Crypto

Hong Kong’s Successful Approach To Cryptocurrency Regulation

Published

2 years ago

July 9, 2024

Hong Kong’s Successful Approach To Cryptocurrency Regulation

A number of measures show that Hong Kong is determined to foster a “vibrant ecosystem” for virtual assets and other related products.

Jill Wong, partner at law firm Reed Smith, writes about
how Hong Kong tackles regulating cryptocurrencies, a task
which involves judging how to balance innovation against
risk.

The editors are pleased to share these views and invites
readers’ responses. The usual editorial disclaimers apply. Email
tom.burroughes@wealthbriefing.com

Like many other jurisdictions, the initial response in Hong Kong
to the advent of bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies was to ask:
“what is this?” This has since evolved, although in the
initial stages of regulatory thinking virtual assets (VAs) were
regulated only to the extent that they fitted into existing laws
governing financial services. For example, VAs that resemble
traditional securities were treated as ‘securities’ or “futures
contracts’ under existing securities laws, and were subject
to the licensing, marketing and other requirements under Hong
Kong law.

However, as these laws were not formulated with VAs in mind,
there were VAs that did not fit neatly into traditional
definitions and so fell outside the regulatory net. The
securities regulator, the Hong Kong Securities and Futures
Commission (SFC), took steps to address this in the form of
public statements, warning the public that VAs, such as
cryptocurrencies, needed to be licensed. For instance, Initial
Coin Offerings could be seen as “collective investment
schemes,” and therefore required a licence under the
Securities and Futures Ordinance (SFO), whilst bitcoin futures
also required a licence under the SFO as “futures contracts.”

Matters accelerated in 2018 when the SFC expanded its regulatory
oversight to cover existing SFC licensees who were portfolio
managers and distributors of VA funds. This was a significant
step in bringing greater oversight and stability to the VA
ecosystem.

The SFC issued a position paper in 2019, outlining a new
framework for regulating centralised VA trading
platforms (VATPs). VATPs that provide trading services in both
non-security VAs and security VAs would fall within the
regulatory net of the SFC. However, a loophole existed: VATPs
that only dealt with non-security VAs remained unregulated.

This was soon dealt with. In June 2023, after extensive
consultation, Hong Kong enacted a comprehensive licensing regime
for VATPs. Under this regime, VATPs performing activities in
non-security VAs are required to obtain a VATP licence under the
Anti-Money Laundering and Counter-Terrorist Financing Ordinance
(AMLO).

The current position and outlook

Hong Kong has ambitions to be a VA hub. It is already moving in
the right direction, with the UN Trade & Development Report in
2023 ranking Hong Kong ninth in the world in terms of its
preparedness for frontier technologies. Hong Kong’s commitment to
innovation (while giving due protection to investors) and a
crypto-friendly legal framework have also positioned the
territory as a global leader in the VA space.

Hong Kong regulators continue to supplement the current framework
for VAs. This includes introducing licensing regimes for issuers
of fiat-referenced stablecoins and over-the-counter trading in
VAs. The regulators have already completed public consultations
on these regulatory proposals and plan to introduce the relevant
legislation soon.

Hong Kong also became the first jurisdiction in Asia to offer
retail investors the ability to trade spot bitcoin and Ether
ETFs, pioneering an in-kind redemption mechanism. This provided
investors with additional flexibility to buy and sell shares of
crypto tokens with a portfolio of securities, financial
derivative instruments or VAs instead of cash.

This is a pivotal move to integrate VAs into mainstream financial
products in Hong Kong. The inclusion of Ether also opens the door
for new ETFs tracking other major cryptocurrencies. This will
further diversify the offerings of exchange-traded products in
Hong Kong which now include a metaverse ETF, a blockchain
ETF and some VA futures ETFs.

Hong Kong is also investing heavily in fintech, a key driver for
the city’s competitive advantage. For example, the Hong Kong
government has commissioned the Hong Kong Monetary Authority
(HKMA) to subsidise training costs for eligible practitioners in
the finance sector under the Fintech Subsidy Scheme.

