Increased collaboration between Hong Kong and mainland China could potentially lead to more advances in the cryptocurrency sector, according to industry experts who took part in the 11th Global Blockchain Summit in Shanghai on Thursday.
Advertisement
That assessment comes amid the central government’s years-long ban on a range of crypto-related activities on the mainland, including initial coin offerings, cryptocurrency trading and bitcoin mining.
Calls for Hong Kong and the mainland to collaborate in cryptocurrency initiatives reflected how both markets are expected to benefit. The city already serves as a major international financial hub, while many mainland developers are involved in digital payments and artificial intelligence.
“Hong Kong is focused on areas like virtual asset trading and financing,” said Rachel Lee, director of blockchain and digital assets at Cyberport, a Hong Kong government-backed technology hub and start-up incubator. Cyberport looked forward to working more closely with the mainland to foster the development of cryptocurrencies and the Web3 industry, she said.
Regarding developer initiatives on the mainland, the president of the Solana Foundation, Lily Liu, said the organisation was investing heavily to support China’s developer ecosystem over the past two years. She hoped to deepen collaboration in areas such as decentralised payments and AI.
Advertisement
Based in Switzerland, the non-profit organisation is focused on the growth and security of the Solana blockchain ecosystem.
Liu said Solana valued Chinese-speaking regions because of their massive payments industry. “China, in particular, is a leader in this area with a population of over a billion,” she added.