By
Chimamanda U. Martha
April 26th, 2024
Animoca Brands Chairman said that HKD-pegged stablecoins would help Hong Kong create unique position for itself in the overly crowded crypto space. He also pushed for crypto ETFs in order to boost Web 3.0 investments in the region.
Hong Kong regulators have been making enough efforts recently to revive the country’s crypto markets and foster a conducive environment for crypto firms to set up the base. Speaking at the BUIDL Asia Conference in Seoul on Thursday, Animoca Brands Chairman Yat Siu said that the country needs to adopt a different playbook to boost its crypto sector.
Siu said that having stablecoins pegged to the Hong Kong Dollar would help them create a unique place for themselves in the overly saturated crypto space. Currently, USD-pegged stablecoins overwhelmingly dominate the broader crypto market. In his interview with The Block, Siu said:
“The interesting thing different about the Hong Kong dollar versus most other currencies is that it’s pegged to the US dollar. Therefore, if you want to have another kind of regulated currency that, however, is non-American, but is yet tied to an American system as in the US dollar, I think the Hong Kong dollar becomes a very interesting proxy.”
Furthermore, Siu also highlighted the potential for significant and unique demand for Hong Kong stablecoins, considering the Hong Kong Dollar (HKD) as a non-US dollar equivalent currency situated outside US jurisdiction.
For a while, Hong Kong has been preparing to allow the issuance of HKD-pegged stablecoins. Besides, the Hong Kong regulator also conducted a public consultation for regulating and licensing all the stablecoin issuers.
Here, the Hong Kong Monetary Authority acted as a defacto central bank initiating a sandbox environment to foster dialogue between authorities and stablecoin issuers while also adhering to the upcoming stablecoin regulations. Siu expressed anticipation for further regulatory advancements in the stablecoin sector throughout the year.
Hong Kong Expanding Its Crypto Offerings
On the other hand, Hong Kong authorities have been in discussion with several local financial firms to introduce its first line of spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs). this comes amid the mega success of the spot Bitcoin ETF launch earlier this year in the United States.
Hong Kong’s local players like Venture Smart Financial Holdings (VSFG) have already submitted their spot Bitcoin ETF application to the Securities and Futures Commission. As per Siu, the approval of the Bitcoin ETFs would boost Web3 investments in the Asian country.
The chairman of Animoca stated that the Web 3.0 market has experienced a significant resurgence during the current crypto bull cycle. He further emphasized its robustness from the standpoint of a Web 3.0 investment firm.
Apart from Bitcoin, Siu also pitched for Ether ETFs and funds for GameFi tokens. “It’s entirely possible that after Hong Kong approves bitcoin spot ETFs, it may actually have different types of ETFs ahead of the US because it has broadly, more clarity in the regulatory framework,” said Siu.