The latest 2023 “Fintech Promotion Roadmap” outlined five key
pillars for development, emphasising the adoption of fintech
solutions across Hong Kong’s banking industry, expanding the
fintech-savvy workforce, and enhancing data infrastructure.
At the same time, the HKMA’s exploration of a retail Central Bank
Digital Currency, the e-HKD, reflects the regulator’s commitment
to staying at the forefront of digital currency innovation.

Earlier this year, the HKMA launched a stablecoin
“sandbox.” This allows prospective issuers to conduct
experiments under relaxed regulatory settings and will facilitate
dialogue between the issuers and regulators. A high-profile
example is a fintech firm, founded by a former senior regulator,
actively working on a Hong Kong dollar-backed stablecoin,
partnering with prominent players in the digital payments and VA
sectors to explore the use of its stablecoin in retail and
cross-border payments.

Legal advantages?

Hong Kong’s legal system also provides a favourable environment
for the VA industry. Cryptocurrencies have been recognised by
Hong Kong courts as ‘property’ which can be the subject of a
trust in a liquidation context. The courts have also granted
freezing injunctions over cryptocurrencies as asset preservation
measures. These rulings provide welcome certainty for traders and
investors.

That said, while Hong Kong can be viewed as a crypto-friendly
jurisdiction, it is not an “easy” jurisdiction for regulatory
arbitrage. The current VATP licensing regime is stringent and
robust (some argue too stringent). The existing licensing regime
sets out detailed criteria for applicants’ financial resources,
management and governance structure, VA token admission
requirements, client assets custody, and anti-money laundering
and counter-terrorist financing policies.

The SFC has also reiterated that VATPs cannot serve mainland
Chinese residents. These exacting requirements and the lack of
access to mainland customers may have prompted several major
exchange players to withdraw their VATP licence applications.

However, a robust regulatory regime is arguably a necessary
foundation for sustainable growth. It gives credibility to
businesses that commit to compliance and boosts investor
confidence. This would explain the undiminished interest in Hong
Kong amongst the 17 would-be VATPs waiting to be licensed.

Is Hong Kong edging out the competition?

Traditional financial institutions interested in VA distribution
or fund management should be encouraged by recent moves by the
HKMA and SFC. In December 2023, the HKMA and SFC issued the third
joint circular on intermediaries dealing with VAs, expanding the
way for brokers, advisors and fund managers to provide VA-related
services.

There are additional guardrails for investor protection: most
VA-related products are likely to be considered as complex
products and, except in limited circumstances, distributors will
therefore need to comply with existing requirements for sales of
complex products. This includes a suitability assessment of the
VA-related product for the investors.

Only professional investors would have access to these
products. However, there are some options for retail
investors because they can trade VA-related products that are
traded on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange and some other specified
exchanges and the VA funds that are authorised by the SFC for
public offering. This should be a major boost to the VA markets
in Hong Kong.

In addition, the SFC has already greenlighted 25 funds allowing
them to have portfolios that invest more than 10 per cent in VAs.

Traditional banks and securities brokers can also offer VA
dealing services through partnerships with SFC-licensed VATPs.
Several securities brokers have already obtained the go-ahead
from the SFC and, whilst there are currently only two licensed
VATPs, there are likely to be more in future.

These measures demonstrate Hong Kong’s determination to foster a
vibrant ecosystem for VAs, innovative products, and those
that distribute, manage and invest in them. The global
marketplace is competitive, but Hong Kong has positioned itself
at the forefront of this global market and is well-placed to reap
the rewards in the coming years.

Disclaimer: This is for information only and is not
legal advice.

Crypto

Jim Rickards Asked Robert Kiyosaki to Read One Manuscript, Then His View of Global Finance Changed

Published

8 hours ago

July 7, 2026

Press Room

Jim Rickards Asked Robert Kiyosaki to Read One Manuscript, Then His View of Global Finance Changed

Key Takeaways

Why Did One Manuscript Change Robert Kiyosaki’s View?

