$CVC $ARK $B Bitcoin Asia is in Hong Kong, but the atmosphere is cold
A few days ago, the Bitcoin Asia event at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre was being hyped loudly in the industry. I went on-site and the only feeling I had was: cold.
Back two or three years—right when the tail end of the bull market was still in full swing—outside the venue it was all Guangdong/Hong Kong plates for Alphards and Rolls-Royces. Four Seasons? No, it was hotels with Jingjiang view rooms at the Regent taking bookings a full two weeks in advance. At night, Lan Kwai Fong was packed with Mandarin-speaking new elites; tens of thousands of Hong Kong dollars’ worth of champagne flowed like tap water. This time, though? Not that many big shots came. The hotels weren’t packed, and the nights were quiet.
Is Hong Kong not doing enough? No, that’s not it. Hong Kong has already shown plenty of goodwill. In 2023 the licensing regime was rolled out, so compliant trading is possible. But there’s one very hard boundary: Hong Kong doesn’t touch USDT—such USD stablecoins. Why? Tether holds assets worth hundreds of billions, with the bulk being U.S. short-term Treasuries. If you buy U, you’re basically feeding the U.S. government bond market with blood. Hong Kong, with the mainland right behind it, how could it open channels to help someone else grow a dollar pool? If they were to do it, they would do it within a sandbox they can supervise end-to-end—or issue a Hong Kong dollar stablecoin.
That’s why a giant like Binance has an office in Hong Kong, but the lifeline is in Dubai. Zero tax, gold visas, VARA—people live on Palm Jumeirah, while Hong Kong is just one arm reaching into Chinese capital. And Sun Yuchen—don’t even mention it. With the SEC watching him, and with Hong Kong’s rule of law and judicial cooperation laid out there, would he dare to come back?
The most painful part is Central. In the past, graduates from top universities doing IPOs could earn two to three million HKD a year—mocked now by young guys who got into token issuance. But now, the rental vacancy rates for luxury homes in areas like Kowloon Station and Mid-Levels are frightening. The tide of wealth is receding faster than anywhere else.
With U.S. Federal Reserve interest rates still sitting high, and risk-free U.S. Treasuries soaking up the interest—who would bring real gold and silver to bet on high volatility? Chanting slogans at the venue, making PPTs—those can’t fool smart money anymore. Hong Kong is a window, not a savior. Is Web3 still hot? What’s hot is a game for a few people; what’s cold is the accounts of most.
#BitcoinAsia #香港web3嘉年华2026 #币圈观察
A few days ago, the Bitcoin Asia event at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre was being hyped loudly in the industry. I went on-site and the only feeling I had was: cold.
Back two or three years—right when the tail end of the bull market was still in full swing—outside the venue it was all Guangdong/Hong Kong plates for Alphards and Rolls-Royces. Four Seasons? No, it was hotels with Jingjiang view rooms at the Regent taking bookings a full two weeks in advance. At night, Lan Kwai Fong was packed with Mandarin-speaking new elites; tens of thousands of Hong Kong dollars’ worth of champagne flowed like tap water. This time, though? Not that many big shots came. The hotels weren’t packed, and the nights were quiet.
Is Hong Kong not doing enough? No, that’s not it. Hong Kong has already shown plenty of goodwill. In 2023 the licensing regime was rolled out, so compliant trading is possible. But there’s one very hard boundary: Hong Kong doesn’t touch USDT—such USD stablecoins. Why? Tether holds assets worth hundreds of billions, with the bulk being U.S. short-term Treasuries. If you buy U, you’re basically feeding the U.S. government bond market with blood. Hong Kong, with the mainland right behind it, how could it open channels to help someone else grow a dollar pool? If they were to do it, they would do it within a sandbox they can supervise end-to-end—or issue a Hong Kong dollar stablecoin.
That’s why a giant like Binance has an office in Hong Kong, but the lifeline is in Dubai. Zero tax, gold visas, VARA—people live on Palm Jumeirah, while Hong Kong is just one arm reaching into Chinese capital. And Sun Yuchen—don’t even mention it. With the SEC watching him, and with Hong Kong’s rule of law and judicial cooperation laid out there, would he dare to come back?
The most painful part is Central. In the past, graduates from top universities doing IPOs could earn two to three million HKD a year—mocked now by young guys who got into token issuance. But now, the rental vacancy rates for luxury homes in areas like Kowloon Station and Mid-Levels are frightening. The tide of wealth is receding faster than anywhere else.
With U.S. Federal Reserve interest rates still sitting high, and risk-free U.S. Treasuries soaking up the interest—who would bring real gold and silver to bet on high volatility? Chanting slogans at the venue, making PPTs—those can’t fool smart money anymore. Hong Kong is a window, not a savior. Is Web3 still hot? What’s hot is a game for a few people; what’s cold is the accounts of most.
#BitcoinAsia #香港web3嘉年华2026 #币圈观察
