At SmartCon 2023, Mr. Joseph Chan, the Under Secretary for Monetary Providers and the Treasury in the Authorities of Hong Kong SAR, and Chainlink Co-Founder Sergey Nazarov engaged in a discussion about Hong Kong’s outstanding function in world monetary markets and its efforts to advertise the adoption of digital assets.
In the course of the dialog, Joseph shared helpful insights into Hong Kong’s illustrious historical past as a monetary hub, which has positioned the area on the forefront of worldwide finance.
He highlighted spectacular statistics, such because the profitable elevating of over 100 billion Hong Kong {dollars} for IPOs in the earlier 12 months, solidifying Hong Kong’s place because the fourth-largest fairness market globally, trailing solely Shanghai, Shenzhen, and NASDAQ.
Hong Kong and Web3
In keeping with him, the Web3 ecosystem is being embraced by the area because of its potential in addressing information monopolies, privateness issues, and algorithmic discrimination.
In October 2022, the Hong Kong authorities printed a coverage assertion outlining its imaginative and prescient, strategy, and steps to advertise sustainable and accountable growth of the digital asset sector.
Hong Kong’s dedication to embracing Web3 is additional demonstrated by way of its proactive regulation of digital asset buying and selling actions. In June of this 12 months, a brand new licensing regime for digital asset service suppliers was carried out, aligning the necessities for digital asset exchanges with anti-money laundering and investor safety requirements relevant to conventional monetary establishments.
To foster the expansion of Web3, Hong Kong has allotted 50 million Hong Kong {dollars} in the direction of expediting the Web3 ecosystem, with a give attention to enterprise collaboration and frontier growth.
Moreover, a devoted job drive has been established to advertise Web3 growth, highlighting the federal government’s dedication to this transformation.
Bond market
It comes as no shock that the nation holds the excellence of being the biggest issuer of worldwide bonds for seven consecutive years, showcasing its dominance in the Asian bond market.
Moreover, Hong Kong’s significance as a wealth and asset administration heart is obvious, with assets underneath administration (AUM) reaching 4 trillion Hong Kong {dollars}—a exceptional 30% progress over 4 years. Moreover, the area claims the highest spot in Asia for insurance coverage density, solidifying its standing as a crossroads for wealth.
Mr. Chan attributes Hong Kong’s success to its elementary strengths. These embody a free circulation of capital, compatibility with the Hong Kong greenback, a standard regulation authorized system, and its strategic location on the coronary heart of Asia.
With its proximity to different main Asian hubs like Beijing and Singapore, in addition to skilled entry to mainland markets, Hong Kong is ideally positioned to foster each conventional and digital finance.
Moreover, Hong Kong has launched a 30 billion Hong Kong greenback co-investment fund managed by the Hong Kong Funding Company. This initiative goals to spice up high-tech finance and innovation, thereby driving financial progress.
Gateway to China
Sergey Nazarov, Co-Founding father of Chainlink, talked about Hong Kong’s distinctive place as a gateway to China, the place huge capital flows by way of town, providing ample alternatives for digital asset adoption.
He praised Hong Kong’s distinctive authorized and monetary setting, permitting each the issuance of digital assets by banks and personal entities, and recommended the area’s dedication to creating clear requirements that allow the environment friendly and legally accepted use of digital assets.