Robert Kiyosaki, the author of the best-selling personal finance book Rich Dad Poor Dad, said an advance manuscript of “The Entropy Trap” shared by Jim Rickards prompted him to rethink how he views global finance. Rickards is an economist, lawyer, and financial commentator known for writing about currencies, debt, and systemic market risk. Kiyosaki said the early reading changed his perspective on where the financial system may be headed.

The reaction was framed around a warning about financial change. The book, written by Mickey M. Maini, “blew my mind and opened my eyes to what & why global financial change is coming,” Kiyosaki described. His comments focused on what he described as a shift in the rules behind wealth, assets, and trust.

The central claim is that wealth could move away from people relying on traditional financial assumptions. Kiyosaki asserted:

“The informed will be tomorrow’s ULTRA RICH. Todays uniformed operating by the old rules of money… will become the new poor.”

The Warning Behind the Claim

The warning centers on assets that depend on trust, including U.S. bonds, exchange-traded funds (ETFs), and mutual funds. Kiyosaki framed those instruments as vulnerable under the financial shift he says is coming, placing commonly held investment products at the center of the risk.

That claim is severe, but he presented it as a warning rather than a proven outcome. He also pointed to large bondholders, including Japan, saying they have already started dumping U.S. bonds. He did not provide supporting data in the statement.

The acclaimed author shared:

“Message from book… ‘All assets that require trust, assets that most people have… such as U.S. bonds, ETFs, mutual funds will be flushed down toilets, all over the world.’”

The broader conflict is whether traditional financial assets remain reliable under the conditions Kiyosaki described. His framing divides investors between those preparing for a changed financial system and those still operating under assumptions he says may no longer hold.

What Still Needs to Be Proven

A planned August study session could clarify the warning Kiyosaki described. He said his study team would examine the message and that Rickards may join, though the evidence behind the claims has not yet been laid out.

For now, the warning rests on Kiyosaki’s account of a manuscript that changed his view. He urged readers to prepare, writing:

“I want you to be one of the world’s new rich.”

What remains unknown is whether market data, policy moves, or investor behavior will confirm the risk he described.

His recent commentary has focused on what he describes as fragility in the global monetary system, particularly around the U.S. dollar. He has pointed to rising debt, central bank policies, and inflation as risks that could trigger a sharp market downturn.

Alongside those concerns, he has repeatedly highlighted bitcoin, gold, and silver as alternative stores of value. In his view, those assets may help reduce exposure to traditional financial instruments during periods of currency weakness and market turbulence.

Crypto

Strategy Is No Longer Just Going to “Inoculate the Market,” Selling Crypto May Be Much More Common. Here’s What That Could Mean for the Stock | The Motley Fool

Published

18 hours ago

July 7, 2026

Press Room

Strategy Is No Longer Just Going to “Inoculate the Market,” Selling Crypto May Be Much More Common. Here’s What That Could Mean for the Stock | The Motley Fool

When Strategy (MSTR 0.69%) sold a modest amount of Bitcoin earlier this year, it was a noteworthy development given that the company’s business has centered around buying up as much of the cryptocurrency as it can, and vowing to never sell. And it often boasts of being the largest corporate holder of the digital currency.

The company brushed off the sale of 32 Bitcoins, with management saying it simply wanted to “inoculate the market.” Well, now it appears that Strategy is doing much more than just that, and there could be more significant cryptocurrency sales in the future.

Image source: Getty Images.

Strategy unveils a Bitcoin monetization program

On June 29, Strategy released a framework going forward that it says will “enhance liquidity, preserve long-term Bitcoin exposure, and support long-term value creation for shareholders.” Among the notable components is its Bitcoin monetization program.

Within that program, the company says it may sell some of its cryptocurrency holdings for multiple reasons, including to fund a USD reserve, fund dividends or interest expense, or to fund repurchases of digital credit securities or common stock.

While the company says it remains committed to Bitcoin for the long term and it’s the company’s “primary treasury reserve asset,” it’s a significant change of course for Strategy, which was previously heavily against ever selling the digital asset.

