By
Mayowa Adebajo
March 21st, 2024
In his speech, Siu emphasizes the importance of fighting US hegemony and lowering reliance on the US dollar for countries such as China.
Yat Siu, the founder of Animoca Brands, has recently highlighted China’s influence on Hong Kong’s crypto development.
While speaking at the 2023 Ethereum Community Conference (EthCC), Siu noted that the developments and initiatives in Hong Kong’s crypto industry are not solely driven by local considerations but are part of a broader message originating from China’s central government.
While mainland China has imposed restrictions on cryptocurrencies more than 2 years ago, Siu believes that Hong Kong’s crypto trend is not limited to the city-state but reflects broader shifts happening in China itself. Siu highlighted China’s release of its Web3 white paper in May, which he believes signals the government’s recognition of Web3 as the future of the Internet.
The executive noted that China’s decision to allocate a budget toward progressing with Web3 demonstrates the government’s commitment to fostering innovation and embracing decentralized technologies.
Furthermore, he pointed out that news about Hong Kong’s crypto developments, including the plans for retail crypto investments, received widespread attention in China, even being featured on the national TV channel, China Central Television.
Crypto Push in China: A Paradigm Shift in Technology
In his keynote speech, Siu expressed his view that Web3 represents a powerful tool to challenge the dominance of United States technology companies and drive a shift in the technology paradigm.
Siu highlighted the potential security risks associated with nations’ heavy reliance on tech giants such as Alphabet Inc (NASDAQ: AAPL), Apple Inc (NASDAQ: AAPL), and Meta Platforms Inc (NASDAQ: META). He suggested that countries like Japan, South Korea, and China are actively pushing for Web3 adoption as an opportunity to break away from the dominance of US-based technologies.
In his speech, Siu emphasizes the importance of fighting US hegemony and lowering reliance on the US dollar for countries such as China. Siu believes that Web3 technologies play a role in this transformation by providing alternative systems that can potentially diminish reliance on the US dollar’s worldwide supremacy.
Despite the ban on virtually all crypto activity officially announced by the People’s Bank of China in 2021, mainland China has continued to make a significant push in the industry. The ban did not completely eliminate crypto-mining operations in the country. Recently, the Bank of China announced a partnership with China Telecom and China Unicom, two of the country’s major telecom operators, to enable offline transactions for the digital yuan via SIM cards.
This dynamic has led some crypto observers to express hope that China might eventually reconsider its stance and lift the ban, especially in light of Hong Kong’s proactive adoption of crypto-friendly regulations. However, several state-related executives, including CPIC Investment Management CEO Chenggang Zhou, have recently reiterated that China maintains an anti-crypto stance and is expected to remain so in the near future.