Crypto news blogs: Industry insiders told Forkast that Hong Kong’s upcoming legal changes for companies offering services related to cryptocurrencies may bring talent and business back to the city as it works to restore its status as an international crypto powerhouse.
Crypto news: The Hong Kong Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) announced a draught set of regulations for trading platforms for virtual assets on Monday and invited public comment. The SFC intends to require cryptocurrency exchanges to apply for licences that would allow retail investors to trade specific large-capitalization tokens as part of the new licencing regime that will go into effect in June.
Crypto news: The de facto central bank of the city, the Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA), has announced in a consultation document that it will not permit algorithmic stablecoins and wants to impose a required licencing framework for stablecoin issuers as early as this year.
Crypto news Blogs: In 2021, China outlawed the use of cryptocurrencies, while Hong Kong has established a new licencing system that may eventually include retail crypto trading. Currently, only institutions and professional investors with portfolios of US$1 million or more are permitted to trade digital assets in Hong Kong, a special administrative region.
According to Angela Ang, senior policy advisor at California-based blockchain intelligence company TRM Labs and a former regulator at the Monetary Authority of Singapore, “the SFC is trying to thread the needle between digital asset innovation and investor protection in a post-FTX world, like many of its global counterparts, including Singapore.”
Paul Chan, the financial secretary for Hong Kong, announced on Wednesday that the government is allocating HK$50 million (US$6.37 million) to the growth of the Web 3.0 sector, which has presented a “great chance” to drive innovative development.
Hong Kong is calling
The market may witness more Web3 enterprises opening up shop in the city as Hong Kong continues to adopt a crypto-friendly regulatory approach after it proclaimed its pro-crypto stance in October, experts said.
For instance, cryptocurrency exchange Huobi Global is requesting a crypto trading licence in Hong Kong, according to a tweet from the exchange’s advisor Justin Sun on Monday. Huobi is considering to move its Asia headquarters from Singapore to Hong Kong, Sun also revealed to Nikkei Asia.
Youwei Yang, chief economist of New York-based BIT Mining and an adjunct professor who teaches blockchain courses at China’s Xiamen University, told Forkast, “I expect other crypto exchanges, market makers, and hedge funds would certainly follow suit back to Hong Kong.”