Today’s Change

(-0.69%) $-0.69

Current Price

$100.08

Key Data Points

Market Cap

$35B

Day’s Range

$96.97 – $102.19

52wk Range

$81.81 – $457.22

Volume

248.6K

Avg Vol

21.3M

Gross Margin

68.11%

The stock is as risky and volatile as ever

Whether or not Strategy buys or sells Bitcoin doesn’t change the fact that this is a highly risky and speculative stock to own. While crypto fans may be disappointed in the company’s change in strategy, selling Bitcoin will likely not be enough to make the business any better or worse as an investment.

In just the past 12 months, the stock has plummeted a whopping 75% as volatility in digital assets has drastically weighed on its earnings, with the company incurring $12.8 billion in losses over the trailing 12 months, on revenue of $490 million.

That’s not likely to change significantly, even if Strategy offloads some of its crypto holdings, because with such a large exposure to Bitcoin, how the cryptocurrency performs will inevitably impact the company’s bottom line in a big way. This year, the leading cryptocurrency is down 28% as investor excitement around it has largely cooled off, which has proven disastrous for Strategy’s stock as well. And at this stage, there’s little reason to anticipate a recovery anytime soon.

Crypto

An Easy-to-Miss Radio Traffic Jam Is Behind Many Home WiFi Slowdowns

Published

1 day ago

July 7, 2026

Press Room

An Easy-to-Miss Radio Traffic Jam Is Behind Many Home WiFi Slowdowns

Key Takeaways

Your WiFi can feel rock-solid at midnight and oddly sluggish by breakfast, even when you have not touched a single setting. The culprit is often outside your walls: a crowded slice of public radio spectrum where your router has to negotiate space with every nearby network, plus a grab bag of household gadgets that leak interference. Add peak-hours demand and the signal-blocking quirks of building materials and weather, and “slow internet” starts to look less like a billing issue and more like an invisible traffic problem you are forced to share.

When WiFi slows down without warning

One day your home WiFi feels snappy, the next it drags, even though your router hasn’t moved and your internet plan hasn’t changed. That swing is real, and it’s usually not your imagination or a “bad day” from your ISP. WiFi lives on shared airwaves, and those airwaves get crowded, noisy, and sometimes just plain finicky.

Think of your connection as a conversation in a busy room. Your laptop and router may be talking just fine, but the room itself can fill up fast with other chatter. What looks like a mystery slowdown is often the result of invisible competition and interference that changes hour by hour.

The battle of competing networks

Most homes still rely heavily on the 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz WiFi bands, which are unlicensed spectrum in the US. That “free for everyone” reality is convenient, but it also means your network shares space with your neighbors, their smart TVs, their work laptops, and every nearby router doing the same thing.

Congestion has a rhythm. During common work-from-home and school-from-home windows, especially 8-10 AM, and again in the evening 6-10 PM, more devices are streaming, video calling, syncing, and downloading updates. Even if you pay for fast broadband, your WiFi link can become the bottleneck when the local radio environment gets packed.

Interference inside your home

Your own house can sabotage you. A microwave is the classic culprit because it can leak noise near 2.4 GHz, exactly where many WiFi networks still operate. Older cordless phones, some baby monitors, and even dense clusters of Bluetooth gadgets can add more clutter, especially in smaller apartments where everything sits close together.

Then there’s physics. Concrete, metal, and even water (think aquariums or thick pipes in walls) absorb and scatter radio signals. A router shoved behind a TV, tucked into a cabinet, or stuck in a far corner forces your devices to “hear” through more obstacles, lowering speeds and making dropouts more likely.

Weather, channels, and what you can do tonight

Environmental changes can matter too. Higher humidity and rain can slightly increase signal loss, and shifting temperatures can change how radio waves propagate around a neighborhood. You might never notice on its own, but paired with congestion it can tip a marginal connection into a frustrating one.

The 2.4 GHz band is also channel-limited. In the US there are 11 channels, but only 1, 6, and 11 don’t overlap. Many routers default to “auto channel,” so nearby networks can hop around trying to escape interference, sometimes creating instability. Practical fixes: prefer 5 GHz (or 6 GHz if you have WiFi 6E/7 gear), place the router centrally and higher up, and use a WiFi analyzer app to pick a less crowded channel instead of leaving it on auto.