Author: Bitkoala Finance
Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin said at the Web3 Transitions Summit in Singapore that Hong Kong has shifted to a crypto-friendly stance since the end of last year, but cryptocurrency projects seeking to do business in Hong Kong should weigh the stability of the government's crypto-friendliness.
Vitalik Buterin also said that he was surprised by the level of participation of the local developer community. The biggest gain from the event was in research. He was impressed by the number of people working on ZK and privacy solutions in many places such as Japan and Taiwan. He also called on Web3 project parties to consider how long Hong Kong's cryptocurrency friendliness can last.
First, let Bitkoala Finance show you what Vitalik Buterin meant when he said:
“If any crypto project wants to make Hong Kong their home, they’re going to want to have some confidence that not only is it friendly now, but that Hong Kong will continue to be friendly from now on when all sorts of unknown, regulatory, political and other types of issues arise. I don’t know much about Hong Kong. I don’t know much about the complex interactions between Hong Kong and the mainland recently. Obviously, it’s very friendly now. But the big question I would ask, and I think everyone is asking, is: How stable is the friendliness?”
Obviously, Vitalik Buterin has poured cold water on the Hong Kong market, which is vigorously promoting the development of the Web3 industry. However, the local Web3 community does not seem to be affected by his negative remarks, but has quietly launched "three major moves".
The first step: shouting
Just one day after Vitalik Buterin expressed his pessimism about the Hong Kong Web3 market, Hong Kong Legislative Council member Wu Jiezhuang responded and said:
"Regarding Ethereum founder Vitalik Buterin's views on the development of virtual asset projects in Hong Kong, I respect his right to speak, but at the same time I think he does not understand and know the situation in Hong Kong. I sincerely invite Mr. Vitalik to come to Hong Kong to learn about the situation. I am willing to coordinate with relevant institutions and enterprises to share the situation in Hong Kong with him. Hong Kong is a special administrative region with a complete procedure for formulating policies and laws. Under the "one country, two systems" policy, Hong Kong has legislative power. As a member of the Legislative Council of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, I would like to share with you that every policy or law in Hong Kong has to go through a period of discussion, including the government writing policies, public consultation, and multiple Legislative Council committees and conference discussions, so I hope Vitalik understands the actual situation. The central government has always expressed its support for the development of "one country, two systems" in Hong Kong, so Hong Kong has room to formulate policies on virtual assets and welcomes global compliant companies to develop in Hong Kong. Hong Kong's policies and laws will not change overnight. All relevant strategies and regulations have been through major social consensus and complete procedures. Hong Kong's policies are very stable."
Step 2: Invitation
There is no doubt that simply speaking out on social media cannot resolve the concerns of the Web3 community. After all, Vitalik Buterin has a huge influence in the crypto industry, and the Hong Kong Web3 community will obviously not be limited to simple voices and calls.
Sure enough, this Monday, Wu Jiezhuang announced on social media that he had received Justin Drake, a researcher at the Ethereum Foundation, at the Legislative Council Building in Hong Kong, and introduced the legislative process of Hong Kong to him and visited some facilities of the Legislative Council. He explained the process from the government writing policies to extensive public consultations to the third reading of legislation at the Legislative Council, and also discussed Hong Kong's Web3.0 and stablecoin policies with him and invited Justin Drake to give relevant opinions to the Hong Kong government. In addition, Wu Jiezhuang also stated that he had asked Justin Drake to convey his sincere invitation to other core members of the Ethereum Foundation, including Vitalik, to visit Hong Kong and understand the situation in Hong Kong.
Yat Siu, chairman of Animoca Brands, who is very well-known in the crypto community, even expressed his willingness to pay for Vitalik Buterin's flight to Hong Kong and act as his guide for his trip to Hong Kong. Yat Siu wrote on social media: "Don't just look at Hong Kong from the perspective of China, but also from the perspective of Hong Kong's own history. It is one of the most stable and free economies in the world. It is impossible to succeed completely in the Chinese way. Hong Kong welcomes Vitalik Buterin, and everyone is happy to show Vitalik Buterin Hong Kong's growing Web 3.0 ecosystem and the Hong Kong government's support for the development of blockchain and other fields."
Step 3: Action
In fact, in order to ensure Hong Kong's continued support for the development of the Web3 industry, officials within local government agencies have also been working hard. Legislative Council members including Wu Jiezhuang and Qiu Dagen have taken action and put forward many suggestions to the Hong Kong Chief Executive John Lee's "Policy Address". A list of Hong Kong's political Web3 suggestions and initiatives:
In terms of digital assets and tokenization, Hong Kong launched a tokenized green bond worth HK$800 million at the beginning of the year. Although it was issued in the form of private training, it has made the local market feel that tokenization has many benefits, such as greatly reducing transaction time and transaction costs compared to traditional methods. Hong Kong issues different financial assets (bonds, stocks) worth hundreds of billions of yuan each year. If these products are all issued through tokenization, more international people can participate in it, which is an important step for the development of financial products and financial markets.
More importantly, the Hong Kong government is also building a stablecoin infrastructure based on the digital Hong Kong dollar. It is currently conducting the second round of consultation and hopes to announce the regulatory conditions for stablecoins by the middle of next year, allowing stablecoin participants to issue stablecoins in Hong Kong. Now there are virtual asset platforms, and stablecoins under virtual asset exchanges are very important access points. After the stablecoins are available, innovations in other virtual asset products and financial products will follow. This will be a good replacement for the depth and breadth of financial assets and digital assets, and will inevitably promote the development of financial assets and digital assets.
Summarize
As Hong Kong is currently in the early stages of Web3 development, it is somewhat surprising but understandable that Vitalik Buterin has doubts. If Vitalik Buterin were invited by the local Web3 community to visit Hong Kong, perhaps his thoughts would change.