- HK legislator wants to have over 1000 Web3 startups in the country in the next three years
- HK SFC proposed regulatory changes for Web3-based companies last October
- CSOP Asset Management secured $73.6 million in investments to launch two cryptocurrency futures ETFs on the Hong Kong stock market
Jonny Ng Kit-Chong, a Hong Kong Legislative Council member, co-founded a startup accelerator intending to lure at least 1,000 Web3 firms to Hong Kong within the next three years.
Ng Kit-Chong was elected on January 2022 to represent the Election Committee seat in the Legislative Council. The engineer and politician have disclosed owning shares in about 40 firms, giving him a wide range of potential financial interests.
He and Casper Wong created the startup accelerator G-Rocket in 2016. On December 23, Wong, the acting CEO, discussed the company’s new “Hong Kong Web 3.0 Hub” program with the South China Morning Post.
Hong Kong Potentially Leading the Web3 Space in Asia
Casper Wong explained that G-Rocket would focus on helping one thousand Web3 startups get off the ground in the first three years. Wong stated,
“We hope to help bring good companies and talent back to Hong Kong in the post-pandemic era,”
According to Wong, the company would collaborate with the government-run Cyberport incubator, the virtual ZA Bank, and the real estate behemoth New World Development to facilitate the provision of offices, banking services, and authorized personnel to entrepreneurs in Hong Kong.
In addition, the Hong Kong government has been making efforts, of which G-Rocket is a part, to transform the city-state into a cryptocurrency center on par with Singapore.
The Fintech section head at Hong Kong’s Securities and Futures Commission (SFC), Elizabeth Wong, proposed several forward-thinking regulatory changes for cryptocurrencies last October, such as allowing citizens and trading firms to trade digital assets.
HK Government on Web3
In a statement released on October 31, the government of Hong Kong said,
“We will put in place timely and necessary crash barriers to mitigate actual and potential risks in line with international standards so that virtual asset innovations can sustainably thrive in Hong Kong.”
Exchange-traded funds (ETFs) that provide exposure to Bitcoin have been allowed to list with the SFC as of October 31, with CSOP Asset Management becoming one of the first to do so.
On December 16, it was reported that CSOP Asset Management managed to secure millions of dollars worth in investments for the debut of two cryptocurrency futures exchange-traded funds on the Hong Kong stock market. Reports say that the money involved $73.6 million.
On December 8, the Legislative Council of Hong Kong updated its Anti-Money Laundering and Counter-Terrorist Financing (AML/CTF) system to cover virtual asset service providers and traditional financial institutions.
Many South East Asian countries still have loose regulations regarding cryptocurrency, such as the Philippines and Vietnam, while others have more refined laws, like Singapore and Hong Kong. If the startup accelerator program proves successful, the city-state will likely spearhead Web3 for the Asian region.
