well as “traditional” web2 tech giants, to assess Hong Kong’s appeal as next cryptography center.
Some believe the new regulatory regime will usher in a new wave of crypto innovation. They feel reassured that they can now operate as a legitimate business on Chinese soil and are quickly approaching government policy support, such as subsidized office space for crypto companies.
Others are more hesitant to accept the olive branch. As Asia’s financial hub, Hong Kong historically lacks a vibrant tech ecosystem and is too expensive for most wayward startups, so the types of crypto companies it attracts will likely be those that serve and interact with traditional finance, they believe.
The East rises
The timing is favorable for Hong Kong’s crypto-friendly move, said Shixing Mao, co-founder and CEO of Cobo, a Singapore-based digital asset custody solution backed by DST Global.
“The tightening of regulation in the US after the implosion of FTX has some consequences. In the past, several US banks played the key role of linking the traditional and crypto worlds, but this link is now broken, which represents a great opportunity for Hong Kong to step up,” said Mao, amiably known as “Discus Fish”. ‘ in the crypto community.
“Hong Kong has always been at the intersection of East and West and played an important role as a bridge into China,” observed Lily King, COO of Cobo.
This advantage was already proven before. Hong Kong played an important role in the early development of the crypto industry by attracting once influential exchanges like FTX and Bitmex to set up shop there. After China’s crypto crackdown, FTX moved to the Bahamas because of its friendlier and clearer regulatory stance towards the new asset class.
Hong Kong is regaining the attention of the West. Stephen Cheung, president of decentralized social network Bi.social, flew from the US East Coast to Hong Kong to feel the pulse on the ground.
“As a Chinese-born American whose parents grew up in Hong Kong, I am extremely optimistic about the open door policy for crypto in Hong Kong,” he said. However, Cheung believed that if American crypto companies leave the country, “they will stay in the Western Hemisphere.”
“Hong Kong has the possibility [of attracting Western firms] only because the US is currently openly hostile to web3 companies,” he said, adding that the city will be more attractive to other Asian-based companies before it has any significant influence in the West.
In fact, Hong Kong is increasingly on the radar of Singaporean crypto companies, many of which had come from China following the country’s crackdown on crypto. Now the tide is turning.
“After the implosion of FTX, the Singapore government has become more cautious about crypto. Hong Kong, on the other hand, is trying to attract talent and companies to build the basic infrastructure of the crypto industry,” said Luke Huang , Director of Business Development at Safeheron, a Singapore-based provider of self-custody solutions for digital assets. but recently established an office in Hong Kong.
Confidence booster
For the most part, people are praising the Hong Kong government for providing more regulatory clarity on the crypto industry. But they are interpreting Hong Kong’s open arms differently. Some see the move as a sudden change in government attitude, while others see it as a reflection of the city’s political consistency.
HashKey Capital, one of the world’s largest web3 venture capital firms that recently closed a $500 million Fund III, belongs to the latter camp.
The fund, which is the first institutional investor in Ethereum, was established in Hong Kong in 2017 and has maintained its office there since then. “What we have seen [in Hong Kong] over the years it is relatively consistent government direction and sustainable policy,” said Chao Deng, the company’s CEO. “The latest move is more of an upgrade of the licensing regime.”
Conflux, a Layer 1 blockchain that claims to be the only crypto company allowed to operate in China since the crackdown on the industry, was also reassured after meeting with several Hong Kong government delegates Kong during the web3 festival.
“Hong Kong is showing a lot of support for web3 development,” said Zhang Yuanjie, co-founder of Conflux. “From Lawmakers and InvestHK [the city’s department of foreign direct investment] to its financial secretary and monetary authority, everyone is serious about supporting the crypto industry.”
While Hong Kong’s new web3 regulation appears more favorable to transaction-focused crypto services, there is room for infrastructure builders, according to Safeheron’s Huang.
