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As part of the plan to position the city as a global fintech hub, Hong Kong is looking to introduce even stricter crypto regulations in the next 18months.
Announced at the Foresight Summit 2024, David Chiu shared about the plans to implement strong oversight through legislation in his capacity as a member of the Legislative Council of Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, specifically targeting stablecoins.
“The digital asset industry has made significant progress in the past few years, but we are still in a very early stage. We should establish a sound exchange system and soon introduce legislation related to stablecoins,” said Chiu.
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Hong Kong is expected to introduce stablecoins by the end of this year following the announcement of stablecoin issuer sandbox participants in July. Participants include JINGDONG Coinlink Technology Hong Kong Limited, RD InnoTech Limited, Standard Chartered Bank (Hong Kong) Animoca Brands Limited and Hong Kong Telecommunications (HKT) Limited.
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The sandbox is part of the HKMA’s efforts to promote the stablecoin ecosystem in Hong Kong. Sandbox participants are required to adhere to the sandbox conditions and will not solicit funding from the public.
According to Chiu, sandbox tests are underway and the emphasis will be on strengthening oversight and ensuring that the new laws are effective and enforceable in the next 18 months.
“The digital asset industry has made significant progress in the past few years, but we are still in a very early stage,” Chiu said. “We should establish a sound exchange system and soon introduce legislation related to stablecoins.”
With this in mind, it will be crucial for digital asset companies in Hong Kong to closely monitor the evolving situation to understand its potential future impact on their operations.
Hong Kong is also looking to add Bitcoin to its federal reserves, according to a local legislator.
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Following Donald Trump's keynote speech at Bitcoin 2024 over the weekend, in which he discussed a potential plan for a US Bitcoin reserve, Hong Kong politician Johnny Ng tweeted that the region might do the same.
