Hong Kong woos mainland China crypto firms in push to bolster finance hub status

HONG KONG, April 13 (Reuters) – After years of bankers quitting Hong Kong amid a China safety crackdown and tight COVID curbs, the town is rolling out the purple carpet to a finance sector tarnished by occasions elsewhere in a bid to bolster its standing as a finance hub – cryptocurrencies.

Whereas scandals and high-profile bankruptcies have prompted some governments to distance themselves from the cryptocurrency business, Hong Kong is pulling out all of the stops to court docket mainland China crypto corporations to rebase within the metropolis. Mainland China banned cryptocurrency buying and selling in 2021.

High authorities officers, comparable to Hong Kong chief government John Lee, are touting their help and the town is scheduled to carry 100 crypto-related conferences and lavish events by means of April.

The Hong Kong authorities “may be very critical about constructing a global digital asset centre”, mentioned Xiao Feng, chairman of Hong Kong crypto alternate HashKey, which noticed 13,000 individuals attend the primary day of its Hong Kong Web3 Competition, the largest convention of the month, on Wednesday.

HashKey obtained a license to function in Hong Kong final November, making it one in all two licensed crypto exchanges within the metropolis in addition to rival alternate OSL.

In keeping with Xiao, many within the crypto business thought Hong Kong would inevitably undertake the identical rules as mainland China. However he mentioned that the federal government is now attempting to stress Hong Kong practices completely different legal guidelines from mainland China below the “One Nation, Two Methods” framework.

To make sure, many stay sceptical on Hong Kong’s promise of a secure regulatory regime on cryptocurrencies. One crypto enterprise capitalist, who declined to be named citing the sensitivity of the matter, mentioned that he remained frightened as China’s crypto ban nonetheless looms massive within the background.

“If Hong Kong can all of the sudden say that it’s crypto-friendly as if it is a swap, that swap will be simply as all of the sudden turned off ought to issues get tough,” he mentioned.

Nonetheless, not less than 10 corporations with Chinese language founders together with OKX, Bybit, Huobi have introduced or are planning to announce their bid for licenses in Hong Kong, in keeping with the companies and media reviews.

These companies, which have exited international locations like Canada and Britain, are among the many sponsors of the glitziest Hong Kong events this week. Bybit held a personal dinner for business heavyweights the place delicacies from Hiroshima oysters to fish maw soup had been served, whereas OKX booked a rooftop venue with a vista over your entire Victoria Harbour.

At one occasion on Tuesday, crypto entrepreneur Justin Solar instructed a primarily Chinese language-speaking viewers: “I can not consider that we’re having such conferences on Chinese language soil.” Solar has been charged by the U.S. Securities and Change Fee (SEC) with fraud, however mentioned the SEC’s fees lacked benefit and accused the regulator of focusing on crypto gamers.

“Hopefully sooner or later, we may have such occasions in Shanghai and Beijing,” Solar mentioned.

Reporting by Josh Ye in Hong Kong; Modifying by Brenda Goh and Kenneth Maxwell

Our Requirements: The Thomson Reuters Belief Ideas.