Hong Kong’s Financial Services and the Treasury Bureau (FSTB) have established guidelines for the development of virtual assets and their ecosystems. They also intend to tokenize the Government Green Bond issuance as well as facilitate a possible launch of the country’s CBDC, the e-HKD.
As of last year, Hong Kong had restricted the use of cryptocurrencies to professional investors due to money laundering and consumer protection concerns. This move caused many crypto entrepreneurs to relocate to countries with crypto-friendly policies.
Hong Kong’s decision to change its stance on cryptocurrencies demonstrates the country’s receptiveness to exploring the technology and embracing the financial innovation that comes with it. This move also indicates the country’s bid to reclaim its status as a global financial hub.
In an interview with Bloomberg, Justin Sun, Founder of Tron, commented on Hong Kong’s latest move and related it to China’s stand on digital assets. He said:
“Regulators in China are monitoring Hong Kong’s approach to build it into a leading Asian cryptocurrency hub and see it as a policy test for the mainland, right now they are using Hong Kong as an experiment base so they can see all the feedback, all the results, once they adopt crypto, that’s why I’m super bullish and looking forward to seeing the results of all the Hong Kong crypto policy.”
China was one of the countries that adopted cryptocurrency early in 2011. A large number of crypto miners were based in China at that time. However, in September 2021, the People’s Bank of China (PBOC) banned all crypto asset transactions because of its role in increasing financial crimes and economic instability.
“Hong Kong right now is in a very embrace crypto mode, I think not only this marks basically the opening up of crypto in Hong Kong but also opening up overall crypto policy in China,” Justin Sun added.
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