“Anyone entering the crypto industry needs a cybersecurity infrastructure, whether it’s a traditional or web-native company3. Now that financial institutions in Hong Kong can start integrating crypto-related products, we can play the role of ‘help bring them in,’ he said.
China’s Big Tech is also riding Hong Kong’s crypto wave. Alibaba and Tencent were present at the web3 festival with representatives from their cloud computing units. Like AWS, they want to have an edge and be the cloud provider of the decentralized world. Even if the nascent industry likely won’t generate any significant revenue anytime soon, tech giants clearly don’t want to miss out on an industry that continues to attract capital and talent from traditional industries.
Wait and see
The web3 festival, with its packed conference hall and lavish boat parties, appears to be a euphoric celebration of the city’s new crypto regime. But not all attendees are impatient. An investor at a prominent China-focused venture capital firm, who declined to be named, said he was not looking to get deals at the event because “it’s not where the real technical developers are.”
Three Chinese founders of web3 who have moved to Singapore and declined to be named said they were in Hong Kong simply to catch up with partners and investors and would “wait and see” before drawing any conclusions about the level of crypto-friendliness of the city.
Those who tend to be most passionate about Hong Kong’s new crypto regulation are fund managers, stock traders and others in traditional finance, observed Rachel Lin, CEO and co-founder of SynFutures.
“It’s not that they feel so much about crypto, it’s more about looking for the next investable assets. Right now, the financial markets are slowing down and they can’t find any other alternative assets,” Lin said. Before running the DeFi protocol, he worked at Deutsche Bank’s global markets division, managed overseas payment solutions at Ant Group and was a founding partner of leading cryptocurrency lender Matrixport.
“Crypto is very close to what they have been doing in finance, unlike AI or biotech, which is a remote thing for them. I think the positive signal from the government also increases their confidence,” he said.
It’s no surprise that Hong Kong warrants a fledgling industry that plays to its strengths. In recent years, the city has seen an exodus of multinational corporations and local talent as it suffers a series of political events.
“Hong Kong has encountered a major bottleneck in traditional industries such as finance and real estate, so it needs a lot of young talent and new blood to revitalize its economy,” King said. “Given the foundations he laid for the financial sector, focusing on digital assets is his best and only option for the future.”
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Hong Kong has extended an open invitation to the cryptocurrency industry, as the US faces further regulation of cryptocurrencies. Companies looking for regulatory clarity and access to markets are now turning to Hong Kong in response to the new rules in the US, as it has become a hotspot for tech and innovation.
Ikaroa, an enterprise-level full stack tech company based in Australia, is one of the companies that has benefited from the welcoming attitude of Hong Kong. After years of being confined to the US and its strict regulations, Ikaroa is now able to expand its business in Hong Kong’s crypto-friendly environment. The decision of the country to embrace digital assets has already resulted in a surge in the number of crypto-based startups in the city’s burgeoning ecosystem, and it continues to gain popularity.
As the US continues to restrict the use of cryptocurrencies, Ikaroa and other companies are now looking to the east for a more hospitable environment. With its progressive and innovative spirit, Hong Kong has become a sought-after destination for cryptocurrency businesses, as it encourages a more liberal approach towards digital assets.
The permission-less and open-source nature of crypto means that it is ripe for innovation and possibility, and by allowing crypto within its borders, Hong Kong is reaping the rewards. Its low taxation, open-minded approach and labor pool can mean the difference between success and failure in the cryptocurrency industry.
Cryptocurrency users, businesses and investors can be assured that with the open borders of Hong Kong, they can continue to use and benefit from the benefits of this emerging asset class without fear of regulatory interference. Whether companies need to securely store, trade or issue digital tokens, they can trust Hong Kong to do it safely and effectively.
Ikaroa, amongst many others, is a beneficiary of Hong Kong’s open stand on cryptocurrency, and the company looks forward to the possibilities and the opportunities that this new market affords us. With the latest regulatory changes in the US, it is reassuring to know that there are still places in the world where cryptocurrency is warmly welcomed and embraced.
