The day after his sentencing, I was at Hong Kong Fintech Week 2023, a new annual conference organized by the local government. Unlike people in the US, where the SBF trial is just another episode in a long crypto winter, people in Hong Kong were feeling more optimistic about all things Web3.
The city’s top official, Chief Executive John Lee, was there to discuss how the city can re-establish itself as a technology hub and take advantage of the big bets placed on blockchain and cryptocurrency last year. Can pick up. Yat Siu, founder of homegrown Web3 startup Animoca Brands, who was clearly the star of the two-day event, told the audience on Friday, “This is the closing of a dark chapter of the industry… Now we can start to move forward. ,
I attended panel after panel where people discussed the future of tokenized assets, central-bank digital currencies, and even NFTs — with expectations that they would be hard to find in the US. It felt as if I had jumped into a time machine; Executives from international crypto giants like Crypto.com and Bored Ape Yacht Club attended the conference in person, while the CEO of Coinbase made video for a fireside chat. (I have to say that I’m glad I didn’t go to the BAYC party, a side event happening at the same time, which apparently caused many attendees “severe eye irritation.” Ouch.)
For these officials, Hong Kong is a rare place where the government is welcoming them. Following major crypto failures like the collapse of FTX and Terra last year and reports about the uselessness of NFTs, many governments and observers have become wary of the industry. But for Hong Kong, this new digital frontier seems like an opportunity to get its economy back on track.
The city was punching above its weight in finance and trade, but its importance in these areas is declining. And as tech industries have grown rapidly in places like Shenzhen (which is just across the border in mainland China), Hong Kong has largely missed out on that boom. However, crypto may offer a relatively easy pivot.
During Fintech Week last year, the local government issued its own NFT and a tokenized bond. Since then, leaders of global Web3 projects have visited Hong Kong and explored investments there, says Gary Liu, founder of Terminal3 and Artifacts Lab, two Hong Kong-based Web3 startups. “While everyone else is in a bear market, Hong Kong is rising,” he says.
Source: www.technologyreview.com