Hong Kong has pulled ahead of Singapore in attracting technology-driven companies that use cryptocurrency for treasury management and other applications, reinforcing its position as Asia’s leading digital-asset hub, at least for now, according to a crypto industry veteran who advises both governments.
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“Over the past two years, especially in the first half of this year, many professionals and companies in the Web3 ecosystem have relocated their headquarters to Hong Kong from Singapore,” said Gu Ronghui, a technology adviser to the Monetary Authority of Singapore and a former member of Hong Kong’s Web3 task force, ahead of the city’s largest-ever FinTech Week, which runs from November 3 to 7.
The shift reflected Hong Kong’s concerted effort to revitalise its cryptocurrency ecosystem.
The city has introduced bank-level regulations for stablecoins, granted licences to virtual-asset trading platforms, and paved the way for qualified institutions to issue Hong Kong’s first batch of stablecoins as early as next year.
“Hong Kong seized this timely window to catch up rapidly,” Gu said.
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Gu is also the co-founder of CertiK, a New York-based blockchain-security company whose clients include Ant Group. The firm, which provides life-cycle security and compliance services for Web3 projects and institutional clients, planned to expand its business and headcount in Hong Kong next year and already operated from Cyberport.